Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 14 September 2022
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Nitrates Derogation and Nitrates Action Programme: Discussion
Mr. Denis Drennan:
Teagasc reanalysed the constitution of slurry. Originally, that body said there was 5 kg of nitrogen in each cubic metre of slurry; then it re-evaluated it and brought it down to 2.4 kg. We would probably dispute that figure with regard to farmers who are using low emissions slurry spreading, which all derogated farmers are.
I will make a point that is not related to the Chairman's question. Derogation farmers have much higher standards of farming than all other farmers. They are inspected at a much higher level and have to have proper storage and facilities in place. Nutrient management plans, soil testing and all those things are carried out on derogation farms but not on non-derogation farms.