Nitrates Usage

Tuesday, 7 October 2025

Questions (498)

Ryan O'Meara

Question:

498. Deputy Ryan O'Meara asked the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine for a breakdown of derogation farms by farm size and number of dairy cows, as per tables (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [53942/25]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine

The following data is based on the 6,824 remaining applicants for the 2024 Nitrates Derogation when those who withdrew their applications and those deemed ineligible arising from my Department's checks are excluded. Please note checks have not fully concluded regarding the 2024 Nitrates Derogation so this data is subject to change.

Table 1 below provides a breakdown of 2024 derogation farms by farm size. Table 2 shows the 2024 derogation farms with dairy cows broken-down by the average number of dairy cows held on each of those farms across the year 2024.

The total number of farmers covered by Table 1 is greater than the number covered by Table 2 as not all derogation applicants are dairy farmers.

Table 1 breakdown of 2024 derogation farms by farm size (hectares, Ha)

Farm Size	Number of Farmers
<10 Ha	50
11 – 20 Ha	141
21 – 30 Ha	341
31 – 40 Ha	648
41 – 60 Ha	1628
61 – 80 Ha	1434
80 Ha +	2582

Table 2 breakdown of 2024 derogation farms with dairy cows

Number of Dairy Cows	Number of Farmers
< 20 Cows	90
21 – 40 Cows	201
41 – 60 Cows	593
61 – 80 Cows	868
81 – 100 Cows	985
101 – 130 Cows	1218
131 – 150 Cows	569
151 – 200 Cows	807
201 – 300 Cows	597
300 Cows +	321