Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many emergency derogations to use non-organic antimicrobial products were authorised to certified organic producers of (1) beef cattle, (2) dairy cattle, (3) sheep, (4) goats, and (5) pigs, in England in each of the past three calendar years.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Individual derogations are not offered for the use of non-organic antibiotics for organic livestock. Organic farmers may use non-organic antibiotics when necessary, if they have exhausted the possibilities for treatment using other measures.
This decision is under the responsibility of the veterinarian caring for the livestock. Records are kept and maintained by the producer and are referred to as part of annual and ad hoc inspections carried out by Organic Control Bodies. Therefore, no centralised records exist.
In cases where an animal requires non-organic antibiotics more than three times within 12 months, or more than one course of treatment in total if their productive lifecycle is less than one year, it cannot be sold as organic.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated area of certified organic potatoes treated in England during 2020 with copper hydroxide under the emergency derogation granted by the Chemicals Regulation Directorate.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Emergency authorisation to use a product containing copper hydroxide on organic potatoes was granted for England only following an application from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board. The application stated that the total area of organic potatoes grown across the UK was 800 hectares and that treatment of the full area might be required. The Government does not currently have a figure for the area that was actually treated. However, the stewardship programme agreed with AHDB requires that this information is collected and is submitted with any future application for a similar emergency authorisation.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated proportion of the total certified organic area of the (1) wheat, (2) barley, (3) oats, (4) rye, and (5) triticale, crops produced from non-organic seed in England in each of the past three harvest years.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
There is no certified organic farmland that uses wholly non-organic seeds, as use of organic seeds is a requirement for certification. In cases where, due to limited availability, a producer cannot source the required seeds in sufficient quantities, the organic regulation does, however, allow producers to use a mixture of organic and non-organic seeds. The organic legislation recognises that the seed sector is not sufficiently developed to meet the demand for organic seeds with a 100% requirement. In these cases, non-organic seeds must make up the minimum proportion possible and the mixture must be evenly mixed and spread across the land in question.
We do not have data on the area of land in England for which such authorisations have been granted. We can, however, supply figures for the total number of authorisations and quantities involved for the UK as a whole.
Non-organic arable seed used by organic farmers: 2017 to 2019
Crop | 2017 | 2018 | 2020 | |||
| Authorisations | Tonnes | Authorisations | Tonnes | Authorisations | Tonnes |
Winter Wheat | 80 | 126.3 | 69 | 142.9 | 90 | 107.0 |
Spring Wheat | 11 | 32.2 | 23 | 98.4 | 20 | 59.1 |
Spring Barley | 160 | 348.3 | 166 | 250.3 | 81 | 141.1 |
Winter Barley | 39 | 84.4 | 26 | 66.5 | 34 | 151.0 |
Spring Oats | 46 | 129.7 | 99 | 230.7 | 42 | 65.7 |
Winter Oats | 29 | 59.5 | 18 | 42.3 | 17 | 17.6 |
Winter Rye | 40 | 44.2 | 65 | 119.3 | 34 | 72.5 |
Spring Triticale | 67 | 63.6 | 47 | 19.8 | 56 | 75.8 |
Winter Triticale | 17 | 22.9 | 23 | 14.7 | 9 | 9.6 |
Due to variations in year to year harvest and market conditions affecting availability there is still variation. The long-term trend, however, is that over recent years the number of authorisations needed has on average decreased, due to increasing availability of organic seeds.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many hen harrier nests in the UK were located in areas where the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds had primary control over access in (1) 2015, (2) 2016, and (3) 2017; how many of those nests failed to have any chicks fledge; and what were the known causes of those nest failures.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
Wildlife conservation is a devolved matter so this reply relates to England only.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has primary control over access to two known hen harrier breeding sites: the RSPB reserve at Geltsdale and United Utilities landholding in the Bowland Fells.
Between 2015 and 2017, eight nests were located on these sites, six of which failed to fledge young.
Further details including known causes of nest failures are shown in the table below.
Year | Site | Monitored by | Outcome | Nest failure reason |
2015 | United Utilities | RSPB | 1 Chick Fledged |
|
2015 | United Utilities | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |
2015 | United Utilities | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |
2015 | United Utilities | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |
2015 | United Utilities | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |
2015 | United Utilities | RSPB | Nest failed | Predation |
2015 | RSPB Geltsdale | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |
2016 | RSPB Geltsdale | RSPB | 1 Chick Fledged |
|
There were no nests on RSPB monitored land in 2017.
Asked by: Viscount Ridley (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, of the 12 hen harrier nesting attempts in England in 2015, how many of (1) the six failed nests, and (2) the six successful nests, were on land in an area where the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds had primary control over access to the nests.
Answered by Lord Gardiner of Kimble
The table below sets out monitoring arrangements and outcomes for the 12 hen harrier nesting attempts in England in 2015.
Nest | Landowner | Nest monitored by | Outcome | Notes
|
1 | Private landowner | Local raptor workers | Chicks Fledged | |
2 | Private landowner | Local raptor workers | Chicks Fledged | |
3 | Natural England | Natural England | Chicks Fledged | |
4 | Forestry Commission | Forestry Commission/ RSPB/Natural England | Chicks Fledged | |
5 | Forestry Commission | Forestry Commission/ RSPB/Natural England | Chicks Fledged | |
6 | United Utilities | RSPB | Chicks Fledged | |
7 | United Utilities | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |
8 | United Utilities | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |
9 | United Utilities | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |
10 | United Utilities | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |
11 | United Utilities
| RSPB | Nest failed | Predation |
12 | RSPB | RSPB | Nest failed | Male disappeared |