Farming

Farming: Codes of Good Agricultural Practice

The Water, Air and Soil Codes are designed to provide practical guidance to help farmers and growers avoid causing pollution and to protect soil as their most valuable resource.

All farm staff and contractors on the farm who handle, store, use, spread or dispose of any substances that could pollute water, air or soil should be aware of their responsibilities and know about the causes and results of pollution. They should know how and when to operate and maintain the equipment they use, and know what to do in an emergency.

The Codes describe the main risks of causing pollution from different agricultural and horticultural sources. Good agricultural practice means a practice that minimises the risk of causing pollution while protecting natural resources and allowing economic agriculture to continue.

The Codes are published in Adobe Acrobat format. Copies of the Codes, and a summary containing the key messages in the Codes, are available free of charge from Defra Publications, quoting the publication codes given in brackets below:

• Summary  176 kb  (PB4029 - revised March 2003)
• Air code 1.4 mb - NB large file  (PB0618 - revised 1998)
  • Addendum to Air code (29 KB) - June 2002
• Soil code 1.8 mb - NB large file  (PB0617 - revised 1998)
• Water code 1.6 mb - NB large file  (PB0587 - revised 1998)
  • Addendum to Water code (31 KB) - June 2002

Further information is available on our Help page about downloading or reading Adobe Acrobat documents.