The all-Wales NVZ designation, which came as a shock to the industry, could have implications across the board, but those in the dairy sector will be most likely to feel its implications.
The biggest problem the ruling will bring many is that they’ll find they have inadequate slurry storage facilities. If you want to future-proof yourself, it is sensible to work on the basis that you will need six months of storage capacity. But adding storage can be expensive and, even from a practical point of view, there sometimes simply isn’t space in a busy, full farmyard which has evolved in a piecemeal way over many decades. There may also be challenges in terms of getting planning permission.
Digging an earth-lined slurry pit, if you have got the right soil, can be done relatively inexpensively, but if you want to put up a round tower, you could very quickly spend £70,000. The reality is, though, the rules are only going to get tighter, with slurry storage facilities ultimately having to be covered, so a lot of dairy producers will have to make changes.
There is a very good case for more public money to be directed to farmers across Britain to help them with one-off infrastructure projects to address these challenges. But farmers with inadequate facilities can’t delay in the hope of receiving grants, because the authorities are likely to come down hard on anyone responsible for a pollution incident.
If the experience of how NVZ rules have been administered in England is anything to go by, I expect – and very much hope – that Natural Resources Wales will be in ‘advice and guidance’ mode to begin with, rather than wielding a big stick. The new NVZ rules, meanwhile, could impact on other livestock farmers and crop growers, but taking some proactive steps can help avoid falling foul of the regulations, says Mr Mayson.
Changing what slurry or manure is spread where and when, being even more mindful of buffer zones next to watercourses, and taking additional care to safeguard watercourses from storage heaps are the types of actions they will need to take. Farmers will need to work out their livestock ‘loading’, complete a nutrient management plan, compile a manure risk map, and collate information about manure and slurry storage and handling.
Some will already do part of the new number-crunching required, but the NVZ paperwork will be more comprehensive and the penalties for getting it wrong could be punitive. It is inescapable that there will be more paperwork for farmers, though – as they’ll be obliged to keep these records and may be expected to show them at an inspection.
This is a worrying time for farmers while we wait to see if the legal challenge NFU Cymru is bringing to the NVZ rule is effective.
