MPs probe consequences of farm muckspreading rules
6 January 2022
The Environment Food and Rural Affairs Committee hears whether regulations designed to prevent water pollution are preventing farmers spreading organic fertiliser. The evidence will be taken in a public Committee session at 2:30pm on Tuesday 11 January 2022.
- Parliament TV: Watch the session live
- Inquiry: Farming rules for water
- Environmental, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Purpose of the session
Water pollution is a serious and growing concern. However, the Committee has been told by farmers and the water industry that the government body responsible for implementing the regulations, the Environment Agency (EA), is interpreting the rules in a way that prevents farmers from the traditional spreading of manure in autumn for a spring crop and may be causing other forms of environmental damage.
However, the EA has previously told the Committee that there is nothing in its interpretation “that stops autumn application of appropriate organic fertilisers”.
Given the ongoing disagreement, the Committee will hear from both sides in a public evidence session and seek to identify how farming and environmental concerns can both be addressed.
Witness
Tuesday 11 January 2022
From 2.30pm
- Stuart Coville, Director of Policy, Water UK (a water industry body)
- George Dunn, Chief Executive, Tenant Farmers Association
- Prof. Andrew Neal, Soil Microbiologist, Rothamsted Research (an agricultural research institution)
- Kevin Austin, Deputy Director for Agriculture, Environment Agency
- John Leyland, Executive Director, Environment Agency
Further information
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