A newly established team at Natural Resources Wales (NRW) aims to inspect over 800 farms in 2024 to help reduce the impact of agricultural pollution.
The team is embarking on a programme of inspections on farms throughout Wales to assess compliance with the Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations (CoAPR) introduced by the Welsh Government.
The Welsh Government-funded team has been split into north and south Wales divisions to ensure an even spread across Wales. Each officer has undergone extensive training, and they are now inspecting high-risk agricultural activities as agreed with Welsh Government. High risk activities include farms producing, storing, or using high levels of organic manures which includes digestate, biosolids and other wastes recovered to land.
The inspections cover all aspects of CoAPR including the construction standards and capacity of silage, solid manure, and slurry structures, required calculations, risk maps, nitrogen plans and application records.
Where non-compliances are identified, the farmer will be advised in writing of the actions they need to take to return to compliance, in line with NRW’s published enforcement and prosecution policy.
Farmers will always be given reasonable notice, normally in writing, ahead of any planned compliance inspections stating what officers will want to inspect. The only time officers would call unannounced is if responding to a reported pollution incident.
Advice for farmers is available on the NRW website: Natural Resources Wales / Farming
Support for farmers is available via Farming Connect: Farming Connect – helping you drive your business forward | Farming Connect (gov.wales)
For further help and advice, please contact our Agricultural Compliance Team on 01981 590514.
