Farmers in Northern Ireland, as well as counties Cavan, Donegal, Leitrim and Monaghan, can spread slurry from midnight on 31 January as the final closed period for spreading ends.

The closed period for the two other zones in Ireland for spreading fertiliser, slurry and farmyard manure opened on 12 and 15 January.

The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) has urged farmers in NI to use slurry efficiently to ensure maximum economic return and to reduce environmental impact to protect their Basic Payments.

“The Northern Ireland Nitrates Action Programme restricts spreading of manures when conditions are unsuitable or from spreading too close to waterways. Any farmer caught breaching these conditions could see their Basic Payment penalised,” UFU environment policy chair Wilbert Mayne said.

Farmers and contractors in northern counties are being left frustrated with rain forecast for parts of the country on Wednesday and Thursday coinciding with the end of the closed period.

“It has been the mildest January that I can remember and as soon as the slurry ban is lifted, it is set to rain. Another reminder that calendar farming doesn’t work,” one farmer told the Irish Farmers Journal.

Read more

Environmental management notes

How to service your tanker