As we come up to the year end, the importance of getting the paperwork in order has really hit me.

On both the cattle and tillage fronts, quality assured status is critical.

The price incentive on the beef side is crystal clear, if the cattle grade as specified in the factory and are under 30 months of age then the 20 cent a kg quality assurance payment comes.

If there is a supplementary breed payment, that too depends on having quality assurance.

Having just had the Bord Bia inspection, the beef selling side should be looked after for the year. 

Nutrient Management Plan

The next obligatory regulatory hurdle to be passed, is the Nutrient Management Plan.

While we have done a nutrient management plan for the last few years the effort going into it is to some extent duplicated by the audit at the moment being carried out by our continuing membership of the grain quality assurance scheme.

Both insist on an up to date soil sample for every field but membership of the grain quality assurance scheme is obligatory if we are to continue to produce premium tillage crops such as gluten-free oats; part of the requirement is that we have up to date and complete PCS numbers for every Agri chemical we have used. Side by side with these are the regulations specifying how much organic manures can be spread as well as mineral nitrogen coupled of course with limits on phosphorous depending on soil test results.

Penalties

The penalties that apply in this category are not a failure to gain a premium but instead a deduction off the Biss payment. The Biss payment has been reduced very significantly already under the Cap reform so the last thing we need is a unnecessary further deduction. One aspect that I had overlooked is that in compiling the nutrient management plan is the obligation to include in the calculations the contribution that is made by the concentrates fed to the cattle which is then applied as slurry.

We will assemble the information and then get specialist help to pull everything together in a form that meets official requirements. To be reconsidered.