Pollution hotspots to have tighter limits on stocking rates
Castle Douglas, Scotland, UK - March 15, 2019: A tractor being used to spray slurry onto a field. This method of muck spreading is known as bandspreading which involves applying the slurry through hoses which are dragged along the ground or just above it. This method reduces the amount of emissions normally associated with muck spreading.
Agriculture Minister McConalogue seeking further flexibility from the European Commission on Ireland's nitrates derogation but has stressed efforts must be made to improve the nation's water quality amid warnings the nitrates derogation could be reduced to 220kg of organic nitrogen per hectare.
A water quality review which must take place this year, comparing the Environmental Protection Agency's water quality data for 2021 and 2022, as part of the increased conditionality that the European Commission attached to Ireland’s new nitrates derogation a year ago.
