The focus of this year’s upcoming Teagasc water quality conference will be on farm compliance, reducing nutrient losses to water and the role of good farming practices in protecting water quality.
The Teagasc water quality conference is taking place on Tuesday 24 November in the Heritage Hotel, Killenard, Co Laois.
The first session of the day will look at increasing compliance with national agricultural inspections programme (NAIP).
This session will feature contributions from Cork County Council and Teagasc, providing practical advice for farmers on how to prepare for a farm inspection and how to upgrade farm infrastructure to minimise nutrient loss to water.
A Limerick dairy farmer will also outline the improvements he made to the infrastructure on his farm to improve water quality.
The second session of the day will examine how to reduce nitrogen losses to water, by improving nitrogen balances in grass-based production systems. The role of cover crops in reducing nitrogen loss from tillage systems will also be discussed.
Attendees will also hear directly from a tillage farmer and a dairy farmer on what actions they have implemented on their farms.
Nitrates derogation
The third session will look at environmental policy and compliance, which will look at compliance with the habitats directive and water framework directive when granting individual nitrates derogations.
There will also a presentation on the importance of the closed period for slurry spreading and a case study presented on the Moynalty catchment of the River Boyne during this session.
“The Teagasc water quality conference is an opportunity for farmers, advisers, researchers and key stakeholders to share knowledge and practical solutions to improve water quality,” head of Teagasc water quality knowledge transfer department Noel Meehan said ahead of the conference.
“The collective effort of everyone in the sector is important to achieving results and I would urge as many as possible to attend this event on 24 November.”
To see the full conference programme and to register, visit www.teagasc.ie/water-quality-conference.
