With just nine months to go before new NVZ slurry storage legislation comes into force, thousands of farmers in England and Wales have yet to take action to ensure they can store slurry for five months.

And if they haven’t made a plan for this yet then they must start now as new storage facilities will require planning consent and could take months to build.

This was the message made clear at Muck Northwest held at Reaseheath College in Cheshire this week where farmers and contractors were reminded of their obligations and shown the latest equipment and machinery to help make the most of their muck.

Helen Forrester, NFU North West policy adviser said the light touch previously applied by the Environment Agency could come to an end in 2012 so farmers must be serious about complying with the NVZ regulations or put their single payment at risk

“A close look at your business and all the options available to reduce the amount of storage required before investing in any new infrastructure is a must,” she advised.

“By January 1, 2012 the EA will expect to see storage in place or evidence of detailed planning for it. Remember too to discuss this with the EA before you go ahead with the construction work. They have to approve any new stores 14 days before they are put into use,” she said.

She also urged farmers to take particular care when siting farm yard manure heaps.

“We are encouraging farmers to site farm yard manure heaps more responsibly to avoid run off to watercourses.”

Defra is currently reviewing the NVZ area designated.  They plan to provide maps of the areas to be classed as NVZ for the four years commencing 01 January 2013 this summer, with the opportunity for farmers to appeal in the autumn of this year.

Farmers in the so called ‘purple’ areas should also hear this summer whether their NVZ designation will continue and as a result whether they will need to provide storage by January 1, 2013.”

Manufacturers of slurry stores and buildings at Muck Northwest, which was part funded by the RDPE Livestock Northwest programme, confirmed the lack of action on meeti ng the storage requirement.

Mark Hinton of Milbury Systems said he believed up to 5,000 farmers in England and Wales will have to put up extra storage facilities and many were delaying action because of the costs.

Slurry equipment manufacturers John Tydeman of Tramspread said the NVZ message was getting across but with milk price so low and feed and fertiliser costs so high farmers aren’t making enough money to invest in new storage facilities.

“They are delaying the moment,” he said. “Some were hoping to get a grant but now the Regional Development Boards are being disbanded. Some hope that with the EA making redundancies they won’t get inspected.”

But other farmers are looking to make better use of their manures to offset the high cost of bought in fertilisers.

Some people are saying that 75 per cent of farmers won’t have enough storage.

“There is potential to be a last minute panic as it takes up to three months to put up a store and you have to get planning consent first, “ he said.

Even a hole in the ground will require planning and the management of this system will be more expensive. 

Those taking the slurry lagoon option will need to include a strong liner and install leak detectors but the EA in Cheshire prefer the use of puddle clay, which could double the cost of the lagoon.

Howard Hughes of Harvey Hughes Limited, organisers of Muck Northwest, reminded visitors of the NVZ storage obligations that come into force on January 1, 2012:

• Farmers in NVZ’s will have  to demonstrate that they have in place five months storage on the farm for cattle and other types of slurry and at least six months storage capacity for pig slurry and poultry.

·         The storage requirement is needed for slurry and dirty water, not solid farm yard manure