Appeal for a new nitrates policy

NFUS vice-president, who is significantly affected by regulation changes as a dairy farmer, calls for better-designed policy

A more proactive approach is needed in the designation and implementation of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) in Scotland, according to NFU Scotland (NFUS).

Since 2009 there have been several tweaks to the rules and regulations surrounding NVZs, which are designed to protect water sources from nitrate pollution from agricultural activity. The change that has had the biggest practical impact for farmers is the latest methodology used to designate the areas at risk of nitrate pollution of water. This led to a reduction in size of some existing NVZs in 2015 and in the four-yearly review in 2016, Finavon was added to the Strathmore and Fife NVZ. A new one was also designated in Lower Stranraer.

Milking 800 dairy cows at West Galdenoch, near Stranraer, NFUS vicepresident Gary Mitchell has been significantly affected by the changes, with limits now placed on when, where and how much bagged nitrogen and slurry he can apply to his grassland. He argues that it was an unnecessary step by regulators to designate his surrounding Piltanton Burn water catchment as part of the NVZ, as farmers in the intensive dairy-producing area were already taking a voluntary approach to reducing nitrate pollution.

This included grant investment in 55 slurry stores to allow spreading at more appropriate conditions and a review of nitrogen fertiliser and slurry rates, which were cut back as a result. Buffer zones of 10-15 metres were also implemented around water courses. Mr Mitchell says all the measures were barely in place a year before the government designated the area part of the new Lower Stranraer NVZ, despite nitrate levels in nearby borehole water decreasing. “The voluntary initiative was really improving the situation and even praised in Brian Pack’s report into cutting red tape in Scottish agriculture,” he said.

While it may be unrealistic to expect too much divergence from European Union regulation after the UK leaves the bloc, Mr Mitchell sees an opportunity to sit round a table with all relevant stakeholders to change NVZ policy for the better.

At present, NVZs are designated on a national level, but conditions and challenges for dairy farmers in Dumfries and Galloway are much different to those of a cereal producer in Aberdeenshire. He would like to see a system that takes a better account of local concerns, identifies key issues around nitrate pollution and works collaboratively to find a solution that provides a farming and environmental win-win.

This could include further incentivising improvements in slurry storage capacity or use of precision application technology to ensure both bagged and organic sources of nitrogen are placed exactly where they need to be.

“It would also be useful to identify how

much rainfall figures have changed and what implications that will have storage wise. It seems that we get nothing or an inch (at once) these days and it’s becoming a big issue,” said Mr Mitchell.

He acknowledges the difficulties faced by arable producers in NVZs across Scotland, with restrictions on N use potentially stifling yields and putting growers at a competitive disadvantage to non-NVZ-restricted neighbours. A future policy in these traditionally arable areas should include a drive for increased use of organic sources of nutrients in NVZs, such as farmyard manure, slurries or digestate. This will not only provide a cheap source of nitrogen to help fill the shortfall of bagged N, but help raise soil organic matter.

There is also a need to address Scotland’ s average soil Ph level of 5.8, which is below the optimum 6.5 for most arable crops. “Liming could be subsidised and that will also help improve N use efficiency and reduce rates of bagged nitrogen. We all want the same outcomes – as farmers, we don’t want to pollute water, we want it clean. It is just a case of how you deliver that without compromising production,” says Mr Mitchell. The practical and agronomic drivers are there for change, but the complexity of paperwork for farmers to comply with NVZ rules is a further area for attention.

Mr Mitchell now pays an adviser £600 annually to come in and run through all his records since being designated within an NVZ and would like this process simplified. This would include the Scottish Environment Protection Agency – which monitors and reviews NVZs and nitrate levels within them – flagging up issues before they become a problem and offering encouragement where positive results are seen.