New rule may cost farmers

Farmers could be driven out of the industry as a result of Scottish Government proposals to reform slurry, silage and digestate rules, according to NFU Scotland (NFUS).

Union president Martin Kennedy warned the proposals, which are set out in a government consultation on improving storage and application, would not only bring a costly overreliance on regulatory compliance, they “are likely to be relatively insignificant and dwarfed by the negative financial impacts on a significant number of agricultural businesses.”

The new proposals are designed to protect water quality and reduce agricultural emissions of ammonia and nitrogenous gases, and include bringing stores built before 1991 – which are currently exempt from regulations – in to line with current rules. The union conducted a membership survey as the Scottish Government had provided no impact analysis on the number and type of businesses affected, said Mr Kennedy.

It received more than 540 responses from farmers from Shetland to Stranraer who between them look after 140,000 cows and 17,000 pigs. The respondents warned the rules would create a huge cost to farmers and crofters.

Mr Kennedy added: “That has economic implications for Scottish agriculture, Scotland’s rural economy and the wider supply chain.”

In its response to the consultation, NFUS said it was concerned by a degree of “mission creep” of the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) approach, but acknowledged an even blunter whole territory NVZ option was available to the Scottish Government.

Mr Kennedy said farmers would be unable to recover the costs of complying with the new regulations and pointed out the Scottish industry would be at a competitive disadvantage with foreign producers who would not be faced with the same standards.

The union’s commitment to environmental issues was “unquestionable”, he said, and called for “proportionate and enabling regulation” and financial support to be provided if the Scottish Government pursues the proposals.

“Both are needed to deliver the desired environmental outcomes without excessive, punitive or business-threatening costs to individual farm businesses. Public goods should not be met by private costs,” he added.

COSTLY WARNING: Slurry, silage and digestate could be affected by new Scottish Government proposals for reform.