Farm blog: Where there is muck, there is a confusion

But for farmers this autumn, it’s more a case of where there’s too much muck there’s a headache brought on by confusion. And when you have a pile of manure or a lagoon full of slurry to deal with that can be quite some headache, especially if both are at, or nearing, capacity.

It’s a problem not likely to affect just farmers, either, as the water companies that rely on farmers spreading their solid waste on the land will find that waste pile also mounting up as efforts are made to keep the water coming through the taps coming from pure sources and rivers from carrying too much in the way of nitrates and other chemicals, a load that intensifies as they near the sea.

In the south, with our pristine chalk streams that are a gem of the natural world found in few other places, keeping the river waters pure is vital. So the rules are already tough and are set to get tougher with full implementation of the Farming Rules for Water next year. The snag is that it was deemed not enough publicity had been given to the rule changes coming into effect so there has been a relaxation this autumn via the Environment Agency (EA) issuing regulatory position statement (RPS) 252.

But while the RPS guidance in theory allows the continued spreading of farmyard manure, slurry, and digestate post-harvest, it imposes a number of conditions which, experts say, are almost impossible for many farmers to comply with. While it will still be permissible to spread manure for crops beyond their immediate need this must not happen if there are any other options for disposing of it, or if the land in question is prone to run-off. Anyone who has driven country lanes after heavy rain will have witnessed the mud that flows down gutters as it washes from fields. It eventually ends up in drains or rivers.

It means that farmers can spread more organic material than is strictly needed for the nourishment of the crops at their current stage. The big “but” is that nutrients applied to the crops must not exceed the total needed for the whole season. So who in their right mind would want to overfeed now, risking run-off of surplus nutrients that will affect watercourse quality, when they face not being able to feed at a time when other poor conditions mean that the crops need a boost that they can no longer receive.

The other snag seems to be that while the changes have been delayed, the rules are still strict and open to interpretation. In effect, the Environment Agency can still take action against farmers who get it wrong and farmers also have to prove they have no other way of disposing of the problem, such as via a digestate plant creating energy.

One of the few crops that needs early feeding is oilseed rape (OSR), going in the ground about now and wanting a boost to get it out of the ground. However OSR has become a problem crop for other reasons, largely to do with the ban on seed treatments that affect bees while also discouraging cabbage stem flea beetle, a pest that can devastate a field of emerging OSR. So many farmers have turned their backs on OSR, meaning they don’t have a crop that needs the nourishment.

Now, perhaps, they might be wishing they had stuck with it. At least they could hope cabbage stem flea beetle can’t burrow into the plants while holding its nose!

Kevin Prince has wide experience of farming and rural business in Hampshire, where he lives near Andover, and across southern England as a director in the Adkin consultancy. His family also run a diversified farm with commercial lets, holiday cottages and 800 arable acres.