Soil Protection Review

Goweresque

Member
Location
North Wilts
Is the Soil Protection Review the biggest load of red tape codswallop that DEFRA have ever written?

Farmers do have common sense, so this should be scrapped.


They could always pass this red tape booklet onto the Environmental Agency and English Nature, as it appears they like flooding everywhere by their miss management!!

The Soil Management Review is an entirely paperwork based affair that Defra invented to satisfy the EU that they were 'doing something' about soil management, without actually doing anything. In fact its an example of the UK civil service learning from our European cousins about how to play the EU system without hamstringing the people on the ground. Thus we have a SPR that is entirely paper based, has zero relevance to what actually happens on the ground (unless you decide to turn your farm into the Somme by some mad farming practice). Defra only want to see that its been filled in, thats it. They will fine you if you don't so they can say to their EU masters 'Look we're enforcing the rules like you told us too'. But beyond that they pretty much let the farmers get on with it. They know we fill the thing in at the end of the year with any old rubbish - they don't care, as long as the farm doesn't look like a warzone. Its the ultimate in 'We pretend to abide by the rules, and you pretend to enforce the rules, and everyone's happy' concepts.

Take 10 mins to fill your form in once a year and be very glad Defra have decided this is the way to go - the alternative would not be pretty - loads of inspectors riding on farmers backs 24/7 micro-managing everything every time it rained, preventing all manner of operations from taking place at all.
 

Brisel

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Midlands
PM me & I'll send you an Excel version I downloaded a while ago but you will need to set it up with all your field numbers. I'd stick to the paper version if you can.
 

Henery

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
South shropshire
Did mine online for the first time on 31st, apart from entering all field numbers wasn't too bad, pointless crap but as long as you have done it..... Seems it about ticking a box that it's done, very little to do with the content ;)
 

DRC

Member
The big outdoor dairy herds around here, on these new zealand type systems, will have some form filling to do after all this rain!
 

sleepy

Member
Location
Devon, UK
The Soil Management Review is an entirely paperwork based affair that Defra invented to satisfy the EU that they were 'doing something' about soil management, without actually doing anything. In fact its an example of the UK civil service learning from our European cousins about how to play the EU system without hamstringing the people on the ground. Thus we have a SPR that is entirely paper based, has zero relevance to what actually happens on the ground (unless you decide to turn your farm into the Somme by some mad farming practice). Defra only want to see that its been filled in, thats it. They will fine you if you don't so they can say to their EU masters 'Look we're enforcing the rules like you told us too'. But beyond that they pretty much let the farmers get on with it. They know we fill the thing in at the end of the year with any old rubbish - they don't care, as long as the farm doesn't look like a warzone. Its the ultimate in 'We pretend to abide by the rules, and you pretend to enforce the rules, and everyone's happy' concepts.

Take 10 mins to fill your form in once a year and be very glad Defra have decided this is the way to go - the alternative would not be pretty - loads of inspectors riding on farmers backs 24/7 micro-managing everything every time it rained, preventing all manner of operations from taking place at all.

Bet you never thought you would be quoted in the guardian,
http://www.theguardian.com/environm...-lobby-has-wrecked-efforts-to-defend-our-soil
 

Goweresque

Member
Location
North Wilts


Hey I'll take fame any way I can get it. Or is it infamy.......

My mate wrote to Guardian some years ago when I was traveling around Australia watching the Ashes (sadly the first 5-0 debacle in 06/07) and was doing a blog, he reckoned they should have linked to it, he enjoyed the writing so much. Nothing came of it though. But looks like my moment of Guardian fame has finally come in a very unexpected way.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 77 43.5%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 62 35.0%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 28 15.8%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.7%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 4 2.3%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,286
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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