The latest announcement on the Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations, which sets out intentions to delay the implementation of the annual whole farm nitrogen limit of 170kg per hectare and consult on a licensing scheme to increase that limit, is a welcomed opportunity to influence change.
The written statement from Lesley Griffiths, Minister for Rural Affairs, North Wales and Trefnydd on Wednesday 5th October 2022, which has been issued under the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru, recognised that as result of uncertainty, some farm businesses will have delayed taking investment decisions and making the necessary preparations.
In recognition of these circumstances, the Minister set out intentions to consult on a licensing scheme this autumn to be operational until 2025 and provide a short extension of the implementation of the whole farm nitrogen limit of 170kg per hectare until April 2023.
The scheme will allow any farm business to apply for a licence for a higher annual holding nitrogen limit of 250kg per hectare subject to crop need and other legal considerations in line with similar derogations in other UK and EU Nitrate Vulnerable Zone designated areas.
This is a welcomed opportunity for the FUW to influence change and shows that continued lobbying has had some positive effects on what was an unworkable regulation.
The proposed licensing regime would serve as a significant safety net for a number of farmers in Wales in the short term who are already above the 170kg limit. This is especially important where reducing stock numbers or buying or renting additional land are not viable options, and compliance with the 170kg limit will breach contracts or tenancy agreements, or compromise the ability to repay loans.
However, this is just one regulation out of forty-six set out in this piece of legislation and therefore the FUW must consider the long term implications of these regulations as a whole for members.
Furthermore, the Minister indicated that a further, specific Regulatory Impact Assessment that considers the economic and environmental impacts of the 170kg per hectare annual holding nitrogen limit is going to be carried out and the Welsh Government will review the implications of this assessment for the future deployment of the regulations.
It is important that the impacts of the 170kg per hectare limit are scrutinised and the hope is that the Regulatory Impact Assessment will provide more evidence to the Welsh Government which demonstrates the need to introduce the licensing regime into the regulations on a permanent basis.
The Welsh Government will also be providing an additional £20 million in extra funding to support compliance with the regulations, and will accelerate its work to encourage potential alternative technological solutions using the Regulation 45 mechanism.
The extra funding of £20 million to support compliance is a mere drop in the ocean when the potential infrastructure costs for Welsh farmers is upwards of £450 million by now given current inflation rates of 25% for construction materials.
However, given that the Welsh Government is committed to using the Regulation 45 mechanism to consider potential alternative technological solutions to certain regulations, and that they will consider the outcome of the specific Regulatory Impact Assessment and be required to review the effectiveness of the regulations in April 2025, the FUW firmly believe that the regulations set to be introduced in August 2024 should also be delayed.
While this announcement will provide some breathing space for Welsh farmers over the next two years, it is outrageous to expect Welsh farmers to build new slurry stores by August 2024 with the support of the additional funding, only for the Welsh Government to consider and implement alternative technologies in 2025 which may then negate the need for closed periods and set slurry storage capacities in the future.
The FUW’s recent submission of alternative measures to the regulations urged the Welsh Government to consider delaying the regulations in order to relieve pressures on farmers; consider other factors such as the financial implications for farming businesses when reviewing the regulations and utilise technologies to allow for a shift away from prescribed storage requirements and fixed closed periods, alongside a number of other proposals.
It is welcomed to see that as part of the Co-operation Agreement the Welsh Labour Government and Plaid Cymru have agreed to delay and implement amendments to the regulations following a consultation this autumn. However, in order to avoid yet further uncertainty for FUW members, the third stage of the regulations must also be delayed in order to have a clearer understanding of what farmers will be required to do in future before spending tens of thousands of pounds on new infrastructure.