DEFRA have announced almost 70% of England will now be designated as a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ). For farmers finding themselves now designated as NVZ there are a number of important issues which will arise. These include: closed periods for manure spreading, minimum slurry storage capacity of 5 months for cattle slurry and 6 months for pigs and poultry and a whole farm nitrogen loading limit. One potential upside is that new storage facilities will be eligible for the new annual investment allowance which provides 100% tax relief on the first £50,000 per annum of plant and machinery. DEFRA hope to have a package of advice to include workshops and a helpline up and running in September 2008. Producers that are existing NVZs will need to comply with the new regulations from 2009, whilst those with a new NVZ will need to comply by January 2010.
Andrew Bays of BCM comments: "This is an extremely important development and farmers should keep a close eye on further publications to establish whether or not their land has now been included in an NVZ. Of particular importance will be the situation for livestock farmers with regard to slurry storage and spreading. Farmers will need to carefully watch the detail and appraise themselves of the situation when such detail is known."
