Final call for all unregistered farm businesses to sign up for Soil Nutrient Health Scheme
Date published:
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.
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 ground-breaking 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(external link opens in a new window / tab).
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 and the General Data Protection Regulations.
Data collected in the SNHS will not be used for any enforcement purposes. It willbe 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.
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.
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).
The AFBI SNHS Admin team can be contacted on 02890 255212 or via email at: SNHS@afbini.gov.uk