Changes to the single farm payment regime could land farmers with a slurry problem, warns the Ulster Farmers Union.
As changes may have been made to the land area being farmed, farmers may find that they have fewer acres to average out slurry spreading.
Under nitrates regulations farmers must be able to show they have not put more than 170 kg of nitrogen per hectare on their land over a year. But where changes have happened to the land area farmed, often because of the loss of conacre, farmers could find themselves exceeding this average and to comply with the regulation they would need to ‘export' slurry off the farm.
Under the previous Nitrates Action Programme (2011-2014) a record of all organic manure exports off the farm must be recorded and available during an inspection.
However, under the new NAP (2015-2018) these records must now be submitted to NIEA by 31 January for the previous calendar year. As a result records for 1 January to 31 December 2015 must be submitted by the end of this month. If the records are not submitted the slurry export will not be included when calculating a farm's nitrogen loading.
Records sent to NIEA must cover the date moved, type of livestock manure, quantity (tonnes or cubic metres), the transporter's name and address, and the importers name and business ID. If a business ID is not available, an address and signature must be included. The UFU would also advise should a farmer send their completed export form via post that they send it using recorded delivery as verification that the forms have been sent to NIEA.
Exports of livestock manure (including poultry litter and slurry) to the Republic of Ireland are regulated by Animal By-Product (ABP) legislation. This involves completing an application form for authorisation to export.
The UFU says it accepts that the regulations are complex and onerous but warns that farmers have a legal obligation to comply, regardless of whether or not they are claiming area-based scheme payments. It says failure to do so could lead to legal action against a farm business by NIEA.
