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5.1. Soil Quality
Under no circumstances should industrial, household or commercial wastes be applied to land, which is to be used for production of Fresh Produce for Co-operative Retail, without prior agreement with Co-operative Retail. Composted municipal waste may be used, but not without written consent from Co-operative Retail.
Please note that under the new waste regulations, manure taken from one holding to another is classified as waste. This may present problems for application and recording.
Please fully investigate and justify its use before carrying out this procedure.
History of the land should be present for a minimum of five years. In addition, a risk assessment with respect to the past history of the land should be considered, e.g. has there been any historic industrial work or mining on that site. If any risk is established, robust residue testing for the likely contaminants should be carried out and such information presented to Co-operative Retail for discussion prior to cropping.
Records of soil analysis should be kept detailing both nutrients and heavy metals. Soils that exceed the maximum allowable content of Heavy Metals (below) must not be used to grow products for Co-operative Retail.
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