New Green Farming Guide Launched by Defra

A new one-stop shop practical guide to help farmers, growers and land managers protect the environment was launched today. It offers free best practice advice for farmers of all kinds to protect and enhance water, soil, and air quality in agricultural environments.

Amongst others, the advice covers managing fertilisers and applying nutrients to avoid soil contamination, storing silage and handling effluents, and waste storage, recovery, and disposal.

 It updates three previous codes last published in 1998, bringing together Defra's guidance into one code appropriate for all farming systems, including organic.

 The code includes a section which provides advice for farmers on minimising nitrate loss to water. The practices described in this section are also included in the Action Programme of measures that farmers with land located in Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs) must implement. Farmers with land outside NVZs are encouraged to follow this advice to help prevent nitrate levels rising.

The revised Code of Good Agricultural Practice (CoGAP) can be downloaded free of charge at: http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/environment/cogap/index.htm. Hard copies can also be obtained from The Stationery Office (TSO), PO Box 29, Norwich, NR3 1GN http://www.tso.co.uk.