Is there a legal requirement for farmers to keep a certain distance from houses when spraying crops?
No, there is no requirement for farmers to leave an unsprayed area when spraying near houses. As long as farmers follow the conditions of use for the pesticide and the advice in the code of practice (see below) there should be no unacceptable risk from pesticide spray. Before we approve a new pesticide we carry out a ‘risk assessment’ to look at the effects on people living and working nearby. • We work out the possible pesticide spray drift from pesticide use. • We look at the effect of different factors such as wind speed, application rate, type of sprayer and the speed of any vehicle used. • We use our results to set specific conditions of use for that pesticide. Farmers must follow these conditions when using a pesticide. They should also follow the advice given in the ‘code of practice for using plant protection products’. The code of practice advises farmers to carry out their own risk assessment before using a pesticide. They should: • check whether spray drift is likely, taking
