Nitrate changes labelled a bitter blow for farmers

Jul 23 2008 by Sam Wood, The Journal

THE NATIONAL Farmers Union has called the changes to Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) announced by Defra this week a bitter blow for many farmers in England.

The organisation has warned that the proposals to extend the area of the country designated as NVZ, to extend closed periods and to require significant capital investments in slurry storage will have a significant and adverse impact on large numbers of producers in England. However, the NFU welcomed the decision by Defra to drop proposals for cover crops to reduce run-off from bare ground and to make new slurry stores eligible for tax allowances, something the NFU had pushed hard for.

NFU president Peter Kendall said: “In our submission to Defra, we criticised the Nitrates Directive as outdated and unnecessary, and I still hold this view.

“As nitrate levels are declining in many parts of England, I continue to question the logic of the directive.

“I am pleased that, in some respects, Defra has listened to our case and made changes to the NVZ proposals published last summer. These changes to the area designated and to the action programme could save farmers and growers up to around £100m a year, according to our figures.

“I would like to thank all of our members who engaged in lobbying their MPs, hosted visits on their farms and provided case studies to demonstrate the punitive impact of Defra’s original proposals.

“However, I cannot hide the fact that for many farmers in the livestock sector, and especially dairy farms, Defra’s decision brings major and disproportionate costs.

“New stores need to be built or existing stores will need renovation.

“Sites need to be found, permissions obtained and funding put in place.

“Dairy farmers will need every day of the three-year implementation phase we’ve negotiated.”

And NFU North East livestock representative Malcolm Corbett echoed those views.

He said: “These proposals seem to have come at a strange time.

“I can’t imagine many farmers can afford nitrates at the moment and certainly they can’t afford to waste them or dump them in rivers. The water quality in this region is better than it has ever been before.”