Smaller farms will be squeezed out of the land rental market if the proposed Nutrients Action Programme (NAP) goes ahead, a group of MLAs has been warned.

Alexander Kinnear from the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) said proposals for 3,500 intensive farms to meet tight phosphorus (P) balance rules will increase the demand for land.

“This will affect everybody. It will put competition on smaller farms for the land that they have in conacre. It will push them off the market because the bigger farms will have to get bigger,” he said.

Extremely critical

Speaking to Stormont’s agriculture committee, UFU representatives were extremely critical of how DAERA drew up draft proposals for the revised NAP.

UFU president William Irvine said the plan was designed by “people that live their lives sitting at a desk” with no input from farming organisations.

“There was no wider industry engagement leading up to this.

“We knew a consultation was coming, but they didn’t talk to us or anybody else about what view they might take on it,” he said.

A key issue in the draft NAP is the requirement for around 3,500 intensive farms to get to a P balance of 10kg per hectare in 2027, reducing to 8kg per hectare from 2029.

Irvine argued that the area of extra land required for intensive farms to be compliant with the proposed P balance limits will not be available in most cases.

“Make no mistake about it, whilst it does not use the exact words, by any interpretation it is a road to livestock reduction on farms that puts the viability of farms into question,” he said.

The UFU president said technologies are being developed and rolled out which will help reduce the build-up of surplus P on local farms, such as slurry separation and manure processing.

However, he argued that the NAP proposals “go too far, too quickly” as the technologies will not be available for widespread use on NI farms by the start of 2027.

“We are convinced it is possible to get to a better place whilst retaining a viable agriculture industry,” Irvine said.

Splash plate ban

Another key proposal in the draft NAP is the phasing out of splash plates and mandatory use of low emission slurry spreading equipment (LESSE) in three steps, running from 2027 to 2030.

Alexander Kinnear said the UFU has “a lot of questions” including how to avoid silage being contaminated by slurry spread with LESSE during dry weather, and how can LESSE be used on more marginal land.

Other issues raised relate to the availability of contractors to spread slurry for smaller farms, uncertainty around grant funding to help purchase equipment, and concerns about tanker manufacturers meeting demand if LESSE becomes mandatory.

“We keep hearing this phrase about ‘trusting the science’. Of course we must trust the science, but is it practical for all farms in NI to have this equipment? The answer is no,” Kinnear said.