merrion street

The Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine has announced that Nitrogen and Phosphorus statements (N&P Statements) for the period January to October 2018 are now available on the Department’s online system www.agfood.ie.

These statements are particularly useful to allow farmers to plan for the remainder of the year, in order to ensure compliance with the limits of the Nitrates Regulations, thus avoiding penalties for breaching the limits of 170 kgs of Nitrogen per hectare or the limit for those who hold an approved derogation is 250 kgs of Nitrogen per hectare.

Farmers not already registered for agfood.ie can do so by logging onto www.agfood.ie and clicking the 'Register' button. To register a mobile phone number for future SMS text alerts log on to https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/contactsupdates to access the sign-on form, or alternatively contact the regional office.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is also reminding farmers that nitrates records for the movement of organic fertiliser, temporary movement of animals during the year or short term rental grazing agreements (Records 3,4, 5 Forms) must be submitted on or before 31 December 2018.

Completed forms should be e-mailed to nitrates@agriculture.gov.ie

Or posted to:

Nitrates Section,
Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine,
Johnstown Castle Estate,
Co Wexford

These forms are particularly important for farmers wishing to avail of such agreements in order to ensure compliance with the limits of the Nitrates Regulations. Only Records received before the deadline can be taken in to account when calculating the nitrate levels for 2018.