Farmers who were involved in "inappropriate slurry spreading" last year lost out on just over €95,000 on area based payments.

According to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) a total of 68 farmers received a "financial sanction" because of "inappropriate slurry spreading" in 2025.

These financial sanctions were deducted from Basic Income Support for Sustainability (BISS), Complementary Redistributive Income Support for Sustainability (CRISS), and Agri-Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES) payments.

A DAFM spokesperson said that Areas of Natural Constraints (ANC), Complementary Income Support for Young Farmers (CIS-YF), the Organic Farming Scheme (OFS) and the Straw Incorporation Measure (SIM) payments could also have been impacted.

"This penalty amount may include other sanctions imposed for breaches of other conditionality requirements.

"Furthermore, there are additional penalty amounts to be recouped where the sanction was applied after all payments due to the beneficiaries had been made," the spokesperson added.

Slurry

According to DAFM there were a total of 69 reported incidents of inappropriate slurry spreading throughout the country in 2025.

There were more reported incidents of "inappropriate slurry spreading" in Co.Cavan last year - 10 - compared to any other county, according to the latest government figures.

Next was Kerry, where there were eight incidents reported, followed by both Laois and Louth where six incidents were reported in each county.

The Good Agricultural Practice for the Protection of Waters Regulations, or the GAP Regulations, sets out the periods when the spreading of manures is prohibited. 

Earlier this month the Fine Gael TD for Cork North-Central, Colm Burke, had asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Martin Heydon, if there could be a "more flexible model of the closed period for the restriction of slurry and chemical fertiliser, in order that farmers can work with Ireland’s unpredictable weather conditions".

Deputy Burke suggested that perhaps there could be the "provision of a condition based model on a computer or smart phone application in conjunction with Met Éireann rainfall reports".

Minister Heydon told the deputy that the current GAP Regulations set out the circumstances when soiled water, organic or chemical fertilisers must not be applied to land during the open spreading period.

"These include, when the land is waterlogged, flooded or likely to flood, or when Met Éireann forecasts heavy rain within 48 hours," the minister added.

He also pointed to what he described as "clear research highlighting that the closed period aligns with periods of highest risk for nutrient loss from land".

Minister Heydon added: "In 2016, Teagasc's Agricultural Catchments Programme (ACP) published the findings of a 4-year assessment of nutrient losses from five different intensively managed Irish agricultural catchments.

"It identified that during the winter months there was a significantly greater proportion of nutrients being lost from agricultural land to water".

He also said that when there are unseasonably wet periods this ACP research also identified "higher than normal nutrient losses".