National Fertiliser Database comes into effect with 90,000 farmers registered so far

From now, any farmer or other professional fertiliser end user who purchases fertiliser, including lime, has to be resgistered as a professional end user with the Department of Agriculture.

90,000 farmers have registered so far with the National Fertiliser Database, which comes into effect from today, September 1.

From now, any farmer or other professional fertiliser end user who purchases fertiliser, including lime, has to be registered as a professional end user with the Department of Agriculture.

Additionally, farmers involved in the import of fertiliser, farm-to-farm transfers, and/or retail sale of fertiliser must also register as fertiliser economic operators.

Farmers who have not yet registered can do so themselves or through their agents using agfood.ie.

Strong engagement

While many farmers will not purchase fertiliser at this time of year, there have been "exceptionally strong" farmer registrations on the National Fertiliser Database, with over 90,000 farmers registered as of September 1. 

Minister for Agriculture Charlie McConalogue said there has been "phenomenal engagement" with the new system by farmers and their agents, "which further demonstrates farmers' willingness to embrace positive changes". 

"Registration is a very simple process. I encourage those who have yet to register to do so as soon as possible to avoid any potential disruption to their farming operations," Mr McConalogue added. 

Requirements

The legislative requirements on the sale and import of fertiliser also come into force today. 

Around 1,000 fertiliser economic operators (merchants and farmers) have registered on the database. 

From today, all fertiliser imports into the State must be notified to the database within 72 hours of import and all data on fertiliser transactions must be recorded by economic operators.

The National Fertiliser Database has been developed to record fertiliser sales along the supply chain, achieve better compliance with water quality and environmental ambitions, and help Ireland meet commitments to the European Commission arising from the fifth Nitrates Action Programme.