SOUTH Antrim MP and DUP agriculture spokesman, William McCrea, yesterday expressed concern that many farmers have not taken advantage of the Northern Ireland derogation in the Nitrates Directive.
This derogation would allow farmers in the Province to apply higher levels of organic nitrogen per hectare in return for meeting certain conditions.
Mr McCrea said yesterday: "This derogation was announced by Environment Minister, Arlene Foster, and
the Agriculture Minister, Michelle Gildernew, some time back and it provides an opportunity for farmers to make the most of Northern Ireland's grass-based production system, while still protecting our waterways.
"It means that in return for meeting conditions such as advanced record keeping and maintaining at least 80 per cent of their land in grass a farmer would be able to apply up to 250kg/hectare of organic nitrogen instead of the 170kg/ha limit imposed by the Nitrates Directive.''
Mr McCrea said he was concerned that that many farmers who would benefit from taking advantage of this opportunity had not submitted an application to be part of the scheme.
"A yearly application must be made to the DoE Environment and Heritage Service in order to qualify but, as yet, the level of take-up is not as high as it could be given that many farmers in Northern Ireland could benefit.''
He added: "I would hope that farmers will now investigate the possibility that this scheme gives them and that any farmer who has been contemplating applying will now ensure that they send their application to the EHS as soon as possible.''
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