All farmers using fertiliser will be required by law to be registered on the National Fertiliser Database from 1 September.

The Veterinary Medicinal Products, Medicated Feed and Fertilisers Regulation Act 2023 is now in operation, and farmers can now register for the database on agfood.ie.

Farmers will be assigned an ID number. In the case of livestock farmers, this will be their herd number.

From 1 September, it will be an offence to sell or purchase fertiliser without being registered and any fertiliser imports into the State must be notified on the database (within 72 hours of import).

All fertiliser sales must be recorded on the database from 1 September.

Fertiliser sales data from September, October and November 2023 can be submitted by 15 December, and from December monthly returns must be submitted by the 15th of the subsequent month.

For example, if a farmer purchases fertiliser in February 2024, the merchant must submit the data by 15 March.

Data

During the year, each farmer will be able to view and download their data from the database, if they wish. When the fertiliser spreading season for nitrogen and phosphorous ends on 14 September, farmers will have one month to enter details of closing stock of fertiliser (including nil stock) on their farm (ie fertiliser on-farm at 23:59 on 14 September).

This data, together with any fertiliser purchases from 15 September, will be the opening stock value for the following year, the Department has said.

“Having a record of opening and closing stock of fertiliser on farm will allow farmers to accurately and easily record their overall fertiliser use during the year. Similarly, non-farmer professional fertiliser end-users will also be required to enter details of any closing stock (including nil stocks) of fertilisers held on their premises; this will occur in the same manner as for farmers,” it added.

Imports

Farmers can continue to purchase fertiliser from Northern Ireland. However, the legislation places a legal obligation on anyone importing fertiliser into the State (whether that is from a third country or another member state), to register as a fertiliser economic operator and to submit data on imports to the database.

Inspections

Risk-based physical checks on farm, as well as checks at merchant level by the Department, will be used to confirm the accuracy of information being uploaded to the database.

The database will also provide information to verify farmer compliance with the following eco-schemes: limiting chemical nitrogen usage, using a GPS controlled fertiliser spreader/sprayer, and soil sampling and appropriate liming, from 2024 onwards. For farmers in a nitrates derogation, information from the database will also be used to verify application of lime, where necessary. Under the new law, an authorised officer by the Department of Agriculture can enter and inspect any land or premises. They can require the farmer to produce fertiliser records, take samples of any fertiliser and inspect machinery.

Penalties

Penalties will apply to farmers or merchants who fail to comply with the requirement to register as a fertiliser economic operator or as a professional fertiliser end-user, and fail to supply details required by a fertiliser economic operator or end-user. Any farmer who provides information knowing it to be false or misleading commits an offence, and is liable on summary conviction to a fine up to €5,000.

If convicted on indictment, farmers and merchants could be fined up to €100,000 for failing to comply.

Timeline

  • 14 September: Declaration date of closing stocks for professional fertiliser end-users (farmers).
  • 30 September: Declaration date of closing stocks for fertiliser economic operators (merchants).

  • 15 October: Date by which farmers and merchants must submit closing stocks, including no stock, where relevant, to the database.

  • 15 December: Date by which merchants must submit September, October and November 2023 sales data.

  • 15 January 2024: Date by which merchants must submit December 2023 sales data. All monthly sales data from 1 December 2023 are required by the 15 of the subsequent month.