Today (30 June), the Environment Agency has published its inaugural Agriculture Report, giving an overview of the environmental performance of the sector and showcasing how it helps farmers improve their environmental impact.
The EA engages with farmers, using advice, incentives, and enforcement where necessary, to improve compliance with environmental regulations. In the past five years, EA officers have completed over 19,000 inspections of non-permitted farms to check compliance with water quality regulations.
During an on-farm inspection, officers will check compliance against a wide range of regulations and record any non-compliances. Rates of non-compliance have remained steady at an average of 48% over the last five years, though a 5% decrease in the last year compared to the five-year average indicates signs of improvement. There are many variables that can affect rates of compliance, but an overall reduction is encouraging.
Today’s report highlights the majority of farmers take protecting the environment very seriously – with over 19,000 improvement actions completed, targeted at upgrading farm infrastructure and reducing pollution risk, since April 2021. These actions range from fixing a small piece of guttering to the complete replacement of a slurry store.
The EA is set to further increase farm inspections to 6000 annually over the next 3 years with higher levels of government funding.
Dr Jo Nettleton, Environment Agency’s Chief Regulator, said
Agriculture has a significant and increasing impact on our water environment.
Our approach is clear – we will work constructively with those who want to do the right thing, using advice and guidance as our primary tools.
Where this does not happen, we are increasing our regulatory presence and moving through the sanctions available to us to take strong enforcement action. This report shows we are starting to see real progress – but there is more to do to protect our precious water environment.
This report, published annually going forward, is part of a suite of EA publications reviewing performance and environmental impact of the sectors it regulates. This includes the Chief Regulator’s Report, detailing performance of its key sectors, and the Environmental Performance Assessment, assessing environmental compliance of water companies.
The regulator is committed to expanding its farm inspection programme and use of innovation, introducing the Agricultural Land Environmental Risk and Opportunity Tool (ALERT) tool, and remote sensing, to target work more effectively and reduce burden on compliant farms.