Image description: Aerial view of two tractors driving toward each other along parallel lines. Photo by Johny Goerend on Unsplash

After legal pressure from campaign group River Action, the Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs has closed what they claim was “a major loophole”; manure can now only be spread when crops actually need it, reducing the risk of excess run-off that can pollute rivers and spark algal blooms.

The revised guidance follows a 2024 High Court legal challenge brought by River Action against the Environment Agency.

The case centred on the agency’s failure to enforce the Farming Rules for Water in the face of pollution in the River Wye, ruling that agricultural practices must change to comply with existing regulations.

This legal action, along with a complaint by WWF and ClientEarth that triggered an investigation by the Office for Environmental Protection, led to Defra clarifying and strengthening how the Farming Rules for Water should be enforced.

In June 2025, Defra published updated statutory guidance, ‘Enforcing the Farming Rules for Water’, which environmental activists roundly welcomed. However, concerns were raised over two key issues: ambiguity surrounding manure spreading in the autumn, and the absence of clear enforcement thresholds.

Defra has since issued a further document on 16 July entitled ‘How to comply with the Farming Rules for Water’. This additional guidance states that manure must only be applied when there is a clear crop or soil need at the time of spreading.