Changes to the nitrates regulations… Again!

The mid-term review of the fifth Nitrates Action Programme (NAP) has introduced 10 new requirements to the Good Agricultural Practice regulations, Specialist on the Agricultural Catchments Programme, Eddie Burgess tells us more.

We are currently in the fourth and final year of the fifth Nitrates Action Programme (NAP). The European Commission requested that a mid-term review of the NAP be undertaken and that process has just been completed. The review has been a long and drawn out process and the outcome (SI number 42 of 2025) is being signed into law a year later than what was hoped for. Factors that contributed to the delay include concerns over:

1. a Judicial Review of Ireland’s 5^th NAP taken by An Taisce, which has been referred to the European Court by the High Court, and
2. making the best possible case to support Ireland’s application this year to implement a derogation to the Nitrates Directive’s 170 kg organic N stocking rate limit.

In 12 months’ time, we will all have to get familiar with yet another new set of regulations to be implemented under the 6^th NAP, but in the meantime the mid-term review has introduced 10 new requirements to the Good Agricultural Practice regulations. These are:

1. Revised nutrient (N & P) excretion rates for calves up to 90 days old, 4-12 month old animals and 1 and 2 year old cattle – both male and female.
2. Revised N excretion rates for dairy cows where low crude protein concentrates are fed.
3. The current 15% max crude protein allowed for cows and cattle over two years old at grass between the 15^th of April and the 30^th of September is reduced to 14% and applies to all dairy farms.
4. The maximum stocking rate for derogation farms of 220 kg N per hectare will apply to areas identified by the EPA in need of nitrates reductions from the 1^st of December, 2025 (more land will come into the 220 map as it’s known).
5. High stocked farms (greater than 170 kg N/ha of grassland stocking rate) will have a cut in chemical N by 5% for 2025, and lower stocked farms with a grassland stocking rate of <85kg have a cut in chemical N as well.
6. Derogation farms with an out block of land located more than 30km form the main holding will be limited to a stocking rate of 170 kg N/hectare on that block, unless they can demonstrate good distribution of nutrients across the whole farm.
7. Clover must be included when reseeding grassland on all farms.
8. Use of unprotected urea will be restricted from 15^th
9. Movement of Organic Manures is to be notified to the Department within 4 days of it happening.
10. Soils samples should be labelled with a geo-reference or the fields LPIS number from the 15^th of September.

A full copy of the amending regulations (SI No 42 of 2025) is available here.

It is very easy to be confused with all the changes and reviews taking place. This review of the fifth NAP is a completely separate process to the review of the derogation that took place last year which resulted in a new limit of 220kg organic N replacing the 250 kg organic N stocking rate limit for most of the country. These current changes were all outlined in a consultation that took place last December, and have been implemented exactly as they were outlined in that document.  See this link for more details: Proposed Additional Measures for the Fifth Nitrates Action Programme