Farm businesses across Northern Ireland are now invited to
register for the final year of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme
(SNHS). Online registration will open on Monday 16 June and close
on Monday 1 September 2025.
Farm businesses in Zone 4 (Co Antrim), and unregistered farm
businesses from Zones 1, 2 and 3 who previously expressed an
interest in the Scheme, will be contacted by the Agri-Food
Biosciences Institute (AFBI) in advance of registration
opening. They will be provided with details about how to
sign up online through a simple online process using the
Government Gateway platform: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/services/daera-online-services.
It is important to note that taking part in the Scheme and
completing the training is planned to be a conditionality for the
new Farm Sustainability Payment from January 2026.
Farm businesses are strongly encouraged to take this final
opportunity to join this groundbreaking scheme. The data captured
from the SNHS will provide farm businesses with vital information
on soil nutrient levels for each field on their farm as well as
an estimate of the amount of carbon stored in the soils,
hedgerows and trees and nutrient run off risk maps.
Online training by CAFRE will help farms to make use of the
results, to enable farms to be more nutrient efficient and
profitable.
Register for the training at: www.cafre.ac.uk/snhs-training
As the Scheme will generate a lot of important information unique
to each farm business, DAERA wants to reassure farmers that their
information will be protected under the SNHS Privacy
Notice: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/soil-nutrient-health-scheme-privacy-notice
and the General Data Protection Regulations.
Data collected in the SNHS will not be used for any enforcement
purposes. It will be shared only with AFBI for research purposes,
and with third party contractors who collect and analyse the soil
samples.
Further guidance on the Scheme is available on the DAERA
website: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/publications/soil-nutrient-health-scheme-frequently-asked-questions
Notes to editors:
- Registrations to Zone 1 of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme
(County Down and parts of Counties Antrim and Armagh) opened from
May to September 2022
- Zone 2 (Fermanagh, the west of County Armagh and South
Tyrone) opened from June to August 2023
- Zone 3 (North Tyrone Co Derry/Londonderry) opened from June
to August 2024
- Uptake by farm businesses across Zones 1, 2 and 3 was at 90%
overall
- Farmers in Zones 1, 2 and 3 who have not yet registered can
apply to the Scheme when it opens for Zone 4 registrations on 16
June 2025.
- Registration is through DAERA online services using a
Government Gateway Account at: https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/services/daera-online-services.
- Participation in the SNHS is planned to be a conditionality
for the Farm Sustainability Payment from 2026. It is planned that
farm businesses will be required to register for the Scheme and
complete the training offered by CAFRE.
- The roll-out of the SNHS continues with the Agri-Food and
Biosciences Institute (AFBI) working closely with the 3 main
sub-contractors for the delivery of the Scheme: RPS Group (soil
collection), Cawood/NRM (soil analysis) and Field Group (LiDAR
capture).
