NEW details have been unveiled about how the greening angle of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will affect farmers and how the scheme will operate in the UK.
Defra released the updated leaflet yesterday (Thursday) and will be posting out paper copies of the 40-page document in the next few days.
Some key details of the scheme, including how fallow land must be maintained, and whether different people will be able to use the same land to claim payments under the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) and another scheme at the same time, have not been completed as Defra was still seeking confirmation from the European Commission as to how some rules must be implemented.
The final details are expected to be released later this year.
However, the leaflet firms up many of the outstanding questions posed when the policy was announced in June:
Spring and winter varieties of eligible crops will count as separate crops for the crop diversification rules.
Farmers can choose which areas and/or features they will use to make up their ecological focus area (EFA).
When making up their EFA, farmers can choose from:
Buffer strips;
Nitrogen-fixing crops;
Hedges;
Fallow land;
Catch crops and cover crops.
Hedges
HEDGES can be used as an EFA feature if:
The length of the hedge is located between two arable land parcels which are at your disposal
Both sides of the hedge are next to the arable crops in those land parcels
It is not yet clear how hedges should be measured where one side is next to a:
Non-arable land parcel under your control
Land parcel under your neighbour’s control, or
Non-agricultural area (a road for example)
Or, how gaps in hedges will be handled (for example, hedges which have features or areas of land which separate them from crops on arable land and if they will qualify)
Environment Secretary Liz Truss said it was clear farmers were concerned about greening and how the three crop rule would impact their businesses.
The Minister said: “Whether a farmer is growing traditional arable, potatoes, salads or speciality crops, I do not want them to be adversely affected.
“The three crops can be grown over the course of a year and the inspection regime should reflect that.”
There will be a two-month inspection window of May to June for the 5 per cent of farms to be sample inspected, which should cover the vast majority of crops.
If any crops have been harvested before June 30, stubble will count as evidence a crop has been grown.
Ms Truss said: “We want more evidence to be acceptable, such as physical signs or organic matter in the soil, or photographs and records.
“We are also pushing for exceptions for late-sown crops or crops with very short growing periods.”
Ms Truss added the Rural Payment Agency’s new software to map hedges will be trialled and tested with farmers over the coming months to ensure payments are not delayed.
The Scottish Government continues to drip feed details of greening on its website, but details of any environmental management requirements to the growing of nitrogen-fixing crops as part of EFA are yet to be published.
farmersguardian.com
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