DAERA invites Northern Irish farmers on Wexford and Louth study tour

Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) is accepting applications for a three-day visit organised under the Innovation Visits Scheme. The programme is delivered by the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), and up to 20 places are available.

The tour is intended for dairy farms in Northern Ireland and will focus on the use of nutrients and the environmental effects of farming. Participants will be shown approaches that DAERA said could help improve nutrient utilisation, including planning systems, soil analysis and methods for applying both chemical fertilisers and organic manure.

Farm visits will form part of the programme. The itinerary includes Teagasc Johnstown Castle in County Wexford, which is the base for the Agricultural Catchments Programme (ACP). Participants will also travel to the Dunleer Catchment in County Louth, an area managed mainly for grassland farming.

The practical material will cover when manure and fertilisers are applied, the quantities used and the locations selected for application. These measures are listed alongside nutrient-management planning and soil testing as examples of mitigation techniques that farmers can use on their holdings.

The ACP is managed by Teagasc and provides data on agricultural catchments. DAERA described that information as “invaluable” for addressing sustainable food-production challenges, including water quality and the effects of farming practices.

Applications are limited to one owner or employee from each dairy-farm business with more than 100 livestock units. Applicants must be at least 18 years old and cannot be in full-time education. Places will be allocated with preference for candidates who satisfy the stated conditions, and every applicant must set out which innovations they could introduce on their own farm after returning from the tour.