Environment Agency & RPA Farm Inspections

The inspection process

Receiving unexpected notification from Defra about an upcoming inspection can be concerning. The initial contact will be made by telephone and followed up with a formal letter confirming the date and time, and a list of records (see checklist below) that they will want to see.

Generally, inspections are random, risk or targeted but the Environment Agency (EA) have been focusing specifically on river catchments, poultry, and dairy farms of late.

The EA have recruited hundreds more officers that work alongside farmers, in conjunction with Catchment Sensitive Farming to provide an advice led approach rather than prosecution to help protect the environment.

Inspection day

On inspection day, the inspector will initially spend some time discussing why they are there and explain the Farming Rules for Water regulations, Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ’s), diffuse pollution, soil testing, phosphate indices and manure spreading. They will then carry out a farmyard inspection focusing on silage clamps and slurry pits, diesel/fuel tanks, oil storage, fertiliser and pesticide storage, clean and dirty water flow, molasses, and Ad Blue storage

(literally anything that could cause pollution to ground or surface water). At the last few inspections we’ve attended, the inspector has walked some of the fields looking at margins next to the river, and physically inspected the riverbank for poaching and spray drift damage.

Usually within two weeks, you will receive a post-inspection report detailing any actions with timeframes. If farmers are found to be non-compliant, the EA can inform the RPA who can then decide to make a deduction of your Basic Payment or other subsidies.

“If you are in the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and/or are in possession of any Rural Development agreement, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) will also use the results of our [EA] inspection to inform the payment decision. If you have not complied with the relevant regulations, the RPA may decide to reduce your payment.”

What do CXCS offer clients?

Inspections at CXCS are always prioritised and we ask our clients to notify us straight away. Once we receive notification, our staff immediately start the process of checking that all records are updated, present and correct.

We will ask the client to forward the inspection letter to us and from this we contact the inspecting officer to introduce ourselves and offer to email over everything they require prior to inspection day.  The inspecting officers tend to like this approach as it gives them time to study the records beforehand and raise any questions on the day.

We always reassure our clients and ask if they would like us to attend on the day and generally about 50% of our customers take up this offer. Having us present on inspection day provides both reassurance and we are told, invaluable support. We are more than happy to engage with the inspector and help answer any questions our clients don’t fully understand.

If the farmyard hasn’t been inspected by us previously, we like to ‘put our inspector’s hat on’ and audit the farmyard thoroughly, advising on any improvements or areas of concern that could be raised on the day. Examples of this could include a diesel tank that may need replacing if near a clean water drain, or not bunded or leaking and could pose as a risk, silage liquor draining to ground or the need for improved fertiliser/pesticide storage. Based on our wealth of experience with inspections, we are confident in providing good advice to our clients.

Overall, we have found the inspectors to be most supportive and helpful. We know most of them and they are helpful to us as a business when we need clarification on rules and regulations.

Farms are so varied, the inspectors all differ, but our aim is for a smooth, stress-free inspection. The EA want to have a positive relationship within agriculture, without fear, and are trying to bridge the gap by offering practical on farm advice with affordable solutions. They frequently recommend for Catchment Sensitive Farming to visit following an inspection where there are many challenges to overcome.

In addition to EA inspections, we have also seen a lot of RPA sheep inspections taking place recently too. The RPA have a similar approach to the EA on inspections. As sheep inspections can be challenging, CXCS will audit clients’ sheep records for them, where necessary, and give advice on TLA’s for example.

We work with an ex-RPA sheep inspector who we call upon regularly and who will speak with our clients directly and go through the paperwork process or help with any queries regarding sheep and goat tagging and record keeping. This service is provided free of charge to CXCS clients.

What our customers say?

“CXCS were very efficient getting the records over to the inspector prior to the inspection and as a result it only took about 10 minutes.”

“The inspection was very short, and no issues were found. We are very happy with the service produced by CXCS; it is definitely money well spent!”

EA Checklist

Further information

Applying the farming rules for water – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Sheep and goat identification inspection – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Storing silage, slurry and agricultural fuel oil – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)