Minister for Agriculture confirms banding options for dairy farmers in Ireland

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Charlie McConalogue has today (Wednesday, February 22) confirmed the nitrates banding options that will be available to dairy farmers this year. It comes as all dairy farmers can now use the Irish Cattle Breeding Federation (ICBF) website to confirm which option they wish to select for 2023 along with their associated band. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) said that farmers should submit information to confirm the 2023 excretion rate band for their herd by March 16, 2023. DAFM noted that a “small number” of dairy farmers have not consented to their milk purchaser sharing their data with ICBF. These farmers will have to ask their milk purchaser to complete a statement and provide supporting information to the department so their herd excretion rate band can be determined. Advertisement Banding Up until the end of 2022, all dairy cows in the country were considered equal in producing 89kg of livestock manure ...