Eamonn Dempsey discusses the importance of farmyard management and storage of slurry, soiled water, and farmyard manure to protect the environment and maintain soil fertility.

As winter approaches, farmers are advised to assess farmyards to ensure that storage facilities are leak-proof and structurally sound for the collection of pollutants such as slurry, soiled water, and silage effluent. Having the required slurry storage, keeping soiled areas to a minimum, and diverting clean water away are the main messages regarding farmyard conditionality.

It is important to have enough storage for the number of animals housed, with an additional buffer of slurry storage to reduce the need to empty tanks in poor weather. Rainwater gutters and downpipes, where required, must be maintained in good working order. All clean water on the farm should be diverted away from dirty yards and storage tanks, as this will preserve slurry storage capacity.

Soil samples incorporated into a Nutrient Management Plan allow the advisor and farmer to assess overall soil fertility status and indicate key priorities going forward, such as fertiliser allowances and slurry management. Modern slatted tanks are built to a high standard; however, issues can arise with walls due to construction faults or wear and tear over time.

A yard that cows cross when moving from a slatted shed to a roofed collecting yard is considered a dirty yard. The organic material on dirty yards can be cleaned off daily and stored in a tank. Rainfall from dirty yards is classified as soiled water and must be stored. In collecting yards where cows are standing and the solid material is scraped into a separate tank, the area can then be washed into a soiled water tank.

A cattle handling yard with a crush should be swept clean immediately after use, with solid scrapings put into a slatted tank or Farmyard Manure (FYM) store. Rainfall on these areas does not need to be collected.

Silage pits are another area of concern. Silage effluent channels should be free from blockages, with effluent diverted into a tank. Rainfall on self-feed silage areas, where animals stand, must be collected with their manure. Silage bales must not be stacked more than two bales high or stored within 20 metres of a surface water body or water abstraction point unless storage facilities are in place to collect any potential effluent.

FYM is the only organic fertiliser that may be stored in a field during the spreading season. However, FYM stored in a field during the prohibited spreading period will lead to a sanction. Farmers must set aside an area to manage farmyard manure from calving pens, calf houses, and waste silage. If farmyard manure is stored on a farmyard, all effluent generated from the manure must be directed to the effluent tank.

To prevent discharge from farm roadways to drains or rivers, farm roads must be cambered away from watercourses.

As a reminder to farmers, the deadline for spreading slurry is the 1^st of October, the deadline for spreading farmyard manure is the 1^st of November and soiled water cannot be spread between 1^st December and 31^st December.