Good farming practice – Natural Resources Wales

The Code of Good Agricultural Practice (Welsh Government) is a practical guide to help farmers and land managers protect the environment in which they work.

Agricultural waste
Agricultural waste is any substance or object from premises used for agriculture or horticulture, which the holder discards, intends to discard or is required to discard. It is waste specifically generated by agricultural activities.

Environmental permits for agricultural waste
Register your waste exemptions
Flood risk
As a farm, your land may be at risk of flooding even if your house is not. There are lots of small, simple steps you can take to both prepare your farm for flooding and reduce the impact of a flood on your farm.

How to prepare your home, business or farm for a flood
If you own land or property alongside a river or other watercourse, including a culvert, make sure you know your rights and responsibilities for managing water.

Guidance for riverside property owners
Guidance on using sheep dip
You must register an exemption / apply for an environmental permit if you want to dispose of any used dip to land, even for small quantities.

Water discharge and groundwater activity exemptions
Intensive farming (pigs and poultry)
If you farm pigs and poultry on a large scale, you may need an environmental permit.

Guidance on environmental permitting for intensive farming of pigs and poultry
Planning permission and environmental assessment; Poultry units. (Guidance note GN021)
Managing trees on your land
It is an offence to fell trees without a licence if an exemption does not apply.

Apply for a felling licence
Septic tanks and sewage treatment system
If your farm has a septic tank then there is a legal requirement to register with us. If your farm has a private sewage treatment system or makes any other discharges to water, you may need an environmental permit.

Water discharge and groundwater activity exemptions
Register your septic tank or package sewage treatment plant
Protecting landscapes
If you manage land within a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), you must manage it in a way that helps conserve its special wildlife and geological features.

Find out what you need to do if you farm land in a SSSI
Protecting wildlife
Some plants and animals, including their breeding sites and resting places, are protected against disturbance and harm.

Find out if you need a licence for protected species
Water abstraction
If you are planning to take water from the ground or from surface water you may need to get a licence from us.

Information about water abstraction licences
Working in or near rivers
If you are planning to do any work in or near a watercourse, you may need to apply for various permissions before you start.

Environmental permitting for flood risk activities
Blue green algae
Blue-green algae naturally occur in inland waters, estuaries and the sea.

Find out about blue-green algal blooms, how they affect you and what you should do if you see one.


Link to Article:

https://naturalresources.wales/guidance-and-advice/business-sectors/farming/good-farming-practice/?lang=en