The closing date for farmers in Zone 1 to register online for the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS) is approaching.
Farmers in counties Down and Armagh have until August 31, to register for the scheme.
This deadline is an extension of the original closing date, July 8.
They can do this via the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) online services in a similar way to entering their single application form, or they can authorise their agent to apply on their behalf.
Alternatively, they can book an appointment in their local DAERA office where trained customer service branch staff will complete the application for them.
Only registration is necessary to do as everything else will be done by the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and its sub-contractors.
This will involve famers being contacted to arrange a soil sampling, likely between November and February. These samples will be sent for analysis in England and farmers will receive the results 4-6 weeks later.
Soil Nutrient Health Scheme
The aim of the SNHS is to provide farmers with essential information about their soils, including the nutrient status of their soils; farm-level carbon estimates of carbon stored in soils, hedgerows and trees; and run-off risk maps for nutrient loss to waterbodies for each field.
This information can then be at the centre of management decisions going forward, helping to optimise the application of crop nutrients, improving farm profitability while reducing the potential for nutrient loss to the environment.
Participation in the scheme will be a requirement to receive payments under future support schemes from 22024.
Dairy farmer Ian McClelland and arable farmer Simon Best had similar soil-tests carried out as part of their involvement with the ARCZero project, a farmer-led European Innovation Project co-funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and DAERA.
They are both in Zone 1 and have signed up to the SNHS already, as they both agree they have seen benefits from soil testing.
“Having this suite of data has many benefits for farm management – knowing exactly what’s needed and where,” said Simon.
“I was also amazed to learn how much carbon is being stored in our soils and hedges, truly showing farmers as the true custodians of the countryside.”