Regulations 39 and 40
Textual Amendments
F1Sch. 8 inserted (15.10.2019) by The Nutrient Action Programme (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 (S.R. 2019/183), reg. 1, Sch.
1. The following are the conditions for the purposes of regulation 40(1) in relation to the application to land on a grassland holding in any year of livestock manure in excess of the amount specified in regulation 9.N.I.
2. The amount of livestock manure from grazing livestock applied to land each year on a grassland holding, including by the animals themselves, shall not exceed the amount of manure containing 250kg nitrogen per hectare, subject to the conditions laid down in paragraphs 3 to 7.
3. The total nitrogen inputs shall neither exceed the foreseeable nutrient demand of the crop nor the maximum fertilisation rate applicable to the grassland holding, established in these Regulations, and shall take into account the supply from the soil.
4. A fertilisation account, including information related to the management of nitrogen and phosphorus inputs and the management of dirty water shall be prepared and kept for each grassland holding and submitted to the Department for each calendar year by 1st March of the following calendar year.
5. Periodic sampling and analyses of the soil with respect to nitrogen and phosphorus shall be performed by each grassland holding, at least every four years for each homogeneous area of grassland, with regard to crop rotation and soil characteristics.
6. At least one analysis per four hectares shall be carried out.
7. Livestock manure shall not be spread in the autumn before grass cultivation.
8. For each grassland holding, the controller shall ensure that the phosphorus balance, calculated in accordance with paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 and Tables 2 and 7 of that Schedule, does not exceed a surplus of 10kg phosphorus per hectare per year.
9. At least 50% of slurry produced on the holding shall be applied on or before 15th June of each year. Low emission slurry spreading equipment shall be used for any slurry applications after 15th June of each year.
10. Temporary grassland shall be ploughed in spring.
11. Ploughed grass on all soil types shall be followed immediately by a crop with high nitrogen demand.
12. Crop rotation shall not include leguminous or other plants fixing atmospheric nitrogen. However, crop rotation may include clover in grassland with less than 50% clover and other leguminous plants that are undersown with grass.
13. In this Schedule—
(a)“autumn” means the months of September, October and November;
(b)“fertilisation account” means the nutrient balance based on the real use and uptake of nutrients;
(c)“spring” means the months of March, April and May.]