The Department of Agriculture has admitted to the Irish Farmers Journal that it overstated the rate of out-of-tolerance results in fertiliser compliance testing last year.

The Department’s annual report, published in July, stated that some 11% of fertiliser samples were out of spec when tested against quality standards laid down in law.

However, the Department this week clarified that these reported figures failed to take account of the measurement of uncertainty associated with these tests.

It said that the correct out-of-tolerance finding for the 569 tests conducted last year was 4.6%, not 11%, and that the same error had been made when the Department reported results for 2022.

“The Department wishes to clarify that the 11% figure did not include the measurements of uncertainty (MU) associated with the test results, which means that the out-of-tolerances were overstated as the MU should be applied before reporting results,” a spokesperson told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“Uncertainty exists for all analyses; it is the margin of doubt that exists for the result of any measurement.

“In addition, each sample taken may undergo up to five separate laboratory tests and it is more correct to fully state the sample volumes in terms of the number of laboratory tests carried out.”

The Department has said that its reporting of out-of-tolerance results for fertiliser will reflect these changes in future.

The spokesperson added that the Department sees its relationship with fertiliser blenders as being “positive and practical” with those in the industry “free to raise concerns regarding the inspection programme without fear of punitive action”.

Fertiliser sales

Separately, Department data shows that there were 956,163t of fertiliser sold between the beginning of October 2023 and the end of June 2024.

This was up 2.65% on the corresponding volume over 2022-23 when sales dropped 16% on top of a 23% reduction the previous year.

By nutrient, nitrogen sales rose by 4.1%, phosphorus was back 6.5% and potassium increased by 6.4%.