The facility to view nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) statements on the Department of Agriculture’s agfood.ie system will be updated in the coming days to include September statements.

The Department issued correspondence to farm advisory system (FAS) advisers on Friday notifying them that the N and P statement facility is currently unavailable, but is being worked on and will be resolved imminently.

The facility is an important resource for farmers in ensuring they remain within nitrates limits. The portal is also the avenue by which farmers must record the import and export of organic fertilisers.

It should be noted that the record of N and P produced by grazing animals only takes account of bovines. Farmers therefore must calculate the volume of N and P produced by livestock such as sheep, equines and poultry themselves.

Table 1 details excretion rates for livestock other than bovines.