Nitrates banding and the options available to you

Patrick Gowing, Teagasc Dairy Specialist, joins Stuart Childs on this week’s Dairy Edge podcast to talk about the options available to dairy farmers impacted by the introduction of the new nitrates banding.

Patrick explains that people need to optimise their nitrogen (N) allowance on their farms by making sure that they are efficient in terms of the stock numbers and type that they have on their farms.

He then discussed a number of different options from the exporting of slurry, to contract rearing the young stock, leasing additional land and reducing cow numbers - or a combination of all as solutions to the impact of banding.

Finally Patrick says that in reality, this year is no different to any other with the exception of the introduction of the banding, in that people should sit down every year anyway and assess their farm’s physical and financial performance and make decisions such as additional land leasing on the basis of solid justification from a farm performance - and more importantly from a financial point of view - rather than simply stay doing what you are doing as this might not be the right decision for your farm.

For more episodes of the DairyEdge podcast, a Teagasc co-production with LastCastMedia.com, visit the showpage.

Also read: What is the impact of 'banding' on my farm?