Bureaucratic 'farming by dates' is 'farcical'

THE extension by the Minister for Agriculture of the slurry spreading date for REPS 3 farmers to October 15, has been welcomed by farmers' leaders. But the advisability of 'farming by dates' imposed by Euro bureaucrats has been called into serious question again.

ICSA President Malcolm Thompson has described the Minister's extension as “the only sensible thing to do.”

“Each year we are faced with a similar scenario and each year the deadlines have to be extended”, he pointed out.  “This calls into question the advisability of farming by dates.

“Farmers are more conscious than most of the risks of pollution and we have always argued that spreading dates should be left up to farmers who are best qualified to make these decisions.”

Farcical says Farrell
Meanwhile, the slurry spreading restrictions have been described as 'farcical' by IFA Envirronment Chairman Pat Farrell. And he has called on Agriculture Minister Brendan Smith to accept that many flaws exist in the nitrates regulations which, he says, must be changed.

“The most nonsensical of these is the waste of taxpayers money when County Council staff and the Department of Agriculture officials go onto farms and inspect the exact same nitrates regulations issues”, he explains. “Minister Smith gave a clear commitment in April of this year that he had resolved this issue and that only his Department would carry out these inspections. To-date this commitment remains undelivered.

“In addition, cereal farmers are also hampered by the requirements for green cover during the winter months. The scientific evidence shows that this green cover requirement provides no environmental benefit, once soil temperature drops below 10 degrees, which usually occurs from October on.

“The IFA will continue discussions with the Department to reverse this measure, which is costing the grain farmers ten of millions of euros.”

Fr Farrell added: “Despite the Minister’s extension announcement, the weather is unlikely to improve sufficiently to allow farmers to get all the slurry spread.

“Therefore, Minister Smith must immediately review the regulations to allow farmers spread slurry based on best soil conditions and crop-uptake, as opposed to the current farcical position where the right to spread depends on the day of the week or the month of the year.”