DAIRY farmers in the Bridgnorth area could be forced out of business by stringent new regulations aimed at controlling nitrate levels. They also claim the new rules will mean more smells and a risk of pollution, already experienced on the continent.
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Farmers, union officials, and local MP Philip Dunne have all expressed concern over the new rules for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) which will soon cover 70 per cent of the UK. The new rules will ban farmers from spreading slurry for up to five and a half months a year, and force them to invest in huge manure stores, costing an average of £40,000 per farm to set up, with higher costs for many pig and dairy farmers.
The new rules also mean a lot more paperwork which will increase administrative costs and add to the long working hours already endured by the farming community.
NFU leader Peter Kendall has warned that the new directive brings “major and disproportionate costs” to livestock farmers and has condemned it as illogical, as nitrate levels are already declining in many parts of the UK.
Much Wenlock farmer Arthur Hill said: “Pig and dairy farmers will probably suffer the most. After years of very low profits, they are being forced to invest in storage facilities to keep manure for almost half the year - it’s crazy.
“Some will be forced out of business and others will struggle emotionally with the ever-increasing burden of long hours and little return – these are huge issues, and the whole industry is under stress”.
Local MP Philip Dunne said it was going to be very expensive for farmers in England, with livestock farmers bearing the brunt.
“The government have made a few concessions but English farmers will face significant capital expenditure, and will not be getting grant aid like their counterparts in Scotland and Wales”, Mr Dunne said. “Dairy farmers in particular will have to bear the costs of these measure at a time when they are under great pressure and I fear we may see more farmers in the Bridgnorth area being forced to give up production.”
Dairy farmer Simon Brown from Much Wenlock predicted: “I think you will find a lot of people saying ‘enough is enough’ and getting out. It’s another nail in the coffin for dairy farmers”.
Defra has announced that tax allowances will be made available for English farmers, but it will be much less financial support than that available for farmers in Scotland and Wales. As well as the financial costs of storing slurry from the end of August to February, farmers have warned that the new system may cause more pollution and smells in the countryside.
Huge problems with bad smells have plagued farmers in the Netherlands who are following similar restrictions, with the wind even carrying the stink to the UK.
Simon Brown said: “The time restrictions for spreading slurry will be so tight, everyone will be putting muck on at the same time - it will be a very concentrated, smelly period”.
An NFU report on the new rules for NVZs states: “We know from experience in the Netherlands that farmers will inevitably be forced to empty their slurry stores on the first fine day after the winter spreading ban comes to an end.
“So instead of slurry being spread little and often, when the soil and weather conditions make it safe to do so, it will all be unloaded at once, creating not only an almighty stink, but also – if heavy rainfall follows shortly afterwards – the most almighty pollution risk”