The Action Programme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (Scotland) Regulations 2008

[F1Conditions of a derogation from the annual farm limit of nitrogen in livestock manureS

This section has no associated Executive Note

14B.  A derogation shall be subject to the following conditions—

(a)total nitrogen inputs shall not exceed the foreseeable nutrient demand of the considered crop, taking into account the supply from the soil;

(b)livestock manure shall not be spread in the autumn before grass cultivation;

(c)grass on sandy soils, if ploughed, shall only be ploughed in spring;

(d)ploughed grass on all soil types shall be followed immediately by a crop with high nitrogen demand;

(e)crop rotation shall not include leguminous or other plants fixing atmospheric nitrogen, other than clover in grassland with less than 50% clover or leguminous plants under-sown with grass;

(f)nitrogen and phosphate soil sampling and analysis shall be carried out at least once every four years for, as a minimum, every five hectares of the farm that, having regard to crop rotation and soil characteristics, can reasonably be considered homogeneous; and

(g)fertilisation accounts for each calendar year for which a derogation is granted shall be prepared and submitted to the Scottish Ministers by 30th April of the following year.]