Commission Decision of 14 December 2007 granting a derogation requested by the United Kingdom with regard to Northern Ireland pursuant to Council Directive 91/676/EEC concerning the protection of waters against pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources (notified under document number C(2007) 6281) (Only the English version is authentic) (2007/863/EC)

Article 5 U.K. Application of manure and other fertilisers

1. The amount of livestock manure from grazing livestock applied to the land each year on grassland farms, including by the animals themselves, shall not exceed the amount of manure containing 250 kg nitrogen per hectare, subject to the conditions laid down in paragraphs 2 to 8.

2. The total nitrogen inputs shall not exceed the foreseeable nutrient demand of the considered crop and take into account the supply from the soil.

3. A fertilisation plan shall be kept for each farm describing the crop rotation of the farmland and the planned application of manure and nitrogen and phosphate fertilisers. It shall be available in the farm each calendar year by 1 March at the latest.

The fertilisation plan shall include the following:

(a) the number of livestock, a description of the housing and storage system, including the volume of manure storage available;

(b) a calculation of manure nitrogen (less losses in housing and storage) and phosphorus produced in the farm;

(c) the crop rotation and area of each crop, including a sketch map indicating location of individual fields;

(d) the foreseeable nitrogen and phosphorus crop requirements;

(e) the amount and the type of manure delivered outside the farm or to the farm;

(f) results of soil analysis related to nitrogen and phosphorus soil status if available;

(g) nitrogen and phosphorus application from manure over each field (parcels of the farm homogeneous regarding cropping and soil type);

(h) application of nitrogen and phosphorus with chemical and other fertilisers over each field.

Plans shall be revised no later than seven days following any changes in agricultural practices to ensure consistency between plans and actual agricultural practices.

4. Fertilisation accounts, including information related to management of dirty water and phosphorus inputs, shall be kept by each farm. They shall be submitted to the competent authority for each calendar year.

5. Each grassland farm benefiting from an individual derogation shall accept that the application referred to in Article 4(1), the fertilisation plan and the fertilisation accounts can be subject to control.

6. Nitrogen and phosphorous analysis in soil shall be performed for each farm benefiting from an individual derogation at least every four years for each homogeneous area of the farm, with regard to crop rotation and soil characteristics. At least one analysis per five hectares of farmland shall be required.

7. Manure may not be spread in the autumn before grass cultivation.

8. Each grassland farm benefiting from an individual derogation shall ensure that the phosphorus balance, calculated according to the methodology established by the competent authority in compliance with Article 7(2) of this Decision, does not exceed a surplus of 10 kg phosphorus per hectare per year.