Cross Compliance – 2019 Inspection Results

The Government has published results from the 2019 cross compliance inspections.  These show the areas where farmers failed to meet each Statutory Management Requirement (SMR) and Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC). The results showed that the highest percentage of selected inspections failed were failed on:

• SMR 7 – Cattle Identification at 47.2%
• SMR 1 – Nitrate Vulnerable Zones at 27.8%
• SMR 13 – Animal Welfare at 24.9%
• SMR 8 – Sheep and Goat Identification at 21.6%

SMR 1, Nitrate Vulnerable Zones inspections occurred across 805 farms nationally, of which 224 resulted in a failure.  Alongside Farming Rules For Water, we expect government guidance and legislation to focus more towards Water Quality as time progresses.  If you require assistance with ensuring your records are up to date or you’d like to discuss schemes and grants available to address water quality, then please don’t hesitate to contact a member of our Agricultural Team on 01423 860322.