Farmers are urged to ensure they abide by Farming Rules for Water when it comes to slurry storage this winter.
It follows a clampdown by Environment Agency on inadequate slurry and manure storage, including convictions and fines relating to water pollution and the illegal disposal of organic waste.
Silage, slurry and fuel oil regulations require at least four months storage capacity. This increases to five months for cattle and sheep, and six months for pigs and poultry, for farms in nitrate vulnerable zones (NVZs).
Few exceptions
However, the agency strongly recommends that farmers should have at least six months of storage to help comply with the requirements of the Farming Rules for Water – and must spread only according to crop and soil need.
While there are some exceptions, the agency says there is generally no soil or crop need for spreading during autumn and winter. Any slurry or other material spread at this time will not be taken up – and risk running off or leaching into the nearest water course.
“This means that if you are having to spread to land because your slurry storage is full, rather than for any soil or crop requirements, you are breaching these regulations,” says the agency.
Compliance
“We routinely check compliance with these regulations, so you can expect us to review them if we carry out a farm inspection,” the agency adds. “We also carry out monitoring for spreading during the winter months across the country.”
Recent convictions include Dorchester-based Manor Farm Dairy which was prosecuted for allowing cattle slurry to overflow from a lagoon, polluting a 4km stretch of nearby river in March 2024.
The case was heard last autumn. Manor Farm Dairy pleaded guilty to an offence of causing a discharge of poisonous, noxious or polluting matter into a local river. It was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £10,159 costs.
Senior environment officer David Womack said the incident was avoidable. Farmers were advised to regularly inspect their slurry stores, he added, especially during periods of wetter winter weather.
“If they have concerns about not having sufficient capacity, we recommend they contact us. We can give advice on current legislation, help ensure slurry calculations are accurate and reduce the pollution risk by identifying non-compliant structures.
“If an incident does occur, we would urge those responsible to report it as soon as possible to the Environment Agency. This can help reduce any environmental impact. Incidents can be reported 24hrs a day on 0800 80 70 60.”
Farmer fined £40k after slurry incident
A Shropshire dairy farmer has been ordered to pay nearly £40,000 for allowing dairy slurry to pollute a quarry lagoon.
Philip McDowell, 38, of Willoughbridge Lodge Farm, Willoughbridge, Market Drayton, admitted allowing a discharge of dairy slurry into Lordsley Wood Quarry in January 2023. His sentencing hearing took place last November.
Victim surcharge
Mr McDowell was fined £5,300, ordered to pay compensation of £18,236.40 to the quarry owners and £14,430.34 costs to the Environment Agency. He was also told to pay a victim surcharge of £2,000.
A witness reported to the Environment Agency that he had seen Mr McDowell pumping slurry into the quarry. Officers went to the site and found that a lagoon contained thick and dirty floating foam which smelled of cattle slurry.
The officers saw that the slurry had spread across a significant area of the lagoon. McDowell attended a voluntary interview under caution. He entered a guilty plea at a hearing in July 2025.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said it took pollution incidents very seriously. “The successful prosecution of this farmer sends a clear message that we will not tolerate practices that harm the environment.
“Slurry pollution can have devastating effects on local ecosystems, and we urge all farmers [and] landowners to comply with environmental regulations.”