County Derry farmers urged to register for Zone 3 of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme

DAERA Minister Andrew Muir is urging farmers in County Derry and north Tyrone to register for Zone 3 of Soil Nutrient Health Scheme by the extended date of September 6, 2024. 

Minister Muir said: “I am pleased that registrations to Zone 3 of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme are continuing to increase since it opened in June. However, I understand August is an extremely busy month for farm businesses and therefore I have agreed to offer a one week extension to the deadline for registering online.

“Over 12,000 farm businesses in Zones 1 and 2 are already benefitting from taking part in the Scheme, by receiving valuable information which helps farm businesses match slurry, fertiliser and lime applications to crop needs more accurately. This will help to increase efficiency while also reducing the farm’s environmental footprint.”

A key element of the scheme is completion of the Nutrient Management Planning training offered by DAERA’s College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) which is available at cafre.ac.uk/snhs-training

Participation in the SNHS will be a requirement to receive payments under future farm support schemes. This conditionality requires participation in the SNHS and completion of the CAFRE SNHS training when it is offered to farmers.

Registration for the Scheme is easy to do through the farm business Government Gateway Account: daera-ni.gov.uk/onlineservices Digital assistance is also available at local DAERA Direct offices or through an authorised agent. Registration has now been extended and will close at midnight on September 6, 2024.

Guidance and further information on the scheme including maps of the specific sampling zones and the registration portal to apply online, are available on the DAERA website at daera-ni.gov.uk/node/55313. Further information is also available on the AFBI website at afbini.gov.uk/articles/soil-nutrient-health-scheme