Nitrates Agreement is a Government FailingMacra National President Michael Gowing, commenting on the press statement issued regarding the agreement between the Departments of Agriculture and Environment and the EU Commission on Ireland’s 2nd National Action Program under the Nitrates Directive, said, “Although there have been minor improvements for the tillage sector, the Government have missed the opportunity to correct the errors of the past such as farming to rigid calendar dates.”
Mr. Gowing said, “The current farming calendar dates for slurry spreading are totally impractical, rigid and unworkable from an environmental and economic point of view and are seriously impacting on the real farming calendar.” Mr. Gowing said, “The green shoots of the Harvest 2020 report have been burnt by inaction on the part of the Government. They fail to tackle one of the most impractical restrictions, farming calendar dates, under the regulation. They fail to acknowledge that qualified farmers have a greater level of knowledge of what is ‘best farming practice’ in terms of the overall farm and environmental management.”
