Efficient use of Nutrients & NVZ Compliance, Dumfries – event summary

NVZ’s, Nutrients & Cross Compliance

This was the first in a series of 3 meetings covering nutrient management and NVZ compliance within the Dumfries & Galloway area and was held at SRUC’s Crichton Royal Farm.

The meeting started with an introduction from Alastair Beattie who discussed the rules and requirements on  NVZ plan completion. This included RAMS map preparation, organic manure storage requirement, N farm loading limits and Nmax limits.  After a short break, Sam Henderson covered NVZ records before discussing common breach problems and how to prevent.  You can read the presentations from Alastair & Sam here.

Key Messages

1. Ensure NVZ management plans are prepared by the 1^st of March each year and contain:
   • RAMS map
   • Calculation and record of storage capacity for livestock manure (if applicable)
   • Calculation and record of 170kg N/ha farm loading limit
   • An Nmax calculation for each crop type
2. Ensure the 250kg N/ha organic manure field application limit is not breached. This limit applies to all organic manures including slurry and FYM which is applied within a 12 month period.  Its is important to establish the total nitrogen content of manure being applied as it is total N which is used determine the application limit.
3. Check field soil types to ensure the correct closed periods are being used.  To check soil type visit http://map.environment.gov.scot/Soil_maps/?layer=9
4. Solid manure can be stored in temporary field heaps for no longer than 12 months. Site of temporary field heap cannot be reused for 24 months.  Field middens cannot be sited within 10m of a watercourse.  See more information on diffuse pollution prevention measures at www.farmingandwaterscotland.org where you can download the Know The Rules guides, or find details of how to order your printed copy, including the ‘Mind The Gap’ tractor cab sticker.
5. There is a quantative restriction of 30m³/ha (2,670 gallons/acre) in place from 4 weeks prior to the relevant closed period and from the day following the last day of the closed period until the 14^th of February.

Information leaflets provided at this meeting are available to download below.

Two further workshops have been scheduled as part of this series of meetings.  They will focus on the use of PLANET Scotland software as a nutrient management package.  For details on these meetings please see the event webpage here.