https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/sustainable-farming-incentive-pilot-guidance-apply-zero-fertiliser-or-manure/
Apply zero fertiliser or manure
The guidance on this page is for SFI pilot participants only. Please visit GOV.UK for the official Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme guidance.
The advice on this page can help you get better environmental and business benefits, but you do not have to follow it to get paid.
About fertiliser and manure use
Ammonia emissions from fertiliser or manure inputs can cause air pollution.
Inputs include:
- livestock manure
- sewage sludge (also called biosolids)
- slurry
- anaerobic digestates
- artificial fertilisers
Using these inputs can add excess nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus to the land. These can then be lost to the environment by leaching or runoff.
Benefits of applying zero fertiliser or manure
You can save money as you’ll have to buy less artificial fertiliser.
You can also:
- improve water quality
- help protect wildlife and sensitive wetland habitats
- increase carbon storage in wetlands
- promote a greater range of plants and wildlife
- make drinking and bathing waters cleaner as less nutrients enter watercourses
Good water quality is important for the production of shellfish like mussels, oysters and clams. Less nutrients in shellfish waters can help protect the shellfish and the health of the public who eat them.
Using zero fertiliser or manure can also reduce the level of ammonia lost to the air, which can improve:
- the condition of habitats and species sensitive to ammonia
- air quality
If you apply less slurry or organic waste and it begins to build up, you can use it in other ways, like biogas production.
Where to avoid adding fertiliser or manure
You can choose to use zero fertiliser or manure on:
- arable crops
- forestry
- grassland
- horticulture
To identify areas that are at high risk from nutrient losses you can:
- use MAGIC to check if your land is in a nitrate or phosphate priority area
- complete a runoff and soil erosion risk assessment
If your land is in a Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) area you can get advice from your local CSF officer.
High-risk areas include fields that are:
- in a drinking water protection area
- steep or vulnerable to runoff
- prone to high amounts of rainfall
- connected to watercourses like streams and ditches
- sensitive habitats like Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
- on sandy or light soils
- on shallow soil over fissured or permeable rock
Applying zero fertiliser will reduce crop production. To help compensate for this you can:
- plant clover to replace nitrogen inputs in grassland, though this will not fix any reduction in phosphorus
- use green manure or plant cover crops on cultivated land
If you cannot grow crops without adding nutrients, you can convert arable land to permanent grassland.
