ADVICE TO FARMERS

The GAP Inspection. During an inspection to your farm Environmental officers from the Local Authority are concerned about the environmental management within the farmyard and in particular the handling of organic fertilisers, the minimisation of soiled water and slurry spreading practices.

Why are farms inspected? Good farming practice has proven to mitigate pollution. Slurry, farm yard manure, silage effluent, dairy washings and even soiled water all have a polluting strength greater than raw sewage. These are high risk wastes and need to be rigorously managed and controlled.

Who has power to inspect my premises? Inspections are carried out by authorised officers under the EU (Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Waters) Regulations 2017, known as the GAP regulations (SI 605 of 2017) and the Local Government Water Pollution Acts 1977 & 1990. Unless pollution is suspected you will be given notice in writing of the inspection. The GAP regulations were updated in December 2017 and are an onerous legal instrument with strong powers (including cross compliance/ prosecution) for non-compliance.

The GAP Regulations in practice. Farming with consideration of the environment is now the norm. Farmers in every sector and every county farm to regulation and face constraints in doing so. Enforcement officers recognise the difficulties faced by Leitrim farmers in relation to soil type and weather conditions but neither are justification for causing or permitting pollution. Knowledge of these regulations and their purpose are essential to water quality protection. While every aspect of SI 605 is very relevant, the tables below gives an at a glance summary of the closed landspreading period the dates and buffer distances.

The Closed Landspreading Season Chemical Fertiliser 15th September – 31st January

Organic Fertiliser 15th October – 31ST January

Farm Yard Manure 1st November – 31st January Regulation 605 of 2017 prescribe for a doubling of the buffer distance from 5m to 10m from any

surface waters from 1st September (chemical fertiliser) 1st October (Organic Fertiliser) 18th October (farm yard manure) until the 14th February, that being two week preceding and two weeks after the

closed period.

What else is really important? Minimising soiled water by separation and diverting/recycling of clean water. Fix that hanging gutter, any plan to roof the collecting yard? In dry sheds make sure to bed stock sufficiently to prevent any discharge onto a clean yard. Divert rainwater that may be running from higher ground. Remember, clean water that falls on to a soiled yard generates soiled water and soiled water the becomes mixed with slurry is defined as slurry. By law holdings require a minimum of 15 days storage capacity for soiled water. Condition of tanks. All runoff, slurry, dairy washings, silage effluent, soiled water, spent sheep dip etc must be held in a manner that prevents run off or seepage and is collected and diverted to adequately sized leak proof storage facilities that are free of structural defects. Keeping the farmyard tidy. There are schemes and facilities (through IFFPG) for the collection and recycling of silage bale wrap, string and netting, for fertiliser bags, feed bags and plastic drums. Find out more at www.farmplastics.ie 1890 300 444. For silage bales stored outside of the farmyard, in the absence of effluent or storage facilities, a buffer distance of 20m from surface waters must be maintained. Periodically hazardous waste collections are undertaken in co-operation with Teagasc and the Department of Agriculture, Food and Marine. Watch local press for details.

A word on managing sheep dip. Spent sheep dip must be diluted 1 part to 3 parts slurry or water and landspread by slurry tanker at a rate not exceeding 5m3/ha or 20m3/ha of diluted dip. All usual precautions pertaining to the spreading of organic fertilisers apply. See www.hpra.ie for health and safety information on handling sheep dipping products.

Silage Effluent, the most potent of all. Silage effluent is potentially the most polluting substance on a farm. Very small amounts of silage effluent can have a rapid and devastating effect on the aquatic environment and drinking water supplies. Silage pits should only be made on an impervious concrete slab, all tanks, slabs and collection channels inspected and repaired in advance of the silage making season. Only above surface diversion chambers are acceptable whereby the status of the chamber is visible. Storage capacity should be calculated in accordance with the GAP regulations.

Did you know? Every farmer needs to know the significance of the 170kg of N/Ha limit, it being the amount of livestock manure applied to lands including that derived from grazing stock. Excess phosphorous gives no extra yield, will likely cause pollution and is an unnecessary expense. Your slurry may contain all your phosphorous requirements, in many cases a Nitrogen fertiliser will suffice, saving you money – but you will never know your soil’s requirement unless you undertake soil sampling.

The hot topic. In terms of safe drinking water supplies, contamination by pesticides is a concern. In recent years drinking water monitoring results have detected commonly used pesticides. Specific and practical information for farmers on this issue is available at the water protection section of www.leitrimcoco.ie. This leaflet is entitled Protecting Drinking Water from Pesticides – Advice for Farmers and Other Professional Users.

Using your own equipment. Your farm dwelling may be served by your own domestic on site waste water treatment system or septic tank. Regular desludging of this unit is critical to the effective treatment of wastewater. As a landowner with machinery you can spread the contents of your own treatment system once you adhere to the conditions of Regulation SI 148. More information of the do’s and don’t of this practice are available at the Septic Tank Inspection section of www.leitrimcoco.ie. This leaflet is entitled - How to safely spread sludge from your septic tank.

What’s coming down the line? From 2021, a new provision in the GAP Regulations prohibits bovine livestock drinking directly from waters. There will be a requirement for fencing of drinking locations and supplementary feeders shall not be permitted within 20m of waters or on bare rock. Additional drinkers shall not be located within 20m of waters. There shall be no direct runoff of soiled water from farm roadways to waters and poaching must not give rise to run off either.

Working Together. While the Local Authority has strong powers of enforcement Leitrim County Council wants to work in co-operation with the agricultural community for the objective of protecting water quality.

Contact us Telephone 071 96 20005 ext Environment www.environment@leitrimcoco.ie Environmental Hotline 1890 205 205