Mr. Eddie Burgess:

Again, I do not have the figures or the knowledge of the contribution from urine off the top of my head but a disproportionately large factor contributes to nitrogen loss. The thinking behind what was presented from that submission is correct. I cannot vouch that it is 62% but urine changes to urea, which is a major source of nitrogen. With a urine patch, it is all being deposited at a single location and it is wet. Nitrate is carried by water through the ground so it is a problem. However, mitigation actions at the end of the year when soils get wetter are that stocking rates are over a larger area. Land that has been cut for silage is no longer closed up and the grazing intensity is over the whole farm, which helps alleviate it but not completely. It is correct that it is a concern.