Form: Claim a facilitation fund grant and record progress: Countryside Stewardship

Updated: Form updated to make it editable.

See the Countryside Stewardship facilitation fund page for more information.

Detailed guide: Packaging of radioactive waste: specifications and guidance

Updated: WPS/999/01 document added

Packaging specifications

The RWM packaging specifications take the form of a structured hierarchy with each level having a specific purpose. The Generic Waste Package Specification (GWPS) defines the requirements for all waste packages destined for geological disposal, and provides the basis for the definition of the Generic Specifications, which define the standards and specifications for waste packages containing specific categories of waste. The Generic Specifications are used to specify the requirements for the waste packages that could be manufactured using standardised designs of waste container, these being referred to as the Waste Package Specifications (WPS)

Geological Disposal – Generic Waste Package Specification
(PDF, 1.9MB, 37 pages)

Please note that all the requirements from the document ‘Geological disposal – Generic Waste Package Specification’ have now been subsumed into the DSS Part B, verbatim. This document has therefore been superseded.

Guidance: Pet travel: approved air, sea and rail carriers and routes

Updated: Updated airline and airports entries for PHS, Windsor Jet Management, Albinati Aviation, PHS, VIP Flight and Executive Jet Management.

You can only use these carriers and routes approved by the Animal and Plant Health Agency to bring your pet to England or Scotland. There are no approved routes to Wales.

You must follow pet travel rules. Ask your travel company if they have extra rules you must follow.

Exemptions

You don’t have to use an approved carrier or route if you travel to England, Scotland or Wales from:

UK countries
the Channel Islands
the Isle of Man
the Republic of Ireland

Detailed guide: Using nitrogen fertilisers in nitrate vulnerable zones

Updated: Corrected link

You must follow this guidance if you use any manufactured fertilisers, manures or other materials that contain nitrogen on agricultural land in a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ).

Find out if you’re in an NVZ.

You must also follow the guidance on storing organic manures in NVZs and storing silage, slurry and agricultural fuel oil if you produce or import livestock manures.

The NVZs rules are part of the requirements for cross compliance, known as Statutory Management Requirement 1. You must meet cross compliance requirements to qualify for full payment under the basic payment scheme and other direct rural payments.

Fertilisers that contain nitrogen

Nitrogen fertilisers can be manufactured (inorganic, bagged) fertilisers that you buy, other materials containing nitrogen (like waste soil) or organic manures that you produce or bring on to your holding.

Organic manures come from animals, plants or humans. They include:

slurry
poultry manures
solid manures (such as farmyard manure, sludge cake or compost)
sewage sludge (also called biosolids)
other liquid manures (such as abattoir waste or anaerobic digestate)

How much nitrogen you can apply to your crops

There’s a limit on the average amount of manufactured fertiliser and crop-available nitrogen from organic manure that you can apply to most crops each year – this is known as the N-max limit.

These are shown in the following table:

Crop	N-max limit (kilograms of nitrogen per hectare)	Standard crop yield (tonnes per hectare)
Autumn or early winter-sown wheat	220	8
Spring-sown wheat	180	7
Winter barley	180	6.5
Spring barley	150	5.5
Winter oilseed rape	250	3.5
Sugar beet	120	–
Potatoes	270	–
Forage maize	150	–
Field beans	0	–
Peas	0	–
Grass	300	–
Asparagus, carrots, radishes, swedes, individually or in any combination	180	–
Celery, courgettes, dwarf beans, lettuce, onions, parsnips, runner beans, sweetcorn, turnips individually or in any combination	280	–
Beetroot, brussels sprouts, cabbage, calabrese, cauliflower, leeks individually or in any combination	370	–

Crops that you can apply more nitrogen to

You can apply more nitrogen to some crops if your expected yield is higher than the ‘standard crop yield’ shown in the table.

You can use an additional 80kg of nitrogen per hectare if you’ve used straw or paper sludge on the previous or current crop.

Wheat and barley

For wheat and barley, you can use an additional 20kg of nitrogen per hectare for every tonne that the expected yield exceeds the standard yield.

Milling wheat

On milling wheat varieties, you can use an additional 40kg of nitrogen per hectare.

Wheat and barley on shallow soils

On autumn and winter-sown wheat and winter barley you can use an additional 20kg of nitrogen per hectare on fields with a shallow soil type (except on shallow soils over sandstone).

Winter oilseed rape

On winter oilseed rape you can use up to 250kg of nitrogen per hectare. This includes a maximum autumn (closed period) application of 30kg of nitrogen per hectare of manufactured nitrogen fertiliser.

If you use 30kg of nitrogen per hectare in the autumn, you can only use up to 220kg of nitrogen per hectare in the spring. However, you can increase this by an additional 30kg of nitrogen per hectare for every half tonne that the expected yield exceeds the standard yield.

Grass

On grass that’s cut at least 3 times in a year, you can use an additional 40kg of nitrogen per hectare.

Grass grown for dehydration or chlorophyll production

You can use nitrogen up to the level recommended in writing by a FACTS-qualified adviser if you’re growing grass to achieve a protein content of at least 16% in the dried product.

If the land is irrigated, you must not use more than 700kg of nitrogen per hectare. If the land isn’t irrigated, you must not use more than 500kg of nitrogen per hectare.

In subsequent years, you must sample these fields between 1 September and 31 October for soil mineral nitrogen levels and give your FACTS-qualified adviser the results.

How much organic manure you can use (farm and field limits)

You can apply up to 170kg per hectare of nitrogen in livestock manure (including manure deposited directly by livestock and spreading) on your holding in each calendar year. This limit is the loading limit and applies as an average across your holding. It’s separate from the field limit of 250kg per hectare from organic manures.

You must not use more than 250kg of total nitrogen from all organic manures spread in any 12 month period on any single hectare of your land. This limit (the field limit) doesn’t include livestock manures deposited by grazing animals.

You must use standard values to work out how much nitrogen is produced by the livestock on your farm or bought on to your farm. You must plan so that you don’t exceed the limit.

You can find the standard values in the
blank field records and standard values tables
(XLSM, 128KB)

.

You can apply for a ‘grassland derogation’ to increase this limit if more than 80% of your holding is grassland.

Using compost

If the only organic manure you use is certified green or certified green/food compost, you can apply:

up to 500kg of nitrogen per hectare every 2 years as mulch or worked into the ground
up to 1,000kg of nitrogen per hectare every 4 years (only as mulch and in an orchard growing fruit of the genera Malus, Prunus or Pyrus)

The compost that you use must not contain livestock manure and must be produced to the PAS100 protocol.

Plan your nitrogen use

You must plan all your applications of nitrogen on each crop in each field (including grass). This is your fertilisation plan. You must keep it as part of your farm records.

To help with your plan, you can use farm software like PLANET or tools like the ‘Tried and Tested’ nutrient management tools.

You can also use the
blank field records and standard values tables
(XLSM, 128KB)

to calculate how much nitrogen is available in different types of livestock manure.

Your plan must show you’ve taken the following steps before you apply nitrogen for the first time in a field where you’re going to plant a crop or have planted a crop:

Calculate the amount of nitrogen in the soil that’s likely to be available for the crop to use during the growing season.
Calculate the optimum amount of nitrogen that should be applied to the crop, taking into account the amount of nitrogen already available in the soil.
Calculate the amount of nitrogen from any planned applications of organic manure that’s likely to be available to the crop in the growing season in which you spread it.
Calculate the amount of manufactured nitrogen fertiliser you need.

You must also carry out steps 1 and 2 before you apply any nitrogen fertiliser or manure for the first time.

You must carry out steps 3 and 4 every time you apply nitrogen fertiliser or manure.

In subsequent growing seasons, before you apply nitrogen to any crop or land where you’re going to plant a crop (including grass) you must:

repeat steps 1 and 2
prepare a plan for your fertiliser use for that growing season

For permanent grassland, make your calculations based on the farming year starting on 1 January. Prepare a plan for any manure or fertiliser use for the year after that date.

Work out the total and crop-available nitrogen in organic manures

Before you apply livestock manure, you must calculate the:

total amount of nitrogen in the manure, using standard values or results from sampling and analysis
amount of crop-available nitrogen in the manure

You can find the values you need for these calculations in the blank field records and standard values tables.

Before you apply other organic manures, work out the total amount of nitrogen and crop-available nitrogen using the technical analyses supplied by the fertiliser supplier (for example, on the delivery note).

Where these technical analyses are unavailable, typical values may be obtained from other sources such as the Fertiliser Manual (RB209) or MANNER-NPK software. The Fertiliser Manual refers to the total amount of nitrogen as ‘total nitrogen’. It refers to crop-available nitrogen as ‘nitrogen available to the next crop’.

You can also use values from your own sampling and analysis.

You must not spread any organic manure unless you have used one of these methods to work out the crop-available nitrogen in the manure before applying it to crops that have an N-max limit.

Assess the risk of run-off before spreading

It’s an offence to allow fertiliser or organic manure to enter surface water (such as rivers or ponds).

You must inspect the field to assess the risk of nitrogen getting into surface water (for example, through runoff) before you spread any fertilisers or organic manures.

In particular, when assessing the risk of runoff, you need to take account of:

land that’s sloping, especially if the slope is over 12 degrees
ground cover provided by vegetation
the distance to surface water
weather conditions
the soil type and condition
the presence of land drains

Where you can’t spread manufactured fertilisers or organic manures

You must not spread any manufactured fertilisers or organic manures if a field is either:

waterlogged, flooded or covered in snow
frozen for more than 12 hours in the previous 24 hours

You must not spread:

manufactured nitrogen fertiliser within 2 metres of surface water
manufactured nitrogen fertilisers within a 2 metre zone from the centre of an established hedge (this only applies if you need to meet cross compliance requirements)
organic manure within 50 metres of a spring, well or borehole or 10 metres of surface water

You must only spread manufactured nitrogen fertilisers and manures on agricultural land that you’re using to grow crops (including grass).

You must spread manufactured nitrogen fertilisers and organic manures as accurately as possible.

Exceptions for precision spreading equipment for organic manures

You can spread slurry, sewage sludge and anaerobic digestate no less than 6 metres from surface water if you use precision manure spreading equipment like:

band spreaders (trailing hose or trailing shoe)
shallow injectors (that inject no more than 10cm below the surface)
dribble-bar applicators

Exceptions for straw-based solid manure

You can spread straw-based solid manure (such as farmyard manure) within 10 metres of surface water on land that’s notified as a site of special scientific interest or managed under an agri-environment scheme if you meet one of the following conditions:

you’re managing the land for breeding wader birds
the land is designated as a ‘species-rich semi-natural grassland’

You must only spread between 1 June and 31 October and not:

directly into surface water
more than 12.5 tonnes per hectare each year

Using manures with high readily available nitrogen

Some organic fertilisers have more than 30% of their total nitrogen content immediately available to crops. These are called ‘high readily available nitrogen manures’.

They include:

poultry manure (layer manure and litter)
liquid organic manures (such as sludge, cattle and pig slurries and anaerobic digestate)

If you use sewage sludge or slurry on your holding, you need to follow the rules in this guidance and separate rules on managing sewage sludge, slurry and silage.

When you can’t spread manures with high readily available nitrogen (closed periods)

You must not spread high readily available nitrogen manures on or between the dates shown in this table.

	On grassland	On tillage land
Sandy or shallow soils	1 Sep to 31 Dec	1 Aug to 31 Dec
All other soils	15 Oct to 31 Jan	1 Oct to 31 Jan

Your soil is sandy if it lies over sandstone or it has all the characteristics shown in this table:

Layer of soil	Up to 40cm	From 40cm to 80cm
Content of the soil	more than 50% by weight of particles from 0.06mm to 2mm in diameter	more than 70% by weight of particles from 0.06mm to 2mm in diameter
	less than 18% by weight of particles less than 0.02mm in diameter	less than 15% by weight of particles less than 0.02mm in diameter
	less than 5% by weight of organic carbon	less than 5% by weight of organic carbon

Your soil is shallow if it’s less than 40cm deep

Exceptions for crops on sandy or shallow soils

If you sow a crop on sandy or shallow tillage land on or before 15 September, you can apply manures with high readily available nitrogen between 1 August and 15 September inclusive.

Exceptions for organic farms

If you’re an organic farmer, or you’re formally converting to organic status, you can spread manures with high readily available nitrogen in the periods shown in the table.

You must not spread more than 150kg of total nitrogen per hectare.

Crop	When you can spread nitrogen	Additional limits on spreading
Asparagus, overwintered salad onions, parsley, bulb onions	from the start of the closed period to the end of February
Brassica	from the start of the closed period until harvest	no more than 50kg of nitrogen per hectare every 4 weeks
Winter oilseed rape	from the start of the closed period to the end of October
Grass	from the start of the closed period to the end of October	no more than 40kg at any one time

Restrictions on applications outside the closed period

You must not spread more than 30 m ³ /ha of slurry or 8 tonnes/ha of poultry manure in a single application from the end of the closed period until the end of February. You must allow at least 3 weeks between each individual application.

The poultry manure limit remains the same but the slurry limit has been reduced from 50 m ³ to 30 m ³.

Equipment for spreading slurry

You must only spread slurry using precision spreading equipment or equipment that either:

has a low spreading trajectory (below 4 metres from the ground)
spreads slurry at a maximum rate of no more than 1 millimetre per hour when operating continuously

Work organic manures into the soil after spreading

When you spread manure on bare soil or stubble (except if it’s been sown with seed), you must:

work poultry manure, slurry and liquid-digested sludge into the soil (for example, by ploughing) as soon as it’s practically possible to do so and within 24 hours at the latest
work any organic manure into the soil (unless it’s been spread as mulch on sandy soil) as soon as possible and within 24 hours at the latest if the land is sloping and within 50 metres of surface water that could receive run-off from it

You don’t have to work in slurry and liquid-digested sludge if you have applied it using a trailing hose, shoe band spreader, dribble bar applicator or an injector.

When you can’t spread manufactured nitrogen fertilisers (closed periods)

You must not spread manufactured nitrogen fertiliser on or between the following dates (closed periods):

from 15 September to 15 January on grassland
from 1 September to 15 January on tillage land

Exceptions to the closed periods for manufactured nitrogen fertilisers

You can spread manufactured nitrogen fertiliser during the closed period if you grow the crops listed in the table and you keep to the limits and times shown.

If you grow crops that aren’t listed in the table, you must have written advice from a FACTS-qualified adviser before you spread manufactured nitrogen fertilisers.

Crop	Maximum amount of nitrogen you can spread within the closed period on each hectare
Winter oilseed rape	30kg (you must not spread nitrogen after 31 October)
Asparagus	50kg
Brassica	100kg (no more than 50kg can be applied every 4 weeks, up to the date on which you harvest the crop)
Grass	80kg (you can apply a maximum of 40kg at any one time, and you must not spread nitrogen after 31 October)
Over-wintered salad onions	40kg
Parsley	40kg
Bulb onions	40kg

Exemptions for greenhouses and low-intensity farms

Greenhouses

You don’t need to keep to limits on fertiliser use on land inside greenhouses, glasshouses and polytunnels where the land is enclosed for the whole calendar year. If land is exposed to the open air at any time (for example, if you uncover a polytunnel) the limits apply for the whole of that year.

You don’t need to keep records of your use of nitrogen fertilisers or the yield of arable crops in a greenhouse.

Low-intensity farms

You’re a low-intensity farmer if all of the following apply to you:

at least 80% of your land is grassland
you apply no more than 100kg of nitrogen per hectare per year as organic manure (including any nitrogen in manure deposited on the field by livestock)
you spread no more than 90kg of nitrogen per hectare per year as manufactured fertiliser
you don’t bring any organic manure onto your holding

You don’t have to keep a record of your actual applications of manufactured fertiliser and organic manure in each field. You must have recorded information to show that you meet the criteria for low-intensity farms. You must still plan your nitrogen use by keeping a fertilisation plan.

When calculating your fertiliser applications, you must not include any area of your holding where you don’t spread any fertiliser or work the soil (for example, on rough grazing areas).

Keeping records

You must keep all records of your fertiliser use for at least 5 years.

Fertilisation plan

You must keep records of each step in your fertilisation plan for each field in which you use nitrogen fertiliser.

Step 1

Record the:

name and area of the field to be planted
type of crop to be grown
month in which you plan to plant the crop
soil type
previous crop (If the previous crop was grass, record whether it was cut or grazed)
amount of nitrogen from the soil that is likely to become available for uptake by the crop during the growing season (the soil nitrogen supply)
method you used to work out the soil nitrogen supply

Step 2

Record the:

anticipated yield, if it’s an arable crop
how you’ll manage the crop, if it’s grass (cut or grazed)
the month when you’ll plant the crop (unless the previous crop is grass and it has not been ploughed out)
the crop nitrogen requirement, taking account of the soil nitrogen supply

You must also keep a copy of any advice from a FACTS-qualified adviser with your plan.

You can estimate your expected yield using your farm records for previous crops.

Step 3

Record the:

area (including location) to which you’ll apply organic manure
quantity and type of organic manure you’ll apply
month when you plan to apply the manure
total nitrogen content of the organic manure
amount of nitrogen that is likely to become available for crop uptake in the growing season in which you’ll apply the organic manure

Step 4

Record the:

amount of nitrogen needed from manufactured fertiliser, taking account of the crop available nitrogen from applications of organic manure
month when you plan to apply the manufactured fertiliser

Field records

You must update your field records within 1 week of sowing, spreading fertiliser or harvesting a crop.

When you sow a crop on which you’re going to spread nitrogen fertiliser, record the type of crop and the date you sowed it on.

When you spread manufactured fertiliser

Record the date of spreading and the amount of nitrogen you spread.

When you spread organic manure

Record the:

area you spread
quantity of manure you spread
date of spreading
method of spreading
type of manure
the total nitrogen content of the manure
the amount of nitrogen that was available to the crop (crop-available nitrogen)

Recording nitrogen calculations

You must keep evidence of:

the soil nitrogen supply and how you calculated it
the crop nitrogen requirement and how you calculated it
any written advice from a FACTS-qualified adviser

Keeping laboratory reports

You must keep original laboratory reports of any sampling and analysis you have done to find out the nitrogen content in organic manure that you use.

Recording yields

You must record the yield of any arable crop on which nitrogen fertiliser has been used, within one week of finding it out.

Recording the size of your holding

You must keep an up-to-date record of the total size of your holding and update it within 1 month if it changes. This applies to you if the change in area isn’t land covered by a greenhouse.

The total size of your holding must include any area not covered by greenhouses and excludes surface waters, any hardstanding (areas for parking vehicles), buildings, roads or any woodland (unless that woodland is used for grazing).

Making a risk map

You must make a risk map and keep it with your farm records if you spread organic manure on your land. You must mark on the map:

the location of each field and its area in hectares
areas with sandy or shallow soils
land with a slope greater than 12 degrees
land drains (except if they are sealed and impermeable)
sites where you plan to use temporary field heaps to store manure
all surface waters (for example, streams or ponds) and land within 10 metres of them
all springs, wells and boreholes on your land or within 50 metres of the boundary of your land
all land within 50 metres of a spring, well or borehole
low run-off risk land (if you intend to spread to this land to reduce the amount of storage you need to provide)

Your risk map can be printed or drawn by hand and it doesn’t need to be to scale.

You must update the map with any changes within 3 months of the date of the change.

Keeping records of livestock manure

For the previous calendar year, you must complete a record by 30 April showing:

the area of your holding in hectares
the numbers of livestock kept on your holding
the type of animal (‘category’ in the standard tables) and number of days each animal spent on your holding
your calculation of the amount of nitrogen produced by livestock

Within 1 week of bringing livestock manure (including poultry manure and slurry) onto your holding or sending it off, you must record:

the type and amount of manure and the date it was brought onto or sent off your holding
the total nitrogen content of any manure you send off or bring onto your holding
the name and address of the supplier or recipient of the manure
a contingency plan you’ll follow if the manure isn’t accepted by a recipient (for example, how you plan to store the manure)

If you don’t know the nitrogen content of imported manure, you must find this out (by analysis or calculation) as soon as possible, and then record it within a week.

Further requirements for claimants of direct payments

You must follow the Code of Good Agricultural Practice for nitrates if you claim direct payments other than those under the basic payment scheme (for example, agri-environment payments).

Inspections

The Environment Agency enforces the NVZ rules. Its officers select which farms to inspect. If you have land in an NVZ and don’t comply with the NVZ rules, you may be prosecuted and fined.

The Rural Payments Agency inspects a proportion of farmers who claim under the cross-compliance scheme. If you have land in an NVZ and don’t comply with the NVZ rules your payment may be reduced.

Where to get help

Contact the Farming Advice Service for more information on using nitrogen fertilisers and manures in NVZs, and other requirements of cross compliance.

Telephone: 03000 200 301 (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm). (See call charges)

Email: advice@farmingadviceservice.org.uk

Find a local FACTS-qualified adviser.

Detailed guide: Grassland derogations for livestock manure in nitrate vulnerable zones

Updated: Updated to include information for 2019 Derogation application process.

You can apply up to 170kg per hectare of nitrogen in livestock manure on your holding in a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ) in each calendar year.

This includes manure deposited directly by grazing livestock and what you spread. This limit is the loading limit and applies as an average across your holding.

You can’t get permission to use more nitrogen from non-grazing livestock (veal calves, pigs or poultry) and must keep within the 170kg per hectare limit.

Use this guide to find out how to apply for a derogation to use up to 250kg of nitrogen per hectare.

Check if your farm is in an NVZ

Use the What’s In Your Backyard tool to find out if any part of your holding is in an NVZ.

Defra continually updates this tool to show any changes to NVZ designations which may affect your derogation.

Eligibility for a grassland derogation

You can apply for a grassland derogation to use a higher limit of up to 250kg of nitrogen per hectare, if the nitrogen comes from grazing livestock manure.

Grazing livestock are:

cattle (except for veal calves)
sheep
deer
goats
horses

You must comply with the conditions of a derogation and the NVZ rules if your application is successful.
You can only apply for a derogation if at least 80% of the agricultural area of your holding is grass.

The agricultural area is the part of your holding you use for agricultural purposes. It doesn’t include, for example:

surface waters
areas of hardstanding
buildings or woodland (unless the woodland is used for grazing)
any land covered by a greenhouse.

Grassland derogations for 2019

You must apply between 1 October and 31 December 2018.

If you have a current derogation, this will finish on the 31 December 2018 and you must reapply for 2019.

You can apply by telephoning the Environment Agency (EA) on 03708 506 506 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm).

When you apply, you must give the:

farm name, address and your County Parish Holding (CPH) number
agricultural area and grassland area of your farm in hectares on 1 January of the year for which you are applying
amount of manure nitrogen produced by grazing livestock kept on your farm during the calendar year in kilograms of nitrogen (kgN)
amount of manure nitrogen produced by grazing livestock you intend to bring onto or send off your farm during the calendar year (kgN)
total amount of manure nitrogen from grazing livestock on your farm during the calendar year (kgN)
amount of manure nitrogen produced by non-grazing livestock on your farm during the calendar year (kgN)
amount of manure nitrogen produced by non-grazing livestock you intend to bring onto or send off your farm during the calendar year (kgN)
total amount of manure nitrogen from non-grazing livestock on your farm during the calendar year (kgN)

The EA will use these to calculate whether you’re able to stay within the 250kg of nitrogen per hectare limit from grazing livestock.

You can use
standard values tables
(XLSM, 128KB)

or farm software to do these calculations before you apply.

The EA will assess your application on the call, and tell you if you’re eligible for a derogation. If you’re eligible, they’ll send you a written approval notice.

You must formally agree to fulfil the conditions of your derogation by signing and returning the approval notice to the EA.

The European Commission has ultimate control over the use of derogations.
This may mean that derogations:

are not available in 2019
will end earlier than 31 December 2019

If this happens, the EA will tell you as soon as possible.

Apply in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

You must apply for the derogation:

through the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) in Northern Ireland
through the Scottish Government website in Scotland
by calling the NVZ Wales helpline in Wales: 01824 704060

Find out about call charges

Reasons why your application may be unsuccessful

If you don’t meet the eligibility criteria or don’t apply during the specified dates your application will be rejected.

If your holding is near a special area of conservation or a special protection area, the EA will carry out an assessment of risks to the environment. The EA can withdraw a previously approved derogation after they’ve assessed this.

The EA may also refuse to give you a derogation if you had a derogation during a previous year but didn’t follow all the conditions for that derogation.

How to appeal if your application is refused

You can appeal within 30 days of your application being rejected. An independent panel will consider your appeal.

Contact the Defra Helpline or email nitratesdirectiveteam@defra.gsi.gov.uk to find out how to appeal.

Defra Helpline

Seacole Building

2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF

Contact form
https://www.gov.uk/gui…

Telephone (UK only)
03459 33 55 77

Telephone (from outside the UK)
+44 20 7238 6951

The quickest way to get a response is to call our Helpline which is open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5:00pm (find out about call charges at www.gov.uk/call-charges). Alternatively you can email us, or write to us at the postal address given above. We aim to reply to emails or letters within fifteen working days.

Derogation conditions

You must meet all the conditions of your derogation and follow the rules that apply when using nitrogen fertilisers and storing organic manures in NVZs.

If you don’t meet the conditions of a derogation for the year it covers:

the EA may fine you
you may not be eligible to apply for a derogation in the following year

You won’t be allowed to apply more than 170kg of nitrogen per hectare in livestock manure, averaged across your holding, if the EA either:

withdraws your derogation
decides you’re ineligible to apply for a derogation the following year

Ploughing grassland if you have a derogation

If you plough grassland where you have a derogation, you must plant one of the following:

a crop with a high nitrogen demand (for example, grass, potatoes, sugar beet, maize) within 4 weeks from the date of ploughing
grass within 6 weeks from the date of ploughing

You must not plough temporary grassland on sandy soils between 1 July and 31 December.

You must not plough any area of grass before 16 January if you’ve spread livestock manure on that area in the previous year between:

1 September and 31 December on sandy soils
15 October and 15 January on all other soils

Crops you can’t grow in rotation with grassland

You must not grow leguminous or other atmospheric nitrogen-fixing plants in your rotation, except:

grass with less than 50% clover
legumes under-sown with grass

Create a phosphate plan

You must plan the amount of phosphate fertiliser you put on your land in an NVZ.

You must take the following steps before you use phosphate for the first time in a field where you’re going to plant a crop or have planted a crop:

Calculate the amount of phosphate in the soil that’s likely to be available for the crop to use during the growing season.
Calculate the amount of phosphate that should be applied to the crop to get the best crops, taking into account the phosphate already available in the soil.
Calculate the amount of phosphate from any planned applications of organic manure that’s likely to be available to the crop in the growing season in which you spread it.
Calculate the amount of manufactured phosphate fertiliser you will need.

You must also carry out steps 3 and 4 every time you spread manure or fertiliser.

Before you use manure or fertiliser on any crop (including grass) in following growing seasons, you must:

repeat steps 1 and 2
plan your fertiliser use for that growing season

For permanent grassland, make your calculations based on the farming year starting on 1 January.

You can use the standard values tables (XLSM, 128KB) to calculate how much nitrogen and phosphate is contained in different types of livestock manure.

Alternatively, you can use the PLANET farm software or the ‘Tried and Tested’ nutrient management tools.

Sample and analyse your soil: field records

You must sample and analyse the soil at least once every 4 years. This will tell you the amount of phosphorus in the soil that’s likely to be available for the crop to use during the growing season.

You must do this for at least every 5 hectares of your holding that has the same cropping and soil type. Use either the PLANET Nutrient Management software or the fertiliser manual (RB209) to find out how to do this.

You can use existing soil sampling results if they’re less than 4 years old when your derogation starts.
If you haven’t got sampling data that’s less than 4 years old, you’ll need to sample 75% of your farm area in the first year of your derogation. You then need to sample the remaining 25% of your farm area in the year of your next derogation.

Record keeping

In your fertilisation plan and field records you must record your nitrogen use and any phosphate you use from:

manufactured fertilisers
organic manures

You must record how much phosphate and nitrogen any manure contains within 1 week of bringing it onto your holding.

If you don’t know the phosphate content of manure you bring onto your farm, you must analyse or calculate the amount. Record the amount within a week of finding it out.

By 1 March of each year in which you have a derogation, you must have the following information recorded:

the size of the agricultural area of your holding in hectares (update within 1 month if this changes)
the size of the area of grassland for that calendar year in hectares (update within 1 month if this changes)
a written description of the livestock housing and manure storage systems you have on your farm, including the volume of the manure storage available
the numbers and type of livestock you expect to have on your holding during the remaining part of the calendar year
an estimate of the manure nitrogen and phosphate that your livestock will produce during the current calendar year

Submit your fertilisation account

You must send the EA details about your farming practices and fertiliser use for the period 1 January to 31 December. You must send the details by 30 April in the year following the derogation. This is your fertilisation account. You must do this for each you have a derogation.

Your fertilisation account must show the total agricultural area of your derogated holding and the area (in hectares) covered by each of the following crops:

winter wheat
spring wheat
winter barley
spring barley
winter oilseed rape
sugar beet
potatoes
forage maize
grass

You need to show the area covered by other crops (for example, vegetables, lucerne, flowers), but the specific crop does not need to be named.

Your fertilisation plan must also show the:

number and category of livestock kept on your farm, and the amount of nitrogen and phosphate in the manure they produce (according to the categories in the
standard values tables
(XLSM, 128KB)

)
amount and type of livestock manure brought on or sent off your farm, together with the total amount of nitrogen and phosphate in that manure
weight in tonnes and nitrogen content of all manufactured nitrogen fertiliser stocks kept on, brought in or sent off your farm during the calendar year

You can submit your fertilisation account records by email to regaware@environment-agency.gov.uk or by post to:

Regulation Awareness Team

National Customer Contact Centre

The Environment Agency

Quadrant 2

Parkway Business Park

Sheffield

S9 4WF

Inspections

The EA may inspect your farm to make sure you’re meeting conditions of your derogation.

The Rural Payments Agency may inspect you if you claim basic farm payments as part of your cross- compliance requirements.

Contact the Farming Advice Service

Contact the Farming Advice Service for more information on using nitrogen fertilisers and manures in NVZs and other requirements of cross compliance.

Telephone: 03000 200 301 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm)

Email: advice@farmingadviceservice.org.uk

Form: Claim a facilitation fund grant and record progress: Countryside Stewardship

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Ancillary information and guidance

Waste package specifications guidance material

Miscellaneous guidance

Thematic guidance

Options guidance

Guidance: Pet travel: approved air, sea and rail carriers and routes

Exemptions

Detailed guide: Using nitrogen fertilisers in nitrate vulnerable zones

Fertilisers that contain nitrogen

How much nitrogen you can apply to your crops

Crops that you can apply more nitrogen to

Wheat and barley

Milling wheat

Wheat and barley on shallow soils

Winter oilseed rape

Grass

Grass grown for dehydration or chlorophyll production

How much organic manure you can use (farm and field limits)

Using compost

Plan your nitrogen use

Work out the total and crop-available nitrogen in organic manures

Assess the risk of run-off before spreading

Where you can’t spread manufactured fertilisers or organic manures

Exceptions for precision spreading equipment for organic manures

Exceptions for straw-based solid manure

Using manures with high readily available nitrogen

When you can’t spread manures with high readily available nitrogen (closed periods)

Exceptions for crops on sandy or shallow soils

Exceptions for organic farms

Restrictions on applications outside the closed period

Equipment for spreading slurry

Work organic manures into the soil after spreading

When you can’t spread manufactured nitrogen fertilisers (closed periods)

Exceptions to the closed periods for manufactured nitrogen fertilisers

Exemptions for greenhouses and low-intensity farms

Greenhouses

Low-intensity farms

Keeping records

Fertilisation plan

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Field records

When you spread manufactured fertiliser

When you spread organic manure

Recording nitrogen calculations

Keeping laboratory reports

Recording yields

Recording the size of your holding

Making a risk map

Keeping records of livestock manure

Further requirements for claimants of direct payments

Inspections

Where to get help

Detailed guide: Grassland derogations for livestock manure in nitrate vulnerable zones

Check if your farm is in an NVZ

Eligibility for a grassland derogation

Grassland derogations for 2019

Apply in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales

Reasons why your application may be unsuccessful

How to appeal if your application is refused

Defra Helpline

Derogation conditions

Ploughing grassland if you have a derogation

Crops you can’t grow in rotation with grassland

Create a phosphate plan

Sample and analyse your soil: field records

Record keeping

Submit your fertilisation account

Inspections

Contact the Farming Advice Service