Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
126. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine his proposals to increase the use of low-emission slurry spreading technology as per the climate action plan should the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, grant aid no longer be permissible arising from the draft nitrates action plan. [6890/22]
View answerOne would wonder if something else is going on given that so many Members who have asked questions are missing. I have never seen it happen with agriculture questions before.
The Deputy should not look a gift horse in the mouth.
Absolutely not. I welcome the opportunity to raise the issue of low-emission slurry spreading with the Minister. We are all agreed that this has a key role to play both in our emissions targets and in improving water quality. In the context of all of that, could the Minister outline his proposals to expand the use of low-emission slurry spreading and to support farmers in making the change?
Great progress has been made in recent years on the introduction of low emissions slurry spreading and it is having a real impact. Through the on-farm investment scheme, TAMS, we have seen just under €100 million invested in low emissions slurry spreading machines and equipment. There are now approximately 3,500 low emissions slurry spreading machines in the country, from a base of none between five and seven years ago.
Most of the national ammonia emissions come from the agricultural sector, and a significant volume from slurry. The old splash-plate technology where slurry hits the plate and then sprays up in the air before it hits the ground increases ammonia emissions and it increases the loss to the atmosphere. It also leads to less of the organic material going into the ground and growing grass. What low emissions slurry spreading does, either through dribbling or a trailing shoe system, is leave slurry along the ground. The machinery is much more expensive. Machines can cost up to €40,000 but there is a tremendous number of them now. We have seen a significant uptake. It is a requirement now for all farmers in nitrates derogation to spread slurry using low emissions slurry spreading equipment. So far, it has resulted in a reduction of 7% in our national ammonia emissions. We are going to step this up a lot more significantly in the time ahead. It has great potential. It is a win-win.
The capital investment is more expensive but we are putting the grant aid into that to support farmers. Ultimately, it pays off in the utilisation of nitrogen and other ingredients in the slurry to grow grass and get it into the ground, where we want it to be. It needs to be spread at a rate that is most efficient so the grass grows while minimising in every way possible the impact on the environment around us. I look forward to continuing to step this out to support farmers to adopt this technology over the coming years. I commend the agricultural community on the tremendous work it has done in adapting to this and embracing it.
I agree. This is a great example that shows that when farmers are given the technology and shown the alternative practices that can allow them to reduce emissions and reduce damage to water sources, they will embrace that and move forward. However, they need support. The Minister is correct that TAMS has been very effective in ensuring people have the necessary machinery and can acquire it in an affordable way. However, in the event that this machinery essentially becomes mandatory across the board, TAMS will not be available as a utilisation to ensure other farmers can get that. What are the specific proposals to deliver grant aid to those farmers and farm contractors who want this equipment but need the financial support to be able to get it?
Under EU rules on who can get grants under the programme, farm contractors are not eligible, although farmers are. The Deputy is correct that where it is a requirement and an obligation on farmers to spread using low emissions slurry spreading, we cannot grant aid compliance, even where it is a requirement for a farmer to use something to achieve compliance. What has happened in recent years is that we have made sure to give lead-in periods in advance of something becoming an obligation so farmers can prepare for that. In that advance period, they have been able to avail of grants. There are more than 3,000 low-emissions slurry spreading machines being used by farmers in derogation who would have purchased them in advance and are now making strong use of them. Likewise, in regard to proposed changes to be made to the nitrates derogation, farmers will be given a lead-in time in order that they have advance notice to ensure support is available in advance of it becoming a requirement. We want to support farmers to adopt this. We want to support them with the cost because it is going to make a real impact on farm profitability and better use of nutrients and, very importantly, it is much kinder from an environmental point of view.
I advocate that we have an exclusive scheme on this issue because we know the benefits it brings. Rather than forcing everybody through the TAMS route, which does not cater for everybody, and through a route that excludes a large cohort in the spreading of slurry - that is, farm contractors - we should have an Exchequer-funded scheme for this. I have said this at the agriculture committee. It makes no sense that, at Exchequer level, we have a direct scheme that will allow somebody who lives across the road from a DART station and may have ten public bus route options available to them, to get a grant directly from the Government for the purchase of a new car, yet we do not have a scheme in place to provide a grant directly to those people who we know can make a massive impact simply by changing their slurry spreading machinery. Is the Minister open to that type of concept? Is he willing to discuss with the Department of Finance how it can be delivered?
We have seen massive progress and most contractors are now using low emissions slurry spreading as well. That is where the demand will be from farmers in the years ahead. With regard to TAMS and other grants within the Department, my objective is to ensure we can support the sector and move to low emissions slurry spreading and then advance and accelerate that over the coming years. We are reaching a tipping point where farmers see this being used, they see the value of it and they get feedback from the farmers who are using it in terms of its efficiency, its effectiveness and its cost saving. Speaking to the issue we discussed earlier on Priority Questions regarding the cost of chemical fertilisers this year, farmers are increasingly going to be looking to the potential to efficiently use organic fertiliser and maximise its potential as a growth nutrient through further adoption over the course of the year of low emissions slurry spreading.
