The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has issued a reminder to all Nitrates Derogation applicants that movements of organic manures must be submitted online to DAFM by October 31, 2021.

The submission deadline of movements for all other farmers is December 31, 2021. Farmers can access the online system by logging on to their agfood account and selecting the N&P Statements.

The system can be used by both farmers and agricultural advisors. A short demonstration video and a user manual is also available on the department’s website.

Measures all farmers can take to avoid exceeding the nitrates limits of 170 kg/ha (or 250 kg/ha for derogation holders) include:

The online system for recording the movement of organic manures was launched on March 9, 2021 and use of it to record slurry movements is mandatory since September 1, 2021.

Under the Nitrates Regulations, farmers are obliged to farm within the limit of 170kg of nitrogen (N) per hectare or 250kgs/N/ha for those who hold an approved derogation.

One of the measures farmers can take to reduce nitrate levels is to export slurry to another holding. 

Previously these movements had to be declared to the DAFM on a paper form by December 31, annually, or October 31 for derogation holders and submission was previously by e-mail or post.

To use the current online system, farmers must be registered to use the department’s portal agfood.

The exporting farmer will log the movement on the portal and a text message will issue to the importing farmer alerting him to log on to the online system to accept the movement.

Farmers not already registered to receive updates from DAFM by text message can choose to do so by contacting the department directly.