Claim that Proposals will cost UK farming £150m a year
New pesticide spray controls under fire
Published:
A proposal to add to existing regulations surrounding the application of pesticides was yesterday described as “completely unnecessary gold plating”.
Wendy Gray, of the Crop Protection Association, was commenting on a consultation document which includes suggestions on implementing new rules on pesticide spraying.
The proposals include having a compulsory non sprayed buffer zone around all water courses and domestic properties. This would cut a large percentage of the acreage of many small fields in arable areas of Scotland. Another proposal is that farmers would be required to notify all neighbours prior to taking the sprayer into a field.
Industry experts have calculated the implementation of the proposals, which are part of a new EU regulation passed last year, could cost UK farming more than £150million a year.
“We do not need this gold plating of legislation,” said Ms Gray. “Farmers have already good relations with their neighbours and the products that are being sprayed are already certified as safe to be used.”
She added that a trial in England where information was given to neighbours on the types of sprays being applied had resulted in less than 2% of neighbours taking up the option thus proving there was no great need or demand.
She received support from arable farmer John Picken, of St Andrews, who chairs the combinable crops committee of NFU Scotland. “This proposal does nothing other than add costs to our production and it comes at a time when we are struggling to make ends meet. It is effectively a case of double regulation as we are already using products that have gone through a rigorous testing process.”
The consultation, which is being conducted by farming ministry Defra and covers the whole of the UK, is open until May 4 and Ms Gray urged all those who might be affected to respond to the proposals.
NFU Scotland will itself be making a detailed response. Its provisional view repeats the phrase “gold plating” several times in describing some of the suggestions.
It will also resist any specific reduction in pesticide usage on the basis that the volume of plant protection can vary enormously depending on the weather. One example of this would be the application of sprays against potato blight which are triggered by specific weather conditions.
The union believes that current restrictions for spraying around watercourses is adequate and buffer strips should only be considered in locations where the science indicated they were necessary.
