Threat of strict new laws to cut agricultural emissions
AGRICULTURE ACCEPTS it must help to reduce harmful ammonia emissions but that immediate legislation is not the answer, countryside groups have claimed.
According to the Government’s draft Clean Air Strategy, agriculture accounts for 88 per cent of the UK’s ammonia emissions, which are emitted during manure storage and spreading, slurries and from applying inorganic fertilisers.
The Government warns that farming’s ammonia emissions are rising and that Public Health England partly attributed the 2014 smog in London to agricultural ammonia emissions.
New Whitehall proposals include introducing nitrogen, or fertiliser, limits; environmental permits for large dairy farms to mirror controls that exist for pig and poultry units; mandatory design standards for new livestock housing, and for all slurry stores and manure heaps to be covered.
But some in farming warned against any imminent legislation.
Lynette Steel, policy adviser at the Tenant Farmers Association, said the industry had introduced a code of practice for reducing ammonia emissions in July and this will start a change in culture.
“There is no doubt that the agricultural industry must play its part in helping to reduce emissions however we urge the Government to understand that further UK based research into managing emissions is needed before introducing legislation,” she said.
“It is vital that any targets set by Government should be realistic and not have a negative effect on farm competitiveness.
“The livestock sector, predominately dairy farmers, will be impacted by the draft strategy and with volatile markets and the increasing likelihood of a no-deal Brexit we are concerned that moving directly to legislation will create problems for production and barriers to innovation.”
Tim Breitmeyer, president of the Country Land and Business Association, said any emissionbusting scheme must offer “genuine” incentives that support farm businesses to invest in new infrastructure to deliver sustained improvements.
The Government has pledged to fund targeted action to protect habitats impacted by ammonia as part of a new environmental land management system, and currently offers farmers funding to buy manure management equipment and slurry tank and lagoon covers.