Land which is not suitable for spreading slurry cannot be used for calculating nutrient stocking rates on NI farms in 2026, a department official has said.

At Greenmount on Monday, CAFRE staff outlined the main reforms to farm support schemes in NI, with land eligibility rules being a key change this year.

It will see the maximum eligible area on NI farms increase, as the new Farm Sustainability Payment can effectively be claimed on all farmland, except hard features such as lanes and yards.

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However, Albert Johnston from CAFRE said tighter rules will apply when it comes to calculating stocking rates and associated manure nitrogen loading and phosphorus balances.

Eligible land

“Just because new areas are eligible for claiming payment, doesn’t mean they are eligible for nitrates. If you can’t spread slurry on it, then it’s not eligible, so blanket bog or gorse cannot be used.

“Further details about this will be made available shortly,” he said.

The new land eligibility rules will increase the maximum eligible area in NI by around 6%, so allowing all this area to be used as slurry acres would have reduced stocking rates on many farms.

In his presentation, Aidan McEvoy from DAERA said the reason for making all land eligible for the Farm Sustainability Payment was to deliver environmental benefits.

He explained that the department want to remove the incentive for farmers to make land eligible by spraying rushes, cutting back scrub and burning heather.

Areas of trees under five hectares in size, as well as all areas of woodland planted under agri environment or forestry schemes, will be suitable for claiming payment.

Land that has scattered stones or rocks covering 70% of the area or less is also now eligible.

McEvoy said farm maps will automatically be updated to reflect the new land eligibility rules when the online single application system opens in the spring.

However, he pointed out that new entitlements are not being issued, so farmers will need to buy or lease extra entitlements if they want to claim payment on newly eligible land.