After a dry year for many parts of the country, a wet winter might not seem like an immediate concern. But with Britain’s unpredictable weather and the possibility of a wet winter, or a repeat of last year’s particularly wet spring, preparation is essential. With Environment Agency inspections increasing in England, taking action now makes maintenance easier, reduces stress, and ensures storage requirements are met.
Kaz Monteith from our Agricultural Compliance team shares some practical advice to help farmers ensure they are fully prepared for the months ahead.
Have you done the following to prepare:
- Ensured all run-off from contaminated yards is collected and stored to be spread as slurry.
- Fixed and maintained broken gutters and downpipes.
- Prevented slurry run-off from leaking out of cattle sheds and farmyards.
- Marked and understood where drains go.
- Calculated your slurry storage requirements.
- Ensured you have 6 months’ storage to see you through the winter (see below).
- Made a contingency plan for extreme wet weather.
- Planned all applications to meet soil and crop needs.
Do you have enough slurry storage?
- The SSAFO Regulations require that you must have capacity to store at least 4 months’ slurry production, including rainwater that falls on the store or is directed to it.
- If you are in an NVZ in England, you must have at least 5 months’ storage for cattle slurry and 6 months’ storage for pig slurry.
- It is recommended that you size any new slurry store for at least 6 months’ storage capacity.
- Ensure you calculate your slurry storage needs and don’t forget to include required freeboard depth and rainfall that falls on the store, or is directed to it, in your calculation.
Separate clean & contaminated water
- Rainfall from roofs and lean yard areas should be kept separate from dirty areas such as loafing yards.
- Run-off from dirty yards (yards that animals use) must be collected, stored and spread as slurry.
- Consider roofing areas of yard, silage clamps and slurry stores to reduce the amount of contaminated water needing to be collected.
Have a contingency plan for extreme weather conditions
You should consider the following (in this order) if you run out of storage due to extreme weather conditions:
- Temporary storage at the place of production or use.
- Storage to a third-party location.
- Disposal at an AD plant or other effluent-treatment facility.
- Spreading thinly and widely on low run-off risk land, only if absolutely necessary to prevent a store from overtopping.
You must contact the Environment Agency if you need to spread in this situation.
Further help & advice
If you’re unsure whether your farm is fully compliant, support is available. CXCS offers pre-inspection reviews to check your records, flag potential issues, and provide tailored advice to help you get prepared.
If you have concerns about slurry storage, need clarification on regulations, or require capacity calculations, contact the CXCS Agricultural Compliance team at 01981 590514.