Farmers across East Yorkshire are appealing for understanding as they begin spreading animal manure across their land to prepare soil for next year's crops, a practice that generates distinctive odours but serves important agricultural and environmental purposes.
Muck-spreading distributes animal waste as a natural fertiliser and typically occurs twice yearly, in spring and late summer. The process involves collecting manure from cattle, pigs and poultry from field heaps, weighing it carefully, and distributing it evenly using modern technology including GPS mapping and dedicated spreading applications.
Why do farmers spread manure?
Ben Clappison, a farmer and agricultural contractor from Cowlam in East Yorkshire, explains that despite the temporary smell, the practice delivers significant benefits to soil health and reduces reliance on imported chemical fertilisers.
"[It helps] to make everything a lot healthier and improve soil organic matter and really push towards more organic fertilisers rather than inorganic."
Manufactured inorganic fertilisers carry substantial environmental and financial costs.
"Our inorganics are manufactured fertilisers and a lot of raw products come from abroad. There's a lot of mileage on it, a lot of CO2 emitted in manufacturing it and it's expensive. Whereas this is coming out of the farm where it's produced."
Some farmers also incorporate sewage sludge—treated human waste from sewage works—to further enrich soil. However, strict regulations govern this practice. According to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), sludge can only be applied to crops that cannot be eaten directly from the land, such as wheat, barley and oil seed rape. Ben Clappison uses GPS technology to ensure sludge placement complies with these restrictions and respects designated buffer zones.
"We have a spreading app which has everything mapped out and all of the buffer zones and strips where you can't go anywhere near. We have to look after the fields, the soils, the environment because it has to be sustainable for not just my generation but generations to come."
What does the smell indicate?
Angela Kirkwood of the National Farmers' Union argues that strong odour actually signals soil quality.
"What we're trying to do is make the weeds grow so that we can get rid of those weeds but also incorporate that nutrient back into the soils to make the soil really good and healthy. We have a lot of soil testing that we do in order to look at what nutrients are already there and how we can improve the nutrients to make our crops grow and to make sure that we can continue producing food for everybody."
She emphasises that farmers themselves experience the odours and understand their intensity.
"People just think of it as being a stinky process. And all farmers live it as well. Actually, the stinkier the muck, the better it is for the soil."Kirkwood recommends that residents close windows and bring washing indoors when spreading occurs nearby.
How do residents respond?
The process frequently generates complaints from nearby residents due to the strong smells, though farmers emphasise that odours are temporary and unavoidable in food production. Those affected can lodge complaints with the Environment Agency or their local authority. East Riding of Yorkshire Council states it typically investigates only when smell is
"particularly excessive or prolonged",noting that
"spreading manure on farmland is recognised as standard agricultural practice and odour can be expected from time to time."
Jono Dixon, an arable farmer on Sunk Island near Patrington Haven Leisure Park, acknowledges farmer awareness of community concerns.
"We have the anxiety of spreading it because we know we're going to get the odd complaint, here there and everywhere, or from everybody. But this is a quick operation. We've seen in the other field, over there, where within 12 hours the lads are in behind ploughing all the chicken manure in. We are trying to do the best we can to not inconvenience people with what can be described as one hell of an odour."
What regulatory changes are coming?
The government has begun reviewing the framework governing sewage sludge application to farmland. On 27 January 2026, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs launched a consultation proposing tighter controls on sewage sludge spreading, including possible environmental permitting requirements. The consultation offered two regulatory options: either revoking current sludge regulations and regulating sludge spreading under environmental permitting, or updating the existing sludge rules instead.
These proposed changes reflect growing concerns about contaminants in sewage sludge. Campaigners and regulators have raised alarm about microplastics and persistent organic pollutants—sometimes called "forever chemicals"—that may accumulate in soil when sludge is applied. The National Farmers' Union has acknowledged that the government is considering reform to improve safety and confidence in spreading practices.
What happens next?
The Defra consultation ran for eight weeks from 27 January 2026 to 24 March 2026. The government will now review responses received during the consultation period and determine whether to revise the regulatory framework for sludge application to agricultural land.
Key Facts
- Muck-spreading occurs twice yearly and uses animal manure as natural fertiliser to improve soil health and reduce chemical fertiliser dependence
- Sewage sludge can only be applied to non-edible crops such as wheat, barley and oil seed rape under current DEFRA regulations
- The government consultation on sludge regulation closed on 24 March 2026, with decisions on regulatory reform pending
- Farmers use GPS technology and dedicated mapping applications to ensure compliant, targeted manure and sludge distribution
- Local authorities typically investigate odour complaints only when smells are deemed particularly excessive or prolonged
