Pollution regulations threaten to ‘cripple’ Welsh farming

One farmer said new regulations will cost him £70,000 and likely put him out of business after more than 60 years. Political editor Ruth Mosalski reports

THEY are designed to clean up Wales’ water, but Welsh farmers say new rules about water pollution will “cripple” farming in Wales.

The Welsh Government has introduced regulations that makes the whole of Wales a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ).

Previously, 2.4% of Wales’ land was designated as a NVZ. In practice, it means a limit on the use of slurry and fertiliser on farmland in Wales but farmers say it will particularly impact dairy farms and force farms to close for good.

The rules mean farmers have to upgrade slurry storage facilities, will require farms to have at least five months’ worth of slurry storage, and will impose a three-month ban on slurry spreading every autumn to reduce run-off from fields during wet months.

If they don’t meet the regulations, farmers face losing part or all of their basic payment.

During a Senedd debate, the words of Brian Jones, a farmer at a 105-acre grasslands farm which has a dairy herd of 85 were read by Russell George MS. Mr Jones said he has been farming since 1973 and milking cows “my entire life” .

“We never had a pollution incident here. Natural Resources Wales, through their own assessment, have confirmed there is no pollution here but we still need to comply with new regulations and carry out work with an eye-watering cost in the region of £70,000. Who is going to pay for that? The landlords have refused and the bank won’t lend us money to carry out the work on a property we don’t own. I fear in three years time we could well see the end of our family farming time here.”

Mr Jones said he had no issue with a “polluter pays” policy but said this will “cripple” the industry.

Conservative MS Samuel Kurtz said: “The severity of the situation was made clear to me by a local farmer who said that these NVZs regulations are a bigger and more immediate threat to the industry than any potential future trade deal.”

The new measures came into force on April 1, and will be rolled out through to 2024.

Critics say they are hugely expensive, can’t be regulated, and are a “copy and paste” job of “one of the most ineffective and criticised pieces of EU regulation”.

In the last Senedd, 11,000 farmers are said to have written to MSs expressing their concerns and the President of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) was damning of the measures being introduced.

He said Welsh Government “appears to remain oblivious to the significant limitations and damaging impacts of the NVZ approach”.

A letter signed by 50 organisations, including Country Fresh Eggs, Castell Howell, the National Sheep Association, Muller and FUW, said they opposed the measures’ introduction and the NFU said last month it was “finalising” preparations to launched legal action in the High Court for permission to challenge Welsh Government’s decision.

Welsh Government says it has committed £11.5m to help farmers comply with the new rules, but the union says this represents just 3% of the estimated £360m cost to Welsh farmers.

At the time she brought them forward, Rural Affairs Minister Lesley Griffiths said that agricultural pollution has affected Wales for “far too long”.

“We continue to face a rate of more than three agricultural pollution incidents per week, and against such a backdrop, we are bound to do all we can protect the public and the environment.

“I have given the industry every opportunity over the past four years to address the issue and bring those who are polluting our rivers in line with the many farmers who care for the environment,” she said.

But farmers say this is described as the wrong answer to the right question.

The NFU say agricultural pollution incidents in Wales have gone down by 28% over the last three years and comments that there are three pollution incidents a week “lacks context”.

“The reality is that, using the Natural Resources Wales data available between 2001 and 2020, the number of high impact incidents – those incidents carrying a major, serious, extensive or significant effect on the environment, people and/or property – average out at one incident of agricultural pollution per fortnight.”

The union also refutes that not enough has been done.

NFU President John Davies said: “It will affect every farmer, every sector and every area of Wales who will be subject to draconian record keeping, complex restrictions on the day-today running of their businesses and, for many, exorbitant costs.

“We can only conclude that, in taking this decision, government continues to have absolutely no comprehension of the impacts of these regulations. The levels of investment that the minster has committed to help farmers adapt to these new conditions is, frankly, woefully inadequate when you consider the capital investment support given to farmers in other countries where similar approaches to water quality have been adopted.”

Natural Resources Wales, when responding to the plans, said it felt the document which helped Welsh Government come to its conclusion “may leave Welsh Government open to challenge from a number of stakeholders”.

The document states: “At a time of uncertainty within the farming industry, it is unlikely there will be significant investment in infrastructure or willingness to invest as outlined.”

It says that the “perverse outcomes” of the regulations “could exacerbate potential water quality issues”.

In the Senedd on Wednesday, the Conservative group, backed by Plaid Cymru, led a debate calling for the legislation to go before a committee for further discussion.

Brecon and Radnorshire Conservative MS James Evans told Welsh Government: “Despite the warning you have pushed ahead with the NVZ regardless.”

Mr Evans said the plans could “drive a number of farmers out of the industry”.

Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell said the regulations were “rushed through the Senedd contrary to the pledge made by the minister [Lesley Griffiths]”.

Mr Kurtz said his party believes there is a way forward that didn’t jeopardise the future of farms in Wales and that cross-party opposition support showed the strength of feeling.

In response, the Rural Affairs Minister told the Senedd that damage is being caused by “widespread agricultural pollution year after year”.

Ms Griffiths said “we must make more rapid progress” on reducing pollution. She said even with limits on NRW being able to carry out inspections, there have been 76 substantiated agricultural pollution incidents this year, “above three per week. Welsh farmers are more than capable of working to these baseline standards and many exceed them”.

She said she accepted they will be “challenging” for some in the industry.

The motion being debated, for the regulations to be discussed at committee, was a tie with 29 votes for and 29 votes against.

The casting vote went to deputy presiding officer David Rees who cast against the motion. However, Labour’s amendment to the motion did not prevent the regulations being reviewed at a committee, which will now happen and recommendations will be presented to the Senedd at a later date.