Farmers have been warned not to “dump” slurry on land just because the closed period has ended, because they will lose money and damage water quality.

Teagasc sustainability adviser Claire Mooney urged farmers to wait until grass growth conditions were better, otherwise slurry spreading during the current frost would be “pouring petrol on the fire” of water quality issues, and a waste of valuable nutrients.

Speaking at the Centenary Thurles water quality conference, she added that farmers using umbilical systems to spread slurry at this time of year were putting slurry out when growth was not there to take up the nutrients.

She urged farmers whose tanks are full to only spread enough, in suitable fields, to ease the tank pressure, and to hold the rest for better growing conditions.

Tipperary has the worst water quality in the southeast, the conference heard, with 54 of its 209 water bodies declining in water quality.

On a positive note, Mooney said that the small changes made by all farmers could make a big difference to water quality.

Adhering to buffer margins of at least 5m from all water bodies is the cheapest thing any farmer can do to improve water quality, she said.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s the River Suir or a dry drain, they are all pathways to the river,” she warned.

Responding to criticism from the floor that Teagasc advice to delay slurry spreading was completely at odds with a few years ago, Mooney told the Irish Farmers Journal that when science changes, Teagasc advice follows.