Officials play down pig farm ‘disaster’ fears

IRELAND - Pig farmers have warned the Nitrates Directive will drive them out of business, without compensation.

But Environment Department officials say they had no contact from the pig industry in four years of consultations on nitrates regulations which they hope to finalise with the European Commission this week.

Pig and poultry farmers warn that most of their manure is exported to neighbouring farms, many of which cannot take their manure when the Nitrates Directive is enforced.

The industry’s 1,200 direct and 4,000 related jobs and annual exports of e320m are endangered, says Co Cork pig farmer Maurice O’Brien.

He said the Directive favours the chemical fertiliser industry, from which Ireland imports 360,000 tonnes of nitrogen and 40,000 tonnes of phosphorus per year, while threatening Irish pig and poultry farms which produce 22,000 tonnes of nitrogen and 4,000 tons of P.

Environment Department officials have admitted that pig farmers face difficulties in finding adequate spread-lands for manure. “Pig farmers must convince other farmers that they are making available a quality product of a certain standard that is not over-diluted or over-concentrated”, said John Sadlier, principal officer in the Department, in last week’s Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food debate.

To continue reading this article please click here

Source: Irish Examiner

© 5M Enterprises Ltd.
2000 - 2007
No part of this site may be
reproduced without permission

5M Enterprises Ltd., 4 Haywood House, Hydra Business Park, Nether Lane, Sheffield, S35 9ZX, England.

Co. Registration 3332321 - A Benchmark Holdings Ltd. Company