Following last year's legislation changes surrounding Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs), farmers are being warned that they must take action now to avoid facing penalties.
Senior partner at specialist rural property agency Broadley and Coulson and RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) North East rural spokesperson, David Coulson is urging farmers to start preparing before the busy Single Farm Payment period is upon us.
NVZs are areas that have been identified as having the potential to pollute freshwater with the nitrates used on farm land. In 2009, NVZ regulations were updated to include new areas of land meaning that the North East's farmers are now 70 percent more likely to find all or part of their farm in an NVZ.
David says: "As of the 1st of January 2010, legislation came into effect for those farmers that are in the new NVZs as detailed last year. This means that they must now be meeting all of the necessary requirements detailed in Defra's guidance leaflets.
"This includes complying with nitrogen limits, observing closed spreading periods for both organic manures and manufactured nitrogen fertilisers, planning how nitrogen will be applied before spreading and keeping a record of these plans with the actual amount of nitrogen applied to each crop in each field for at least five years.
"Farmers must also consider spreading techniques, livestock manure N farm limits and provide sufficient storage capacity for manure.
"For those in newly designated areas, there is an additional deadline of 30th April this year whereby farmers must complete a calculation to show existing storage capacity and whether any further capacity is needed. Sufficient storage must then be in place by the 1st January 2012 for all farms within NVZs.
"As this is a significant task, I expect that some occupiers are not yet adhering to the new legislation and in order to avoid deductions to their subsidiary payments it is of the utmost importance that action is taken now.
"We all know how quickly the Single Farm Payment deadline approaches and the amount of work that needs to be done for submissions, so it is especially important for farmers to make sure that they are complying with NVZ legislation sooner rather than later."
"The Environment Agency is responsible for assessing farmers' compliance with the NVZ rules and will conduct individual visits to farms to ensure that the correct procedures are in place."
David finishes: "If any farmers are unsure of the new rules, are confused as to whether they fall into a new NVZ or have any questions at all, I encourage them to seek advice immediately. A good local chartered surveyor will be able to provide assistance and Defra and the Environment Agency's guidance leaflets are available at www.defra.gov.uk."
For more information on Broadley and Coulson visit www.broadleyandcoulson.co.uk.
ENDS
Media contact:
Michelle Oliver or Vicky Beynon
Golley Slater North East
Tel: 0191 2459020
Email: michelle.oliver@golleyslater.co.uk or victoria.beynon@golleyslater.co.uk
