Survey Shows Huge Cost Of Pollution Regulations

COMPLIANCE WILL MEAN SIX-FIGURE OUTLAY FOR MANY

A NEW NFU Cymru survey of Welsh farmers has highlighted the staggering costs and unworkable burden imposed by Welsh Government's Control of Agricultural Pollution Regulations.

The survey of over 400 farmers revealed many Welsh farming businesses were faced with spending thousands of pounds in order to comply with the regulations.

Of the 65% of Welsh farmers who had either already invested in infrastructure, or who were planning to imminently, the estimated mean cost of investment is approximately £100,000, with 12% stating the cost was over £200,000. Of those 146 farmers who had already invested in infrastructure to adhere to the regulations, less than 40% had received grant support towards the costs, citing the poor design of the investment schemes and the complexity of the grant application process. Farmers also cited they simply cannot afford, even with grant support, the costs based on the profitability of their businesses.

Farmers were subject to further costs when it comes to the planning and administrative processes associated with erecting new infrastructure to become compliant. Almost half (47%) of farmers said they had required planning permission to reach compliance. The estimated mean cost of spending on planning was found to be around £5,800, with 6% of respondents saying that had spent over £20,000.