Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to manage ammonia emissions from dairy and beef farming.

The Clean Air Strategy was published in January 2019 and sets out the actions the Government will take to reduce ammonia emissions from farming in line with our clean air targets. Those that are relevant to dairy and beef farming include:

- Regulating to reduce emissions from urea based fertilisers.

- Introducing legislation requiring use of low emissions spreading techniques by 2025.

- Extending environmental permitting to the dairy and intensive beef sectors by 2025.

- Regulation to require slurry and digestate stores to be covered by 2027.

In addition to these regulatory measures, the Government is providing technical and financial support for farmers to change management practices and invest in equipment to reduce ammonia emissions. For example:

- The Government is delivering a £3 million programme of support to farmers over three years showcasing low emission spreading equipment and providing advice on practical ammonia mitigation methods.

- Last year we published a code of good agricultural practice which provides guidance to farmers on how to reduce ammonia emissions.

- We have supported farmers to invest in low emissions slurry spreading equipment and slurry store covers through grant schemes such as the Farming Ammonia Reduction Grant, the Countryside Stewardship scheme and the Countryside Productivity scheme. A second round of the Rural Development Programme for England’s Countryside Productivity small grant scheme is expected to be launched very shortly.