Don’t forget about these upcoming deadlines!

 

Date	Deadline
15th of June	Deadline to apply for the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) – Animal Health and Welfare Theme.
3rd of July	Deadline to accept your Grant Funding Agreement for the FETF – Slurry and Productivity Theme if you applied for it and were accepted.
4th of July	Deadline to apply for an NVZ Grassland Derogation.
18th of August	Deadline for Countryside Stewardship applications.
31st of August	Deadline for changes to Countryside Stewardship Claims. Deadline for late Countryside Stewardship Claims (with deductions).

Farm records for an Environment Agency inspection
Have you received a letter from the Environment Agency stating that they will be coming soon for a farm inspection? Don’t panic! The EA is currently visiting a number of farms in catchment sensitive areas. The EA officers are friendly, but they will be looking for a few farm records, which we have listed below. Do not hesitate to contact us if you need advice or help with getting your records up to date.

The list of records you require is the following.
General records:

• Map and area of the farm
• Location of chemical stores
• Your water abstraction license and records of water abstraction and calibration certificate (if required by licence)

Records in relation to the Water Resources (Control of Pollution) (Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil) Regulations 2010 (SSAFO Regulation):

• Location, dimensions and volume calculations of any slurry stores, solid manure stores, fuel tanks and silage silos
• An accurate drainage plan showing the location of clean and dirty drains and size of yard area (in m²) draining to the slurry and dirty water systems.
• Your slurry storage capacity calculation
• Your silage effluent tank storage calculation

Records in relation to the Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution (England) Regulations 2018 (Farming Rules for Water):

• A nutrient management plan showing (most NMPs will show these anyways):
  • Planned applications of manure and/or fertiliser for the current cropping year
  • Soil test records for pH, P, K and Mg
  • The crop grown
  • Yield in t/ha
  • Filed size in ha
  • Application rates and dates
  • For Nitrogen, soil nutrient supply should be recorded
• Applications of manure and/or fertiliser must be adjusted to meet crop needs.

 

If you are in an NVZ, you must supply these additional records:

• Area of the farm
• Livestock manure Nitrogen limit calculation
• Slurry/poultry manure storage capacity calculation
• Nitrogen Plan, including associated field records (for derogated farms, also a P plan)
• Risk map
• Evidence of compliance with the N-Max requirement
• Field records of spreading, showing
  • Dates of spreading
  • Type of fertiliser used
  • Method of spreading
  • Quantities
  • Total N and available N content

The inspector may also want to verify some of the information shown on the records during their farm walk with you. Following their visit, they should issue a report within 2 weeks.

If you are worried about an upcoming EA inspection or otherwise need help with records on your farm, contact Ellice at ellicehahn@fcgagric.com or your local FCG Office