A report has been published by Defra on slurry issues today (21 November).
A working group of government and industry (including the NFU) considered issues relating to slurry storage and management, both in and out of NVZs. New research was also commissioned to support the work of the group.
The report received Ministerial approval for a number of detailed findings and recommendations in relation to:
- Potential for flexibility in closed periods.
- Condition reviews for all stores (including pre-1991) stores.
- Potential for simplifying the rules to harmonise SSAFO and NVZ definitions.
- Producing a joined up approach to enforcement that is flexible and fair to farmers.
- The need for more joined up advice and guidance.
- The role of grants and access to capital to fund investment in facilities.
Read the report and research commissioned for the project
NFU Comment
The NFU is aware of the difficulties facing farmers in this complex and costly area of regulation. Given recent years, an intention for the NFU’s involvement in this project was to consider the concept of flexible closed periods when conditions deviate from the “average”, such as in 2012. Although the research showed that this would be difficult given current weather forecasting abilities we will continue to work with Government to find a solution in the future. We are disappointed that a recommendation could not be made to change the situation immediately, but we pushed to ensure that it is kept under review should evidence show that flexible closed periods could work in practice rather than farming by calendar.
We also knew that the condition rather than age of stores was the key factor in reducing the risk of pollution. Despite the original view that all stores pre-dating 1991 would need updating, evidence from the project showed that many older stores present a low risk so it doesn’t make sense to simply remove the pre-1991 exemption. However, we do need to continue to work with Government to ensure the concept of condition reviews for stores does not create unnecessary red-tape. This is also true of the recommendation to review SSAFO regulations, which will be subject to further consultation next year.
We recognise the difficulties farmers have in coming into compliance with storage capacity requirements and have worked to ensure that flexibility was built into the regulatory approach to avoid farmers facing a penalty. We expect that the Environment Agency’s approach should allow officers to work with farmers in most instances, taking a pragmatic and supportive approach to achieving compliance rather than simply imposing sanctions. At our request, Government and industry will monitor the implementation of this approach to ensure it is applied fairly and proportionately.