If your farm is within an NVZ, you may be able to apply for a grassland derogation to use up to 250kg of nitrogen per hectare from grazing livestock manure. To be eligible your agricultural land for the year derogated must be at least 80% grassland, you are also only able to derogate ‘grazing livestock’ (cattle, sheep, deer, goat & horses).
Usually, farms trying to apply for a grassland derogation are limited and even refused due to the 80% grassland rule. The most common enterprises trying to get these derogations are dairy farms who typically use a proportion of their agricultural land to grow crops such as Maize or Wheat to feed their livestock.
A senior EA adviser has now stated that Maize under-sown with grass can be included within the grassland percentage for this derogation, which will majorly help some farmers needing this derogation to continue their current practices without the need to import as much additional feed for their stock.
