# Record a STRIPE buffer decision with its nozzle evidence

URL: https://leafwrit.com/ie/stripe-buffer-zone-records/
Reviewed: 2026-10-23

A STRIPE record needs the product’s label buffer, the approved nozzle actually used and the aquatic buffer actually applied. DAFM’s completed-record guidance makes the nozzle entry conditional on using STRIPE to reduce the prescribed label distance. Keep that evidence with the particular application. [^1]

## Start with the label buffer for the product

DAFM’s water-protection guidance requires users to follow the product label and its buffer zones. It separately requires compliance with drinking-water safeguard zones. Keep those two checks distinct in the job file. [^2]

Identify the actual container and product before researching a reduction. DAFM’s completed crop instructions say the product name and PCS number recorded for the application come from the container used, rather than an invoice or a website entry. [^1]

Retain the product document relevant to the job and identify the water feature on the location plan. Put the starting label distance beside the proposed decision in your working note. Avoid carrying a distance over from a previous product merely because the same field is involved.

## Use both official STRIPE resources

DAFM’s STRIPE page links an approved nozzle list labelled January 2025 and a 2025 buffer-reduction document. The list identifies eligible nozzles, while the reduction document provides examples of minimum distances associated with label-buffer sizes and drift-reduction categories. [^3]

Use the documents together. First establish the nozzle identity and relevant category; then read the distance guidance for the product’s starting label buffer. Keep a copy or reference to the editions used with the application’s supporting information.

For the office, give the evidence file a title that distinguishes “nozzle eligibility” from “buffer decision”. A catalogue or purchase receipt may help you identify the hardware, but keep the DAFM list entry used in the decision alongside that identification.

## Match manufacturer, model and qualifying detail

DAFM’s nozzle list is organised by manufacturer, model and STRIPE categorisation. Some entries include a pressure qualification. For example, the listed BFS ExRay XC 025 entry is qualified “up to 2 bar” in the 90% category. [^4]

That example illustrates why a description such as “low drift” leaves an evidence question unresolved. Retain the complete model description and any applicable qualification shown in the official entry. Compare the installed nozzle with the equipment information used to allocate the job.

If nozzles are replaced during the season, keep the relevant equipment record with the application date. Review any saved nozzle selection before repeating an earlier treatment in software. Make the comparison concrete: manufacturer, model, size or suffix as shown, listed category and any qualifying condition.

Keep the pressure information actually relevant to the equipment decision in the supporting job note. Do not apply the example’s limit to a different model; use the wording attached to the entry you identified. The purpose is a documented match, rather than a general statement that the sprayer carries modern nozzles.

## Read the reduction as an approved minimum

DAFM’s 2025 general guidance gives the following examples for a 10 m label buffer. They reproduce the document’s stated minima and are not recommendations for an unidentified product or site. [^5]

| Starting label buffer in the official example | Drift-reduction category | Minimum stated in the 2025 guidance |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 10 m | 50% | 6 m |
| 10 m | 75% | 3 m |
| 10 m | 90% | 3 m |

These are the DAFM table values for that starting buffer. Do not replace them with an improvised percentage calculation. Retain the product and site checks when using the table. [^5]

An **illustrative document-reading example** starts with a job whose actual product and site have already been assessed as eligible for the general 10 m case. The file identifies an applicable 50% nozzle entry and the 2025 guidance gives 6 m. The record then states the distance actually applied and retains the evidence supporting that decision. This illustration explains the paperwork; it does not authorise a treatment. [^5][^1]

## Check the exclusions before using a general row

The same 2025 document says label buffers for products containing fenpropidin, fluazinam or spiroxamine cannot be reduced from the prescribed label distance. Its general table also includes a product-specific exception. A table row therefore needs the product check attached to it. [^5]

Record why the selected general case applies to the product being assessed. Preserve any relevant exception wording with the decision. If a new label or product-specific instruction changes the case, revise the planning note before copying an earlier treatment’s distance.

Keep a list of the product documents used during the season, including the edition or date visible on the document. Use that index to retrieve the basis for an older decision. The [product-register guide](/ie/pesticide-register-ireland/) explains the label and withdrawal resources that support this research.

## Keep the conditionality floor in its own check

The DAFM conditionality handbook’s SMR 7 section describes the 3 m no-spray watercourse buffer and says STRIPE cannot reduce the GAEC 4 floor. A larger product-label distance needs the applicable product/STRIPE evidence for any reduction. This is the handbook’s conditionality framework, not a distance chosen by a diary application. [^6]

In a farm file, keep the conditionality check beside the product decision without merging their descriptions. Identify the watercourse and treated edge on the same location material used for the application. Preserve the distance actually applied in the treatment row.

Do not use the nozzle category as a substitute for the site assessment. A nominal drift-reduction percentage does not tell your office where the relevant edge or water feature lies. Keep the location evidence and the hardware evidence available from the same job reference.

## Drinking-water safeguards are a separate category

DAFM’s water-protection page expressly requires compliance with safeguard zones around drinking-water sources as well as product buffers. Teagasc advises finding out whether nearby surface or groundwater is used for drinking water and locating the nearest abstraction point. [^2][^7]

Put a separate drinking-water item in your location assessment. Identify the source or abstraction information used and retain the place description supplied to the operator. Do not label a STRIPE calculation as the drinking-water check; retain the actual safeguard assessment in the file.

For a contractor, share the relevant location information before the job and agree who supplies clarifications. Keep the final report tied to the same site version so a later reviewer can follow the water-protection decision made for that application.

## Enter the distance and nozzle in the application record

DAFM’s completed crop example has separate aquatic-buffer and nozzle fields. It asks for the approved low-drift nozzle used when STRIPE reduces the label buffer. Its application record also identifies the location, method, operator and equipment certificate. [^1]

Use a supporting decision note with four distinguishable items: starting label buffer, applicable official nozzle entry, relevant reduction guidance and distance actually applied. Keep the product and location references on that note. Use the application row to describe the completed treatment, including its actual buffer and nozzle details.

If the operator used a wider buffer than the planned minimum, retain the actual job information in the completed record. Explain any planning change in the job note rather than silently replacing the observation with the pre-filled value. Keep the original instruction available when resolving a discrepancy.

## Build a contractor handover that can be reviewed

DAFM’s council guidance says contractor application, IPM and risk-assessment records must be available and that the council retains SUD responsibilities. This makes the nozzle-and-buffer explanation a practical part of the job handover where the reduction is used. [^8]

Agree the expected nozzle description before work. Ask for the actual equipment and distance in the completed report, with a reference to the location assessed. Keep the contractor’s contact details available for a question about the installed model or a change made during the job.

Avoid accepting an unexplained “STRIPE” tick as the whole evidence trail. Ask which product buffer was assessed, which approved entry was used and which distance was actually applied. Retain the answer with the application so the customer’s office can read it without contacting the operator every time.

## Review the file as a connected chain

Start from one treatment and locate its product identity. Find the label-buffer paragraph, the nozzle-list entry, any qualifying wording and the applicable reduction example. Compare the recorded distance with the operator’s job information, then locate the water feature in the site material.

Keep the product, equipment and location documents as their own files with clear references. If a nozzle model is abbreviated in a summary, provide the full description in the equipment index. When documents are replaced, retain the edition used for the older treatment rather than allowing every old link to point only to the newest planning note.

Use the [sheet guide](/ie/spray-record-sheet/) for the complete application row and the [inspection guide](/ie/pesticide-records-inspection/) for farm evidence. The [grassland guide](/ie/grassland-spray-records/) adds the pasture decision context, while the [Irish hub](/ie/) connects these records with purchases, disposals and IPM.

## Retain the drift assessment beyond the percentage

DAFM’s GPPP guide describes drift as spray reaching an area beyond the intended treatment. Its considerations include wind speed and direction, changing weather, vehicle speed, nozzle type, pressure, boom height, maintenance and equipment settings. The drift assessment therefore has a practical equipment-and-location context in addition to the STRIPE category. [^9]

Keep the relevant job observations with the application. Identify the wind direction relative to neighbouring land and the water feature, the equipment configuration used and the source of the weather information. Describe observed conditions as observations and a forecast as a forecast. Preserve an amended instruction if conditions change before the work is performed.

The GPPP guidance discusses maintaining an even spray pattern at the correct target height and says the appropriate boom height depends on nozzle angle, nozzle spacing, ground flatness and boom design. It also discusses keeping intended rate, water volume and spray quality when adjusting pressure or vehicle speed. These are technical relationships to retain when documenting the equipment decision. [^9]

For a maintenance or calibration report, retain the machine identification and the configuration to which the report applies. If an operator changes a component, keep an understandable description of the new configuration in the equipment record. Do not let an old saved description silently identify hardware that was no longer installed for the later job.

## Recognise the different drift-reduction systems

DAFM’s GPPP examples include twin-fluid, air-induction and pre-orifice nozzles, rotary atomisers, air assistance, shrouded booms and recirculating tunnel sprayers. It also mentions natural windbreaks around orchards and authorised drift-reducing additives in appropriate situations. The examples describe broader drift precautions; they are not a replacement for matching an eligible nozzle in the STRIPE list. [^9]

Use precise terminology in the equipment index. Keep a manufacturer's model description separate from the general technology family. If a maintenance invoice uses a different abbreviation, retain the cross-reference needed to identify the installed component. Attach photographs or technical documents already held by the business to the equipment file where they help resolve that identity.

Describe the treatment setting alongside the hardware: a field-crop boom, a shrouded amenity arrangement and an orchard sprayer are different contexts in the GPPP discussion. For an unusual application, retain the actual authorisation and equipment documentation rather than borrowing a field-boom reduction note because the percentage looks familiar. [^9]

## Keep safeguards around abstractions visible on the site plan

DAFM’s GPPP guide distinguishes safeguard zones around abstraction points, wells, boreholes and groundwater-vulnerable areas from the label-buffer/STRIPE question. It says applications within those safeguard zones are not GPPP. [^9]

Give each feature an identifiable reference in your site material. Retain the information used to establish a drinking-water source or abstraction and explain who supplied it. Use separate annotations for a stream edge and an abstraction point when both occur at the same location. That distinction helps a contractor understand which documentary decision addresses which feature.

If a location schedule is revised, review the water-feature information before repeating an old instruction. Preserve the earlier version with the historical job. Keep any correspondence resolving an uncertain location attached to the site file so a future operator can follow the same evidence without starting the investigation again.

## Produce a concise buffer-decision sheet

Use a front sheet with product name, PCS, crop or situation, location reference and application date. Add the starting label buffer, official nozzle entry, listed category, applicable qualifications, reduction-guidance edition and actual distance. Include separate references to drinking-water safeguards and the site plan. These headings organise the evidence described above; they do not create an additional official form.

Behind the sheet, retain the relevant label passage and nozzle-list extract. Keep the exact qualifying wording with the model reference. Add the operator’s report and equipment configuration record where those explain the completed treatment. Use a short index so a reviewer can follow the chain without searching an entire season’s folder.

For customer handover, explain any internal abbreviation that appears on the front sheet. Identify the person who can answer a question about the nozzle or a discrepancy between planned and actual distance. If the completed job differs from the original instruction, keep the clarification with that application and revise the customer copy through the agreed business process.

## Review a hypothetical mismatch before it becomes routine

This **invented document-review example** concerns a contractor report describing only a nozzle family, while the equipment file identifies a full manufacturer and model. The office should obtain a specific identification for the nozzle actually installed on the job, then compare that evidence with the relevant official list entry. The example assigns no reduction or application permission.

A second illustrative mismatch is a planning note carrying one water-feature name while the delivered report uses another. Resolve the correspondence using the site material and operator clarification. Preserve both original descriptions with the explanation so a later reviewer can identify the location. These exercises test the evidence connections that a percentage or tick box alone cannot explain.

## Use suffixes to distinguish similar nozzle entries

The January 2025 list puts Hardi Minidrift MD 04 and MD 05 in the 90% category, while Minidrift MD 015, MD 02 and MD 03 appear in the 75% category. These listed examples show why the family name alone does not settle the categorisation. Preserve the full entry that matches the hardware used. [^4]

When an equipment inventory contains a family nickname, ask the operator or maintenance contact to identify the precise model. Keep a legible photograph, packaging reference or service document already available to your business alongside that identification. Retain the matching official entry as a separate extract so the equipment description and its regulatory categorisation remain distinguishable.

Record any transcription uncertainty as a specific question about the component. Distinguish a missing suffix from an unreadable manufacturer name, and identify which document could resolve it. Close the enquiry only after the response identifies the component relevant to that application. Preserve the explanation in the equipment history for the next reviewer.

Before purchasing replacements, ask the supplier to identify the complete proposed specification in writing. Compare that specification with your intended evidence route before the item is installed. Keep the subsequent installation record with the machine so procurement paperwork, installed hardware and the job description can be reconciled.

### Pesticide spray records?

Where STRIPE reduces a label buffer, DAFM asks for the approved low-drift nozzle used and the aquatic buffer applied. [^1]

### Spray application record sheet?

Keep the actual buffer and nozzle in the application record, linked to the location and product. [^1]

### Chemical spray records?

DAFM’s 2025 STRIPE guidance excludes buffer reductions for products containing fenpropidin, fluazinam or spiroxamine. [^5]

### Farm spray records?

The conditionality handbook says STRIPE cannot reduce the GAEC 4 three-metre watercourse floor. [^6]

## Sources

- [DAFM — completed crop example and record-completion guidance, August 2023](https://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/media/pesticides/content/sud/professional/2.%20Pesticide%20Application%20Record%20Sheet%20-%20Completed%20Crop%20Example%20030823.pdf), read 2026-10-23
- [DAFM PRCD — Water Protection, buffer and sector guidance index](https://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/sud/waterprotection/), read 2026-10-23
- [DAFM: STRIPE and official nozzle resources](https://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/sud/waterprotection/stripe-surfacewatertoolforreducingtheimpactofpesticidesintheenvironment/), read 2026-10-23
- [DAFM: STRIPE Nozzle List, January 2025](https://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/media/pesticides/content/plantprotectionproducts/stripe/STRIPE%20Nozzle%20List%20January%202025.pdf), read 2026-10-23
- [DAFM: STRIPE General Guidelines, 2025](https://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/media/pesticides/content/plantprotectionproducts/stripe/2025%20STRIPE%20Buffer%20Zone%20Reduction%20using%20Drift%20Reducing%20Nozzles.pdf), read 2026-10-23
- [DAFM — Conditionality Requirements Handbook 2023–2027, version 23-03, hosted by Teagasc](https://teagasc.ie/media/website/environment/DAFM-Explanatory-Handbook-for-Conditionality-Requirements.pdf), read 2026-10-23
- [Teagasc: Protecting Drinking Water from Pesticides](https://teagasc.ie/environment/water-quality/farming-for-water-quality-assap/improving-my-water-quality/protecting-drinking-water-from-pesticides/), read 2026-10-23
- [DAFM — Guidance for Local Authorities on Sustainable Use of Pesticides, March 2024](https://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/media/pesticides/content/sud/integratedpestmanagement/Guidance%20for%20Local%20Authorities%20to%20ensure%20compliance%20with%20the%20Sustainable%20Use%20of%20Pesticides%20Directive%20220324.pdf), read 2026-10-23
- [DAFM — Good Plant Protection Practice, revised June 2024, SI 155/2012 regulation 15](https://www.pcs.agriculture.gov.ie/media/pesticides/content/sud/professional/Good%20Plant%20Protection%20PracticeGPPP040624MLU050624.pdf), read 2026-10-23