THE three-year extension to the Nitrates Derogation for Ireland has been welcomed by local farm leaders, who described it as ‘a major relief’ for thousands of farmers across the country.

Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon, announced the derogation extension [2026 to 2028] on Tuesday morning, following months of intensive negotiations, lobbying, diplomatic missions and scientific studies.

Connacht IFA Chair, Brendan Golden, told the Farming Tribune, that there was a real sense of relief this week when final confirmation came through about the derogation extension.

“This is very good news for Irish agriculture in terms of maintaining our grass based production systems and this will impact positively, not only on the larger dairy farmers, but also thousands of other smaller farming enterprises,” said Brendan Golden.

He cautioned however that the three years of the derogation extension would involve a lot of work and commitment from farmers to achieve certain targets in terms of water quality – but all believed that this was an achievable goal.

When making the announcement this week, Minister Heydon, praised the efforts of Taoiseach, Micheal Martin and Tánaiste, Simon Harris, in working with EU leaders, while also singling out the importance of the visit of EU Commissioner, Jessika Roswall, to Ireland.

“The Commissioner’s visit to a typical Irish farm, where we saw the best of Ireland’s outdoor, grass-based system, with two generations making a living from the farm, showed a family farm model of animals being outdoors – the cornerstone of our sustainability.

“Improving water quality is a critical part of continued access to the Nitrates Derogation and is a key part of the plan that we published last year,” said Minister Heydon.

IFA President Francie Gorman said the vote in Brussels this week to extend the Nitrates derogation for three years, up to the end of 2028, would be a relief to farmers, but added that a more longer-term solution was needed.

Farmers across Galway will benefit greatly from the continued availability of the Nitrates Derogation, according to East Galway Fine Gael TD, Pete Roche TD. “Securing continued availability of the Nitrates Derogation has been a key priority for Fine Gael,” he said.

The main extra conditions with the new derogation include more storage capacity for soiled water/slurry; a reduction in chemical nitrogen allowances for some farmers; increased buffer zones in rivers in the south/south-east area of Ireland; and more local authority-EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] inspections of derogation farmers.

Meanwhile, the sixth Nitrates Action Programme has now been signed into law by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, James Browne, involving a 5% reduction in chemical fertiliser use and increased ‘buffer zones’ for spreading fertiliser near watercourses.

Pictured: Minister for Agriculture, Martin Heydon