SAY NO TO FERTILISER TAX
SAY NO TO FERTILISER TAX
STANDBY for the next attack on your pocket – a fertiliser tax.
The continuing furore over BSE and the banning of beef on the bone has tended to obscure the next missile being prepared by government for possible use against British agriculture: A tax, or similar measure, on what are termed pollutants including fertilisers.
A consultation document has been issued with a deadline of the end of January for comments.
Although one part of the document
acknowledges that plant nutrients are normal and natural, and some loss is inevitable, crop nutrients are still termed pollutants. One of the aims of applying "economic instruments", as they are euphemistically termed, is given as reducing excessive fertiliser use. But no evidence of such overuse is offered.
Indeed the British Survey of Fertiliser Practice suggests otherwise. It shows declining fertiliser use and increasingly efficient use of fertilisers in crop production.
Perhaps the major worry is that the consultation document contradicts itself. First it states that nitrogen fertiliser application rates are little affected by price. It then follows with the suggestion that a moderate tax might nevertheless reduce overuse. It cannot have it both ways.
Simplistic language is also used. Nutrient loss occurs through what it terms "run-off". There appears to be no understanding of the complicated soil processes involved.
The proponents of the tax seem to believe factory floor precision can be applied to field crops grown in the vagaries of the British climate. It can not.
The message is clear – if you believe fertilisers are already being used efficiently, let the government know. You have until the end of January to lodge your comments. Send them to:
Kevin Lloyd, Water Quality Division, Dept. of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, Room A412, Romney House, 43 Marsham Street, London SW1P 3EB
Further copies of the paper are available from:
Sandra Rennie, Water Quality Division, DETR
Tel: 0171-276 8266/fax: 0171-276 8895.