A new team aiming to ensure Welsh farms are complying with regulations to cut agricultural pollution is being established by Natural Resources Wales (NRW).
The body is currently selecting 16 environment officers to carry out inspections at identified farms to help them meet the requirements of new pollution rules.
NRW said it would use the available data to identity 'hot spot areas' to guide the deployment of staff and to assist with prioritisation of inspections.
These officers will start their new roles by the end of the summer, the environmental body, which is sponsored by the Welsh government, confirmed.
Inspectors will be on the look out for 'high risk' activities, including farms producing high levels of livestock manures, or importing organic manures which includes digestate, biosolids and other wastes recovered to land.
Nichola Salter, advisor of agricultural regulations at NRW, said the new team would "ensure compliance with the regulations in a proportionate manner".
"This means wherever possible, depending on the severity of non-compliance and environmental impact, we will provide direction to sources of technical advice and guidance," she said.
"Implementing this guidance allows farmers to take timely actions to come back into compliance, enabling them to avoid further enforcement sanctions.
“Being able to establish new teams to carry out a targeted programme of compliance inspections for high risk agricultural activities is a massive step forward in our ability to reducing agricultural pollution in Wales."
She confirmed, however, that NRW would 'recognise the many pressures' that farmers were experiencing at this time.
"We also appreciate the potential that compliance inspections could have to exacerbate these pressures," Ms Salter said.
“We can assure farmers that we will always provide reasonable notice ahead of any planned compliance inspections stating what officers will want to inspect.”
