May 1, 2025
Making it easier to be ‘muck’ compliant
Are you compliant with slurry and manure handling rules? Nutrient management expert, Phil Edwards, explains how ProCam can offer growers in England a helping hand.
The rules around application and storage of slurry and farmyard manure in England are complex.
But the Environment Agency has increased capability to identify non-compliance, using software called the Agricultural Compliance Tool (ACT), to potentially identify areas requiring enforcement.
Three areas where it’s easy to fail are: (1) not carrying out soil tests (2) not preparing a nutrient management plan; and (3) inadequate slurry storage.
Looking at the first two, if you’re applying slurry or manure (or fertiliser) you must carry out soil testing so that you know what the nutrient levels of that land are to begin with. This applies even if not in an NVZ. In addition, you must prepare a nutrient management plan so that applications of the slurry, manure and fertiliser can be tailored to those test results to not exceed the needs of the soil or the crop.
This is all for good reason; it’s aimed at reducing watercourse pollution. Slurry storage also forms part of the Red Tractor scheme.
The good news is there are several areas where ProCam can help (for those with an SFI agreement in place, extra resources are also available to assist).
Testing & planning
For a start, ProCam’s soil testing service – SoilSense – provides not only a measure of the levels of key nutrients in the soil, but also a measure of the levels potentially available to the plant. It’s a great foundation from which to start.
Then, ProCam’s nutrient management planner provides guidance on how much of key nutrients to apply based on the soil test results. It uses a simple traffic light system to help identify the most positive approach to nutrient management. Things anticipated to work well are coloured green. Areas of concern are highlighted orange, with non-compliances identified in red. It’s designed to cover the whole farm, not just individual fields, and is able to include livestock at its core – for example calculating slurry storage using an algorithm to help optimise current capacity.
For even greater precision with granular fertiliser dosing, our FieldSense service uses satellite imaging of field and crop variability to drive tailored, variable rate fertiliser application – with the aim of achieving not only improved economic crop output but also environmental gains.
These various techniques can also be used to help demonstrate that best practice steps are in place, and can help meet various requirements for SFI compliance. FieldSense can also be used for variable rate lime application and variable seed rates.
Partnership approach
Our nutrient management planning service can also provide a more detailed soil management plan – for example providing information on soil organic matter content, earthworm populations and soil structure. As well as further demonstrating best practice, this information can help provide a route to improved sustainability and yields.
What’s important to note is that our various services offer ways of easing the pressure and complexity of compliance, by working in partnership with your ProCam agronomist, rather than having to do everything yourself. Ultimately, they can also help to get your farm fitter for the future.
For more information, speak with your ProCam agronomist.
