Crop requirement limit
Do not apply more N fertiliser than a crop requires, taking account of crop uptake, soil N supply, excess winter rainfall, and plant or crop available N from organic manures.
Spreading controls
You should spread N fertiliser and organic manures as evenly and accurately as practically possible.
You must not: apply any organic manures or N fertilisers when the ground is waterlogged, flooded, frozen hard or snow covered; apply any organic manures or N fertilisers to steeply sloping fields; apply N fertiliser in a way that contaminates watercourses; or apply organic manures within 10 metres of watercourses.
Storage
There must be sufficient slurry storage facilities (or alternative arrangements) to comply with the closed period during which spreading of certain manures onto certain soil types is prohibited.
Record keeping
Keep farm and field records on cropping, livestock numbers, N fertiliser usage and manure usage, for a minimum of five years after the relevant activity takes place.
Please note this is only a summary – You should refer to the Defra booklets Guidelines for Farmers in NVZs – England and Manure Planning in NVZs for full details of the rules (see Appendix 4).
Do not apply N during the following periods:
Non-spreading dates
Arable Land
Non-spreading dates
Grassland
Sandy or shallow soils:
Organic manures with high available N (slurry, poultry manure or liquid digested sewage sludge)
1 Sept - 1 Nov
Autumn sown crop
1 Aug - 1 Nov
Non-autumn sown crop
All soil types:
Manufactured N fertilisers
