The implications of Irish legislation and regulations for the land spreading of manures from intensive agricultural enterprises

摘要

Improving manure management on farms is essential to sustainability. In Ireland, considerable progress in this context has been made in the last decade. However, newly introduced legislative requirements are now demanding even greater change for larger pig, poultry and mushroom enterprises. Achieving both a better balance between the applied manure nutrient loads, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus and the crop requirements are now a requirement. The implications are that larger land spreading areas are required than have been traditionally used by these enterprises. However, compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency's Batneec regulations; the national Code of Good Agricultural Practice to Protect Groundwater from Pollution by Nitrates; the general exclusion of land associated with the national Rural Environment Protection Scheme; the localised concentration of the enterprises in parts of the country and their general separation from tillage areas all impact seriously on the availability of suitable spread lands for the manure. In the absence of improvements in the national water quality it is inevitable that other agricultural enterprises will be regulated. Therefore, current legislative controls must be carefully monitored and any future control considered in context so that the viability of the manure land spreading option remains, particularly for the intensive agricultural enterprises. Sustainable alternatives do not currently exist.