Notice to Farmers and Agricultural Contractors
From Wednesday, 1 January 2025, the use of low emission slurry spreading (LESS) such as trailing shoe and dribble bar has become compulsory on farms stocked at 100kg N/ha or above. Low emission spreading equipment shall be used to apply livestock manure to arable land and the livestock manure shall be ploughed within 24 hours. Applying slurry using LESS equipment can reduce ammonia emissions by 30-60% compared to the traditional splash plate method by applying slurry more precisely and closer to the ground which significantly minimises the risk of nutrient runoff into rivers, lakes and groundwater. It is envisaged that this will play a significant role in meeting Irish agriculture’s emissions reduction targets.
No ploughing or cultivating for non-grassland crops shall take place within 3m of watercourses that are identified on the modern 1:5,000 scale Ordnance Survey Ireland (OSI) mapping or better.
For late harvested crops, a minimum uncultivated buffer of 6m shall be put in place to protect any intersecting watercourses. Late harvested crops include vegetable crops harvested after Monday, 15 September 2025 as well as fodder beet, sugar beet, main crop potatoes and maize and excludes cereal crops and beans.
For more information please visit https://kildarecoco.ie/AllServices/Environment/Water/FarmingandtheEnvironment
