Notice to Farmers and Agricultural Contractors
Kildare County Council advises all farmers and agricultural contractors of the requirements of the Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Water Regulations 2022, and amendment Regulations made there under:
- For late harvested crops, i.e. vegetable crops, harvested after 15 September as well as fodder beet, sugar beet, main crop potatoes and maize excluding cereal crops and beans, a minimum uncultivated buffer of 6m shall be put in place to protect and intersecting watercourses (where a land parcel is sloped towards a watercourse and any surface water run-off would drain into that watercourse).
- No cultivation shall take place within 3m of a watercourse identified on a modern 1:5,000 scale OSi mapping or better, except in the case of grassland establishment.
- Chemical fertilizer shall not be applied to land within 3m of any surface watercourse.
- Where there is inadequate facilities for the collection and storage of any potential effluent from silage bales, bales may only be stored at a maximum height of 2 bales, and at least 20m from surface water or a drinking water abstraction point.
