Kieran Coughlan: Time to cut the bull on nitrates
No farmer or businessperson wishes to have their livelihood stripped away from them, and farmers are more than willing to play their part in helping the environment, says Kieran Coughlan. File picture
The latest Nitrate Derogation debacle leaves farmers with even more uncertainty than was already the case. For the uninitiated, farmers are limited in the number of animals they can carry per hectare of land. The limit is expressed in what is termed organic nitrogen per hectare.Â
The standard limit across the country is 170kg of nitrogen per hectare. An average dairy cow produces 92kg of nitrogen, meaning that, absent derogation, a dairy farmer with 100 acres or 40 hectares is limited to carrying about 73 cows.Â
