Registration date extended for Zone 3 of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme

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

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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 from the CAFRE website.

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. 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 6 September 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. Further information is also available on the AFBI website.

Notes to editors: 

1. To date 4,567 farm businesses have registered to Zone 3 of the scheme.
2. The online registration portal will now close at midnight on Friday 6 September 2024.
3. Registrations to Zone 1 of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme opened in May to September 2022. Zone 2 opened in June to August 2023 with over 90% uptake in both zones.
4. Zone 1 covers County Down and parts of Counties Antrim and Armagh and Zone 2 covers Fermanagh, the west of County Armagh and South Tyrone and opened for registrations in June 2023 with over 90% uptake.
5. Zone 4 (North East) will follow in 2025/26.
6. Farmers in Zones 1 and 2 who have not yet registered can apply from 24 June to 6 September 2024.
7. Registration is through DAERA online services using a Government Gateway Account.
8. The roll-out of the SNHS scheme continues with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) working closely with the contractors for the soil collection (RPS Group), and analysis (Cawood/NRM).  
9. The AFBI SNHS Admin team can be contacted on 02890 255212 or via email at: SNHS@afbini.gov.uk
10. All media queries should be directed to the DAERA Press Office: pressoffice.group@daera.ni.gov.uk or telephone 02890 163460.
11. Follow DAERA on X (formally twitter) and Facebook.
12. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.

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