Nitrate regulations in England
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Sixty six Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, covering 8% of England, were designated in 1996 and an Action Programme of measures was applied in these NVZs from December 1998. As a result of a ruling by the European Court of Justice in 2000, a further 47% of England was designated as an NVZ in October 2002, and the same Action Programme of measures applied within these additional NVZs in December 2002.
Unfortunately the EU limit of 50 mg/l of Nitrogen in surface and ground waters is yet to be achieved so Member States have been obliged to “try harder”. In England this resulted in Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2008 which extended NVZs to 70% of the country and introduced stricter controls on the use of Nitrogen. For a map of English NVZs click here.
Environment Agency have put together a document with a comprehensive list on NVZ questions and answers.
Some of the rules are aimed at encouraging spreading in the Spring when Nitrogen uptake by crops is greater. The current guidance was amended in April 2009:
| Closed Periods for spreading Organic Manures with high available Nitrogen eg pig slurry (but not FYM): |
Arable |
Grassland |
| Sandy or shallow soils: |
1 Aug* – 31 Dec
(*15 Sep where crop sown by this date) |
1 Sept – 31 Dec |
| All other soils: |
1 Oct – 15 Jan |
15 Oct – 15 Jan |
Organic producers may apply organic manures during closed periods subject to certain rules.
From the end of a closed period to the end of February only 50 m3/ha of slurry may be applied at any one time, and with at least three weeks between applications.
| Nitrogen Limits |
Arable and Grassland |
| Manufactured fertiliser & livestock manure available Nitrogen: |
Must not exceed specified max application rates for specified crops (Nmax) |
| Livestock manure whole farm limit
including grazing deposition |
170 kg/ha total N
(250 kg/ha derogation only for ruminants)
|
| Organic manure field limit |
250 kg/ha total N
(typically 36t/ha FYM, 63m3/ha Slurry) |
Slurry and FYM storage
 |
From 1st January 2012 there must be sufficient storage for at least 6 months production of pig slurry between 1 October and 1 April inclusive.
Dirty Water such as washings from scraped yards may be stored separately, but seepage from manure heaps or the liquid fraction from separation are nutrient rich so are classed as slurry and must be stored as such if not diluted sufficiently.
For a factsheet on NVZ slurry and dirty water definitions click here |
 |
FYM including the solid fraction from separation may be stored on an impermeable base from which run off and seepage can be contained, or on a temporary field heap provided the manure can be stacked and does not seep. |
Record keeping
From 1st January 2009 (2010 in new NVZs) farmers must start keeping records of livestock on their farms and field applications of manure and slurry.
By 30th April 2009 (2010 in new NVZs) farmers must have recorded the size of their farms and calculated their slurry storage requirements for the 6 month storage period.
By 1st January 2010 farmers must have completed a risk map eg:
By 30th April 2010 (2011 in new NVZs) farmers must have compiled their records relating to livestock kept on their farms, and calculated the amount of Nitrogen produced by these livestock. These records must be reviewed annually.
DEFRA have produced a full checklist at:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/quality/water/waterquality/diffuse/nitrate/documents/nvz-record-keeping-checklist.pdf
Spreading controls
- Apply organic manures and manufactured nitrogen fertilisers accurately
- After 1 January 2012 slurry spreading trajectory must be less than 4 metres from the ground
No! |
Yes! |
-
If not using a band spreader or injector, incorporate organic manure as soon as practicable into bare soil or stubble, and within 24 hours in high risk areas or if poultry manure applied
-
Inspect fields to assess the risk of run-off to watercourses before spreading manufactured nitrogen fertilisers or organic manure
-
Do not apply:
- Organic manure within 50m of a spring, well or borehole
- Organic manure within 10m of watercourses (2m if manufactured fertilisers)
- Manufactured nitrogen fertilisers or organic manure when the soil is waterlogged, flooded, frozen hard or snow covered
- Manufactured nitrogen fertilisers or organic manure in a way that could contaminate watercourses. Consider the slope of the land, any land drains, ground cover, how close the land is to watercourses, weather conditions and soil type