Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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1008. To ask the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine further to Parliamentary Question No. 407 of 7 February 2024, when the nitrogen level per tonne of chicken litter was changed; whether and how this change has been communicated to farmers; and the implications this change has. [12271/24]

Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The nitrogen (N) content of "broilers/deep litter" poultry manure increased from 11 kg to 28 kg N per tonne with effect from the 11th of March 2022 following the introduction of SI No. 113 of 2022. This change was made to reflect the poultry manure values published in Teagasc's Major and Micro Nutrient Advice for Productive Agricultural Crops which was last updated in 2020. The values published by Teagasc are derived from the most up to date research conducted on manure types.

The proposed change was publicised as part of the public consultations regarding the current Nitrates Action Programme (NAP). Following finalisation of the current NAP, and introduction of SI 113 of 2022, my Department published a press release in March 2022 referring to the introduction of this legislation. In addition, Department Officials facilitated a webinar open to all Farm Advisory Service advisors on the 30th of March 2022 to give an overview of the changes under the current NAP. Department Officials also presented a summary of the key changes during a Teagasc Signpost webinar open to the public in May 2022. Separately, the Nitrates Explanatory Handbook was updated to reflect the changes and published on www.gov.ie/nitrates

The implications of this increase in the N content per tonne of "broilers/deep litter" poultry manure are:

• a higher nutrient value per tonne reflecting the latest scientific research,
• less of this manure can now be applied per hectare of land compared to the situation prior to the 11th of March 2022, thereby reducing the risk to water quality arising from excess nitrogen application.
• there may be changes in the volume of this manure that must be exported off a holding to comply with the limit of 170 kg livestock manure N per ha.