This follows NRW's announcement on Wednesday 29 January that it will stop issuing new permits, with farmers required to have waste dip removed by a registered waste carrier and disposed of in a suitable waste facility instead.
NRW has confirmed that farms with active permits can continue to dispose to land for the time being, but eventually all waste dip will need to be disposed of via a registered waste carrier. Where a farmer no longer needs to dispose of waste sheep dip to land, they will be able to surrender their permit for free.
The decision to stop issuing new permits follows on from the crippling and prohibitive £3,840 permit application cost introduced in July 2023, a near 10-fold increase on the previous permit application cost.
Shocked
Commenting following the announcement, NFU Cymru Livestock Board Chairman Rob Lewis said: “NFU Cymru is shocked that NRW has taken this decision with immediate effect and without consideration of the wider impacts. The practice of sheep dipping in Wales is integral to maintain the high flock health status of the Welsh flock. The decision has implications for animal health and welfare, the ongoing management of key habitats and disadvantages young farmers / new entrants to the sheep sector. We have written to NRW today and called for the decision to be reversed.
“We were also astonished to read in NRW’s statement that it is its intention to phase out any applications to land in the long term, with no evidence to support such a course of action. NFU Cymru believes that there is no scientific case to prevent disposal on land as it is clear that regulated spent sheep disposal on NRW approved sites on-farm, presents no risk to the environment. New applications for permits are still available elsewhere in the UK.”
Absence of proper consultation
NFU Cymru Rural Affairs Board Chairman Hedd Pugh said: “We are extremely disappointed that NRW has taken this decision in the complete absence of proper consultation with the industry and in the knowledge that, despite considerable efforts, we are nowhere near getting a workable spent dip disposal scheme operational in Wales. There are issues around actual collection and storage but more importantly, the end point and the uneconomic cost of incineration of spent dip. So, for NRW to make this decision now to withdraw is not only wrong, but totally premature as the alternative disposal is not fully in place.
“NRW’s advice to farmers needing their sheep to be dipped but without a permit is to apply to use the Welsh Government-funded Gwaredu Scab programme is, at best, shortsighted. Whilst we recognise and welcome that a proportion of sheep scab control and disposal is currently being subsidised by the government-funded programme, when this project comes to an end farmers who currently use the scheme may well need to revert back to land disposal. This is, therefore, not a sustainable solution for sheep farmers in Wales.”
'Decision must be overturned'
Concluding Rob Lewis said “Given that sheep dipping is a key tool in the armoury against sheep scab, there can be no doubt that NRW’s announcement will hinder efforts to eradicate sheep scab – something which has been identified by the Wales Animal Health and Welfare Framework Group as a long-standing priority. NFU Cymru is clear that this decision must be overturned. There must be proper consultation with the industry before moving forward.”