Minister Andrew Muir urges farmers to register for Soil Nutrient Health Scheme as deadline extended

Farm businesses in County Antrim and beyond are being urged to take their final opportunity to register for the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme (SNHS), with the closing date for applications now extended until midnight on Monday 8 September 2025.

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) confirmed the extension to ensure as many farmers as possible can take part.

The scheme, which provides detailed information to help farmers manage slurry, fertiliser and lime applications more efficiently, is open to all farm businesses in Zone 4 (Co Antrim) as well as those in Zones 1, 2 and 3 who have not yet registered.

Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir said:

“I am pleased that registrations to Zone 4 of the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme are continuing to increase since it opened in June. However, I understand the summer months are an extremely busy time for farm businesses and therefore I am extending the deadline for online registrations by one week.”

Over 18,600 farm businesses are already benefiting from the scheme across Northern Ireland. Minister Muir explained:

“There are over 18,600 farm businesses who 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.”

The SNHS not only provides nutrient test results for each farm but also supports businesses in developing nutrient management plans, with training delivered by DAERA’s College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE).

Minister Muir added:

“The unique information from Soil Nutrient Health Scheme results, can be used to develop a nutrient management plan for each farm. The online training delivered by CAFRE will help farm businesses to do this.”

Future payment link

Participation in the scheme and completion of the CAFRE training is expected to become a requirement for the new Farm Sustainability Payment from January 2026.

DAERA stressed that data collected under the SNHS will not be used for enforcement purposes. Information will only be shared with the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) for research and with approved contractors responsible for soil sample collection and analysis.

How to register

Farmers can register through their DAERA Government Gateway Account at DAERA Online Services.

Digital support is available at DAERA Direct offices or via authorised agents. Further details can be found on the AFBI SNHS page, and training information is available at CAFRE SNHS Training.

Since Zone 4 opened for registration in June 2025, 2,192 farm businesses have already signed up.

The scheme is being rolled out in partnershipt with AFBI, supported by RPS Group (soil collection) and Cawood/NRM (soil analysis).

For queries, the AFBI SNHS Admin Team can be contacted on 028 9025 5212 or by email at SNHS@afbini.gov.uk.