A good turnout of ACA (NI) members attended their meeting in the Cookstown Enterprise Centre on June 30.
The guest speaker was Cormac McKervey, Agri Business Manager for Ulster Bank, who gave an in-depth presentation of his views on the future of agriculture within NI.
He covered the bank’s position on future financial arrangements for its clients when the level of support changes. Mr McKervey encouraged farmers to bench
mark and plan for the future. He finished by discussing the importance of zero carbon for the future.
The importance of carbon within the environment led into the topic of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme. ACA(NI) members are raising the importance of this scheme with all their clients.
David Rankin, Chairperson of
ACA (NI), said it is vital that everyone participates in the SNHS if they want to receive future payments under the different support schemes, probably from 2024 onwards.
The scheme is being rolled out in four different zones with Zone 1 for farmers in County Down, part of County Antrim and County Armagh already receiving a letter advising them to register for the scheme.
Farmer businesses in Zone 1 can either apply through their own Government Gateway or by contacting an ACA (NI) agent, now. A full list of ACA (NI) agents can be found on website www.acani.org
David advised farmers to contact their agent if they are submitting an application themselves.
The benefits of getting a soil analysis are:
n Free;
n Full soil analysis for your whole area farmed;
n Derogated farmers have all the analysis at once, rather than doing 25 per cent each year;
n Estimates of the carbon stored in the soils, hedgerows, and trees on your farm;
n Will be rewarded with future Environmental payments – Farm
Sustainability Payment and Fa-rming with Nature schemes. Also, to receive the Beef Sustainability Payment you must be in receipt of the Farm Sustainability Payment;
n CAFRE led training on the interpretation of the results;
n Results will be personal to your individual farm and only available to you.
All farms eligible for Zone 1 sampling will have received a letter from AFBI inviting them to join the scheme and including instructions on the registration process, which is now set to close on August 31.
David urges all farmers in Zone 1 to apply immediately because if they don’t they will not benefit from this very beneficial scheme and will lose out financially in the future.
As well as the above benefits the free service provided by DAERA and AFBI will provide participating farmers with:
n Detailed information on the nutrient status of their soils;
n Runoff risk maps for nutrient loss to waterbodies for each field sampled;
n Estimates of carbon stored in their soils and as above ground biomass for each farm;
n Training on the interpretation of soil nutrient reports and generation of farm nutrient plans (via the training provided by CAFRE).
The SNHS is one of the most comprehensive regional soil nut-
rient sampling schemes to be undertaken anywhere in the world. It will enable Northern Ireland farmers to optimise crop nutrient applications, assess on-farm carbon stocks and build farm resilience. Importantly, part-
icipating in the SNHS will also
be a requirement for farmers accessing some future agri-cultural support schemes like the Farm Sustainability Payment and Farming with Nature. ACA NI would encourage farmers to register early to take advantage of this free opportunity.
The information provided by the scheme will allow farmers to target the application of crop nutrients to their soils, reduce nutrient waste and help increase farm profitability. Reductions in excess and better placement of nutrients should, in turn, lead to a decrease in losses to waterbodies and thereby contribute to ach-ieving the targets of the Nutrient Action Programme. It will also provide a baseline assessment of farm carbon stocks in soils and hedgerows and contribute to the transition to net zero farming in Northern Ireland.
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