The Minister for Agriculture, Mr Joe Walsh today extended the deadline for the spreading of slurry for a further month to the end of August to help farmers in the Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS) cope with the build-up of slurry on their lands.
Earlier this month, Mr Walsh introduced a similar temporary measure for 30,000 REPS farmers affected by the weather conditions this summer.
Those measure applied to farmers who joined the previous REPS and were required to spread half the slurry produced during the winter housing period by July 1st
"While the situation has improved in many parts of the country, there are still some farmers who have not been able to meet the extended deadline," Mr Walsh said. "For that reason, I have agreed to extend the deadline for a further month to 31 August."
Farmers who joined REPS since the current scheme opened in November 2000 have until August 31st to spread all slurry produced during the winter housing period.