Nearly 89% of Irish fertiliser users declared zero closing stock by deadline

Some 83,926 of the 94,619 professional fertiliser users who filed closing stock declarations on Ireland's National Fertiliser Database by the October 15, 2026 deadline — 88.6% — declared they held no fertiliser stock at all.

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) confirmed the figures. Every professional fertiliser user, including farmers, must file an annual closing stock declaration with the National Fertiliser Database (NFD); a nil declaration is required even where no stock is on hand. Stocks are counted as any fertiliser held at 11:59pm on September 14 each year, one minute before midnight.

What is actually sitting on farms?

The remaining 10,693 declarers recorded 237,935t of fertiliser in stock by October 15, 2026. DAFM's records show 100,563t of compound fertilisers and 137,372t of straight products declared.

The single largest category was compounds and blends without inhibitors, at 97,009t. Ammonium nitrate/lime mixtures followed at 72,894t. The full breakdown:

• Compounds and blends without inhibitors: 97,009t
• Ammonium nitrate/lime mixtures: 72,894t
• Other straights: 25,689t
• Urea products: 14,530t
• Straight products with inhibitors: 12,610t
• Processed lime: 8,486t
• Ground limestone: 1,777t
• Compounds and blends with inhibitors: 3,554t
• Other products: 1,384t

How did counties compare?

Cork recorded the highest number of declarations at 10,222, of which 8,203 were nil. Galway followed with 9,577 declarations and 8,874 nil returns. Donegal posted 7,300 declarations, with 6,916 nil. Mayo recorded 7,886 declarations, 7,421 of them nil.

Leitrim and Donegal showed the highest nil proportions: 2,698 of Leitrim's 2,802 declarations, or 96.3%, and 6,916 of Donegal's 7,300, or 94.7%, declared nothing in store. Waterford, by contrast, had the lowest nil share, at 1,380 of 1,699 declarations, or 81.2%, with Tipperary also relatively low at 4,408 nil from 5,275 declarations, or 83.6%.

Smaller counties produced correspondingly small volumes. Louth filed 919 declarations with 792 nil; Dublin filed 1,225 with 830 nil; Carlow filed 1,365 with 1,193 nil.

Why the deadline mattered beyond compliance

The closing stock count feeds directly into the €46.2 million Fertiliser Exceptional Aid Scheme announced by Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon. The targeted income support is calculated on fertiliser purchases recorded between September 15, 2024 and September 14, 2025. New entrants who began farming in 2026 will have support calculated on purchases recorded from September 15, 2025 to September 14, 2026.

Scheme parameters set a minimum of 2.5t of chemical fertiliser for eligibility and a maximum of 100t for which support will be granted. The rate is €40/t, with a minimum payment of €100. A farmer claiming on the full 100t ceiling would therefore receive €4,000 under the scheme. Payments are proposed to start issuing in early December 2026.

Friday, October 23 marked the final day for farmers to verify that correct sales data sits on the National Fertiliser Database, a prerequisite for drawing down the exceptional aid. Because the payment calculation rests on purchase records already held in the NFD, an inaccurate sales entry translates directly into a reduced or delayed payment.

Farmers who filed nil declarations by the deadline have met the stock-reporting obligation for 2026. Those with discrepancies in their purchase records should watch DAFM communications ahead of the December payment run, as the early-month timeline leaves a narrow correction window.