Farming rules for water and water protection

Complying with the Reduction and Prevention of Agricultural Diffuse Pollution (England) Regulations 2018 plays an important role in protecting our nation’s water quality. It can also help retain valuable topsoil and nutrients, particularly at a time when input prices are high and may remain so for the foreseeable future.

If you have an interest in land, it’s worth being familiar with the Farming Rules for Water and considering whether written plans and proportionate risk assessments would be helpful for your circumstances. The rules provide a step-by-step checklist to help align land management with crop requirements and soil needs. While they are primarily aimed at land managers, it may also be sensible to check that any third-party occupiers or contractors working on the land are operating in a compliant way.