Soil Nutrient Health Scheme results and training are now available

These results and farm maps are also available to view online for each farm business through the Government Gateway account: www.daera-ni.gov.uk/onlineservices

Neelia Lloyd, director of DAERA Natural Environment Policy Division said: “I encourage all farm businesses to use their soil analysis results to develop a nutrient management plan. The on-line training offered by DAERA’s College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) will help to interpret soil nutrient results and run-off maps and develop a farm nutrient management plan.”

Ms Lloyd continued: “This is essential to help improve water quality by reducing nutrient run-off to water courses and meet the requirements of the Nutrients Action Programme. This information will also allow farmers to optimise the application of crop nutrients to their soils. It will provide a baseline estimate of farm carbon stocks in soils and hedgerows and contribute to the transition to Net Zero farming in Northern Ireland.”

Farmers are encouraged to complete their CAFRE SNHS training online as soon as possible. Failure to register for SNHS and complete the training may affect your future payments.

The training is easy and convenient to access online at: www.cafre.ac.uk/snhs-training. It has short videos which are available to view from the comfort of your own home all day, every day.

Alternatively, if you have difficulty accessing the online training, CAFRE is working with Countryside Services Ltd to deliver a small number of face-to-face training events where the videos will be shown.

Information on the venues and times is also available at: www.cafre.ac.uk/snhs-training or by contacting Countryside Services Ltd directly on 028 8778 9770.