> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.agrihub360.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Nation-specific Rules
> England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland schemes.
The 170 kg N/ha limit and the five-year record appear in the nitrogen law of every UK nation and of every EU member state, because all of them descend from the same 1991 directive. What changes from one border to the next is who is covered, when the closed periods fall and who knocks on the door. The United States has no common ancestor, so there the rules change state by state.
## The Law, In Plain Words
Each UK nation has its own instrument. The table sets them side by side.
| | England | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland |
| ---------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| Instrument | The Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2015 \[1] | The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021 \[3] | The Action Programme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (Scotland) Regulations 2008, as amended \[5]\[6] | The Nutrient Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 \[8] |
| Who is covered | Land designated as an NVZ, about 55% of England \[2] | All farms across Wales, in force 1 April 2021, with transitional dates to 2023 and 2024 \[3]\[4] | Five NVZs: Lower Nithsdale; Lothian and Borders; Strathmore and Fife; Moray, Aberdeenshire, Banff and Buchan; Stranraer Lowlands \[6] | The whole territory of Northern Ireland (regulation 2) \[8] |
| 170 kg N/ha whole farm | Regulation 7 \[1] | Regulation 4, from 30 April 2023 \[3]\[4] | Regulation 14 \[5] | Regulations 9 to 11; a derogation to 250 kg N/ha for eligible grassland farms \[8]\[9] |
| Other limits | N max per crop, regulation 12 \[1] | 250 kg N/ha of organic manure per hectare in any twelve months, regulation 5; N max per crop, regulation 10 \[3] | 250 kg N/ha of organic manure per field in any twelve months, regulation 15 \[5] | Limits on land other than grassland, regulation 11; poultry litter in a field heap for at most 120 days \[8]\[9] |
| Manufactured nitrogen closed period | Grassland 15 September to 15 January; tillage 1 September to 15 January \[1] | Grassland 15 September to 15 January; tillage 1 September to 15 January \[3] | Grassland 15 September to 15 February; other land 1 September to 15 February; both to 20 February in the Moray, Aberdeenshire, Banff and Buchan zone, regulation 19 \[5] | Grassland 15 September to 31 January \[8] |
| High readily available nitrogen manure closed period | Sandy or shallow soils: grassland 1 September, tillage 1 August, to 31 December. Other soils: grassland 15 October, tillage 1 October, to 31 January \[2] | Tighter dates by soil type, from 1 August on sandy or shallow soils and from 1 October or 15 October on other soils \[3] | Sandy or shallow soils from August or September to 31 December; other soils from October into January, by land use, regulation 20 \[5] | Organic manure other than farmyard manure 15 October to 31 January; farmyard manure 31 October to 31 January \[8] |
| Record made | Within one week \[1] | Within one week \[3] | Records sufficient for an inspector to check compliance, regulation 25 \[5] | Prepared by 30 June of the following year, regulation 27 \[8] |
| Kept for | Five years \[1] | Five years, regulation 43 \[3] | Five years from the end of the year, regulation 26 \[5] | Five years, regulation 27 \[8] |
| Who inspects | Environment Agency, regulation 43 \[1] | Natural Resources Wales, regulation 47 \[3] | Scottish Government Rural Payments and Inspections Division \[7] | DAERA, regulation 29; manure export records go to NIEA by 31 January \[8]\[9] |
| If you fail | Criminal offence, fine on summary conviction or indictment, regulation 41 \[1] | Criminal offence, fine; directors can be liable in person \[3] | Cross compliance breach reduces the Basic Payment; a compliance notice can follow; ignoring it is an offence with a fine up to the statutory maximum on summary conviction or unlimited on indictment, regulation 30 \[5]\[7] | Criminal offence; up to two years' imprisonment on indictment, regulation 33; loss of area-based payments \[8]\[9] |
SFI is an England scheme \[10]. The spray record duty under retained Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009 Article 67 applies across Great Britain \[11].
## Where It Applies
**EU member states.** Council Directive 91/676/EEC, the Nitrates Directive, sets the frame and leaves the detail to each member state's action programme. A member state designates zones where water exceeds or risks 50 mg/l nitrate, or applies its programme to its whole territory as Wales and Northern Ireland do. Inside the programme area the 170 kg N/ha livestock manure limit, the winter closed periods and the bans on spreading on frozen, waterlogged or sloping ground near water are common to all. The dates, the field limits, the crop N max values and the record deadlines are set nationally, and a member state can apply to the Commission for a derogation above 170 kg for intensive grassland, as Northern Ireland holds. Each member state reports its water quality to the Commission every four years \[12].
**United States.** There is no federal nitrogen law for farms. The Natural Resources Conservation Service publishes Conservation Practice Standard 590, Nutrient Management, and each state publishes its own version of it. Whether a plan is compulsory is a state decision. Maryland requires one from any farm grossing \$2,500 a year or keeping 8,000 lb of live animal weight, with an annual report by 1 March and a winter ban from 16 December to 1 March \[13]. Delaware requires one from anyone with 8 or more animal units or applying nutrients to 10 acres or more \[14]. Wisconsin makes a plan a condition of farmland preservation payments, cost-share, a large livestock permit or a local ordinance, under NR 151 and ATCP 50 \[15]. Where a state ties the plan to a permit or a payment, the state department of agriculture or natural resources checks it.
## What AgriHub360 Keeps
Each farm carries its nation. Each field carries its designations from the national datasets, including whether it sits in an NVZ. The NVZ checks use the closed periods, the limits and the record deadline of that nation from the table above.
The compliance pack is built by nation, in the shape that nation's regime asks for, and states the retention period that applies. A section with no entries in the period says "nothing recorded".
## References
1. legislation.gov.uk. [The Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2015, SI 2015/668](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/668/made).
2. Defra and Environment Agency, GOV.UK. [Using nitrogen fertilisers in nitrate vulnerable zones](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/using-nitrogen-fertilisers-in-nitrate-vulnerable-zones).
3. legislation.gov.uk. [The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021, WSI 2021/77 (W. 20)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2021/77/made).
4. Welsh Government. [The Water Resources (Control of Agricultural Pollution) (Wales) Regulations 2021: guidance for farmers and land managers](https://www.gov.wales/water-resources-control-agricultural-pollution-wales-regulations-2021-guidance-farmers-and-land).
5. legislation.gov.uk. [The Action Programme for Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (Scotland) Regulations 2008, SSI 2008/298](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2008/298/made).
6. Scottish Government. [Nitrate Vulnerable Zones](https://www.gov.scot/policies/agriculture-and-the-environment/nvz/).
7. Scottish Government. [Protection of Water Against Agricultural Nitrate Pollution (Scotland) Regulations 1996: implementation report 2020 to 2023, section 6](https://www.gov.scot/publications/report-implementation-protection-water-against-agricultural-nitrate-pollution-scotland-regulations-1996-2020-2023/pages/6/).
8. legislation.gov.uk. [The Nutrient Action Programme Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019, SR 2019/81](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2019/81/made).
9. DAERA. [Nutrients Action Programme](https://www.daera-ni.gov.uk/articles/nutrients-action-programme).
10. Defra and Rural Payments Agency, GOV.UK. [Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26): scheme information](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-2026-sfi26).
11. legislation.gov.uk. [Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009, Article 67, as retained in Great Britain](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2009/1107/article/67).
12. European Commission, Directorate-General for Environment. [Nitrates](https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/water/nitrates_en).
13. Maryland Department of Agriculture. [Agricultural Nutrient Management: information for farmers](https://mda.maryland.gov/resource_conservation/Pages/farmer_information.aspx).
14. Delaware Department of Agriculture. [Nutrient Management](https://agriculture.delaware.gov/nutrient-management/).
15. Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. [Nutrient Management](https://datcp.wi.gov/Pages/Programs_Services/NutrientManagement.aspx).