Environmental campaign group Friends of the Earth has put the blame for increasing levels of pollution coming from farming in NI at the door of the Going for Growth report, and claimed that it is unlawful as it was implemented without a strategic environmental assessment.

The claim was made in a submission to an inquiry on nitrates pollution currently being undertaken by the Environmental Audit Committee at Westminster.

According to Friends of the Earth, the action plan produced by the Agri-Food Strategy Board set a target to “dramatically increase the number of livestock without assessing the impacts of pollution”.

Regulation

Other groups responding to the consultation included NI Fresh Water Taskforce, which is made up of a number of environmental organisations in NI. They want the Government to look at introducing “effective and enforced” regulation after Brexit, which would lead to a reduction in artificial fertiliser use in NI, reduce ploughing in the autumn, and ensure farmers carefully manage the disposal of waste. In addition, they suggest that farmers are prevented from spreading fertiliser within 6m of a watercourse (currently 2m).

Also replying to the consultation was the Ulster Farmers’ Union, which correctly points out that nitrates in water is not a big issue in NI, with nitrates falling on the back of reduced nitrogen fertiliser use. But the UFU accepts that more needs to be done to tackle the related issue of phosphorus (mainly from slurry spreading) getting into lakes and rivers.