Poultry News
  • Production
    • Broiler Production
    • Ducks
    • Egg Production
    • Game
    • Hatching
    • Housing
    • Turkeys
  • Processing
  • Business & Politics
    • Business
    • Economics
    • EU & Politics
    • Marketing
    • People
    • Training & Education
  • Welfare
    • Environment
    • Food Safety
    • Vet & Medication
    • Welfare
  • Feed
  • Genetics
  • New Products
  • Magazines
    • July 2025
    • 2025 National Egg and Poultry Awards finalists supplement
    • June 2025
    • 2025 Innovation supplement
    • May 2025
    • April 2025
    • March 2025
    • 2025 Feed and Nutrition supplement
    • February 2025
    • January 2025
    • December 2024
    • November 2024
    • October 2024
    • September 2024
    • 2024 Building for the Future supplement
    • August 2024
    • 2024 Poultry Health supplement
    • July 2024
    • 2024 National Egg and Poultry Awards finalists supplement
    • June 2024
    • 2024 Innovation supplement
    • Pig & Poultry Fair 2024
    • May 2024
    • April 2024
    • March 2024
    • February 2024
    • January 2024
    • December 2023
    • November 2023
    • Processing Equipment Supplement – Nov 2023
    • October 2023
    • Building Supplement – Sept 2023
    • September 2023
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Manage Jobs
  • Events
    • National Egg and Poultry Awards
    • Poultry Fair
    • Webinars
Twitter LinkedIn
  • FREE Email Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us
Twitter LinkedIn
Podcast
Poultry News
  • Production
    • Broiler Production
    • Ducks
    • Egg Production
    • Game
    • Hatching
    • Housing
    • Turkeys
  • Processing
  • Business & Politics
    • Business
    • Economics
    • EU & Politics
    • Marketing
    • People
    • Training & Education
  • Welfare
    • Environment
    • Food Safety
    • Vet & Medication
    • Welfare
  • Feed
  • Genetics
  • New Products
  • Magazines
    1. July 2025
    2. 2025 National Egg and Poultry Awards finalists supplement
    3. June 2025
    4. 2025 Innovation supplement
    5. May 2025
    6. April 2025
    7. March 2025
    8. 2025 Feed and Nutrition supplement
    9. February 2025
    10. January 2025
    11. December 2024
    12. November 2024
    13. October 2024
    14. September 2024
    15. 2024 Building for the Future supplement
    16. August 2024
    17. 2024 Poultry Health supplement
    18. July 2024
    19. 2024 National Egg and Poultry Awards finalists supplement
    20. June 2024
    21. 2024 Innovation supplement
    22. Pig & Poultry Fair 2024
    23. May 2024
    24. April 2024
    25. March 2024
    26. February 2024
    27. January 2024
    28. December 2023
    29. November 2023
    30. Processing Equipment Supplement – Nov 2023
    31. October 2023
    32. Building Supplement – Sept 2023
    33. September 2023
    Featured

    Poultry Business – July 2025 issue

    By Chloe RyanJuly 1, 2025
    Recent

    Poultry Business – July 2025 issue

    July 1, 2025

    Poultry Business – 2025 National Egg and Poultry Awards finalists supplement

    July 1, 2025

    Poultry Business – June 2025 issue

    June 9, 2025
  • Jobs
    • Browse Jobs
    • Post a Job
    • Manage Jobs
  • Events
    • National Egg and Poultry Awards
    • Poultry Fair
    • Webinars
Twitter LinkedIn
Poultry News
News

UFU warns over draft ammonia strategy

Michael BarkerBy Michael BarkerFebruary 13, 20233 Mins Read
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Share
Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email

The Ulster Farmers’ Union has warned that Northern Ireland’s draft ammonia strategy contains elements of serious concern to farmers.

UFU said its committees have scrutinised the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs’ (DAERA) draft ammonia strategy and are concerned about proposed targeted measures on international designated sites.

That includes a ban on spreading manure within 50m of an internationally designated site by January 2025 and a requirement for all slurry within 1km of an internationally designated site to be spread by low emission slurry spreading equipment (LESSE) by January 2025, with the potential for other enhanced measures.

UFU president David Brown explained: “With the majority of Northern Ireland’s coast, loughs, hills and river systems listed as designated sites, the targeted measures focused on these specific areas has the potential to seriously hinder farming activities and impact a significant number of farmers financially.

“Ammonia is typically seen as a livestock problem, but all sectors will be affected with large areas of arable land being potentially caught up in the proposed policy. This is something that many farmers are completely unaware of and DAERA haven’t even bothered to do any modelling on the potential costs to the farms in these areas.”

UFU observed that in the consultation document, DAERA states that it wants to encourage “traditional farming practices” in these areas but fails to elaborate on this, which UFU says leaves farmers worried that their activities close to designated sites will be severely restricted.

“DAERA’s reference to ‘traditional farming practices’ is somewhat insulting to farmers and also suggests a lack of understanding about potential unintended consequences,” Brown said. “Farmers simply do not have the financial means to suddenly stop managing areas of land and DAERA need to go back to the drawing board with some of these proposals.”

Concern around splash plates

UFU is also concerned about plans to phase out splash plates on all farms. “LESSE is extremely expensive to purchase, with no firm commitment to financial support being made by DAERA,” Brown said. “If a contractor needs to be used as an alternative, smaller farmers tend to be put to the end of a long list, losing their flexibility to spread slurry during the most optimum conditions. This proposal will hit smaller farmers hard across NI and needs to be re-examined by DAERA.”

The deadline for consultation responses on the ammonia strategy is March 3, and the UFU has urged Northern Irish farmers to feed back.

“The majority of farmers across NI are going to be impacted by this ammonia strategy regardless of what they farm,” Brown said. “The proposed measures have the potential to cause serious issues and it’s important that every farmer makes their concerns known. We encourage everyone to attend the DAERA meetings next week to help ensure that appropriate changes are made to this proposed ammonia strategy.

“The UFU will be finalising its response at the end of the month. We ask members to feed their views through their committee representatives for inclusion and we will be making it clear that many of the proposals are unacceptable in their current form,” said the UFU president.

The DAERA meetings are scheduled for Monday February 13, at Greenmount Campus at 7.30pm, and on Wednesday February 15, at Loughry Campus at 7.30pm.

Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email
Previous ArticleProgres joins AB Vista portfolio
Next Article GCA survey open for suppliers
Michael Barker

Michael Barker is an experienced food industry writer and regular contributor to Poultry Business.

Read Similar Stories

News

National Egg & Poultry Awards: Winners announced!

July 9, 20257 Mins Read
Feed & Nutrition

ABN kicks off major feed mill project

July 8, 20251 Min Read
Feed & Nutrition

Why probiotics deserve a place in turkey diets

July 7, 20253 Mins Read
Latest News

EFSA warns of bird migration and US imports pathways for AI into Europe

July 11, 2025

Comment: New catching rules are a disaster

July 10, 2025

Comment: Skills for what?

July 10, 2025
Sponsored Content

Navigating Sustainability in Egg Production: Practical Steps for Producers

June 1, 2025

Maintain stable and continuous coccidiosis control amidst stocking density reductions

November 1, 2024
© 2024 MA Agriculture Ltd, a Mark Allen Group company

Privacy Policy | Cookies Policy | Terms & Conditions

  • Farmers Weekly
  • AA Farmer
  • Farm Contractor
  • Pig World

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.