NVZ compliance software for spreading contractors.
Field nitrogen budgets, application dates and rates, closed periods, Farming Rules for Water — every record an NVZ asks a contractor for, captured from the driver's phone and exported for the Environment Agency.
NVZ record keeping requirements for contractors.
01 — THE RULESAround 55% of England is in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone. Inside one, the Nitrate Pollution Prevention Regulations 2015 set out what has to be recorded every time organic manure or fertiliser goes on a field.
The legal duty sits with the occupier of the holding. In practice the farmer's field record is built from your job sheet, and a FACTS adviser or Environment Agency officer will want to see the two agree. Wales and Scotland run their own schemes; this page covers England.
Field nitrogen budgets (N-max)
Nitrogen applied to each crop must stay within the N-max limit for that crop, averaged over the area of that crop on the holding. The limit counts crop-available nitrogen from organic manure plus manufactured fertiliser, and applications have to be planned before they go on.
ON THE JOBYou need the field's running total in kg N/ha before the load goes on, not after.
A record of every application
For each organic manure or manufactured fertiliser application: the field, the date, the type of manure or fertiliser, the quantity (t/ha or cu m/ha) and the nitrogen it contained. Records must be made within one week of spreading and kept for five years.
ON THE JOBField, date, product, rate, tonnage. The job sheet is the record.
Organic manure loading limits
No more than 170 kg N/ha from livestock manure averaged across the holding each calendar year, and no more than 250 kg N/ha of total nitrogen from organic manure on any one field in any 12-month period.
ON THE JOBEach field's history has to add up across the season and across every contractor who spread on it.
Closed periods for high readily-available-N manures
Slurry, poultry manure and liquid digestate cannot be spread in the closed period. Grassland: 15 October to 31 January (sandy or shallow soils: 1 September to 31 December). Tillage land: 1 October to 31 January (sandy or shallow: 1 August to 31 December). From the end of the closed period to the end of February, single applications are capped at 30 cu m/ha of slurry or 8 t/ha of poultry manure, with at least three weeks between them.
ON THE JOBEvery application needs a date you can stand behind against the calendar.
Spreading distances and ground conditions
No organic manure within 10 m of surface water (6 m for slurry with precision equipment such as a trailing shoe or dribble bar), none within 50 m of a spring, well or borehole, and none on waterlogged, flooded, frozen or snow-covered land or where there is a significant risk of run-off. The holding needs a risk map showing these features.
ON THE JOBA site risk assessment, done before the first load, with the conditions on the day.
Farming Rules for Water
In force since April 2018 across every farmed field in England, inside an NVZ or not. Applications must be planned against soil and crop need using soil tests no more than five years old, the same 10 m and 50 m distances apply, and the risk of pollution has to be assessed before spreading. Enforced by the Environment Agency.
ON THE JOBThe soil results, the plan and the risk assessment all need to sit against the field.
How AgriDocker captures each record.
02 — IN AGRIDOCKERNothing is typed up afterwards. The driver does the job on the phone, and the NVZ record is what the job leaves behind.
Field nitrogen budget
Each field in the Field Passport carries a nitrogen budget and a running N-applied total in kg N/ha. The office sees the headroom left before the job goes on the diary.
Date, product, rate and tonnage
The driver picks the field and product on the phone. The job sheet records the tonnes or cubic metres applied, the rate per hectare, and the date and time at sign-off.
Closed-period evidence
Every application is dated against its field, so you can show exactly what went on each field and when, across the closed period and the capped weeks after it.
Ground conditions on the day
The on-site risk assessment is completed before the first load, with live wind and rain recorded against it.
Where and who
GPS position and timestamp are captured at sign-off, with the driver's signature and site photos attached to the job.
The five-year record
Every job stays on the field's Field Passport for the five years the rules require. Export to CSV for the Environment Agency or a PDF evidence pack for the farmer.
NVZ questions contractors ask.
03 — FAQThe legal duty sits with the occupier of the holding, so the farmer. In practice the farmer's field record is built from your job sheet: which field, what went on, how much and when. If your figures don't line up with their nitrogen plan, they're the one out of compliance and you're the one who gets the phone call. AgriDocker gives the farmer a dated, signed record for every job so both sides hold the same numbers.
Yes. Every field in the Field Passport carries a nitrogen budget and a running N-applied total in kg N/ha. Each application adds to it as the driver signs the job off, so the office can see the headroom left on a field before the next load is booked. Totals export to CSV for the Environment Agency or a FACTS adviser.
Field-by-field records of every organic manure and fertiliser application: the field, the date, the material, the quantity and the nitrogen it contained, plus the risk assessment for the site and evidence it was spread the required distance from watercourses. The rules say the records must be kept for five years. AgriDocker holds all of that against each job and exports it as a PDF evidence pack or CSV in seconds.
The Farming Rules for Water apply to every farmed field in England, inside or outside an NVZ, and are enforced by the Environment Agency. The evidence they call for is the same: a risk assessment before spreading, a dated and located record of each application, and soil results to show the application was planned against crop need. AgriDocker records the risk assessment with live weather, the GPS position and time at sign-off, and keeps the field's soil samples on its Field Passport.
Keep the NVZ record as the job is done.
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