Weather makes strong case for slurry flexibility say Irwin and Poots

Mr Irwin was speaking after both he and his colleague, former DAERA Minister Edwin Poots MLA, had written to the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs to suggest she consider ‘all flexibilities’ to make use of the forecasted ‘more favourable’ weather conditions.

In a joint statement, the representatives said: “The very wet weather that has persisted for many weeks has left areas of the agricultural land in the Province water logged for long periods and as the spreading deadline is looming, farmers are becoming increasingly concerned in terms of having the time and the ground conditions for getting slurry out effectively and with the important and necessary respect for water courses.

“That is why we have written to the Permanent Secretary Katrina Godfrey to ask that she consider all possible flexibilities which would allow farmers to make use of, what is promising to be, a drier spell of weather than we have experienced to date.

“This would make a great deal of difference to ground conditions.”

They continued: “There are still third cuts of silage to bring in and we are really only seeing a break now in the weather patterns that have been dominating for weeks, therefore, to have a situation whereby the deadline applies on 15th October is a concern and a pressure point that is building around farms in Northern Ireland.

“Where rules are set by the calendar it doesn’t always have the best outcome when measured against prevailing weather patterns and actual conditions out on the ground, this is synonymous with Northern Ireland weather as we all know.

“With forecasters predicting drier conditions, we feel this is a clear example of a need for the department to respond positively and reactively to what is before us.

“There is a betterment in terms of DAERA exploring constructively any flexibilities and opportunities that would allow farmers to make use of much more favourable weather and much better ground conditions for spreading.

“Farmers very much do play their part and want to play their part in being good custodians of the countryside and the rules should be flexible enough to reflect this,” they concluded.