After years of discussion, the majority of the greening rules under the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) have now been published, but CLM’s Adam Keene explains what the rules mean
But before you despair, consider your eligibility for exemptions. You will get off Scott-free if 75% of your arable area is temporary grass or fallow and the remainder does not exceed 30 hectares. A similar exemption applies if more than 75% of your entire holding is grass and the remaining arable land does not exceed 30ha. If neither of these exemptions apply, you will need to find ways to integrate greening measures while ensuring minimal disruption to your business. It is impossible to cover all possibilities individual businesses may face within this article, however, using “John” as an example, we can demonstrate what you should be considering over the next few weeks.
John farms a total of 90ha. The 40ha adjacent to the cowshed is grass and some leys are only a few years old. John can’t remember anything other than grass growing in these fields so it is probable that grass has been there for five years or more. The land will be considered permanent pasture, regardless of previous SP5 coding.
The remaining silage ground is comprised of 20ha of temporary grass in rotation with 30ha of maize. As this amounts to 50ha of arable land, John will need a third crop and 2.5ha of EFA (5%). Before John pulls the remainder of his hair out, he should take a step back and consider the situation as one unit. The 40ha of permanent grass plus the 20ha of temporary grass totals 60ha of grass, only 7.5ha short of 75% of the entire holding. By transferring 7.5ha out of maize production into temporary grass, John would immediately qualify for exemptions from both crop diversification and EFAs. It would be sensible for John to take slightly more than 7.5ha as an error buffer. This solution could work well for John, but for farms with larger blocks of maize or cereal crops this won’t be an option. Whole-crop cereals could be the knight in shining armour for many producers looking for a useful third crop. Mixing a legume with a cereal can have benefits of high protein content and a reduction in the fertiliser bill. Unfortunately, only a pure legume crop will meet the EFA requirements. A straight clover ley is a good example although it’s a risky business as you could be penalised for even a tiny percentage of grass in the sward.
RIGHT CLM’s Adam Keene. OPPOSITE LEFT For many dairy
producers, greening may have little impact on the business, but every farmer needs to consider their unique position and implement greening measures accordingly.
BELOW The greening requirements are derived from the area of eligible arable land on each holding.
Temporary grassland declared as fallow land could fulfil the requirement of EFA. There can’t be any activity on this land between the 1st
January and 30th June. For a tired ley in the last year of its
life this could be a good option, but for productive silage ground it doesn’t really stack up.
Establishing an over winter cover crop after maize could be a better option. The crop must be a mixture of a cereal and non-cereal, so rye or oats with mustard or a legume could work. You would have to be quick though as the cover crop must be established by the 1st October. Early maize varieties should help with this. Hedges can be used as another EFA option and could solve a lot of the problem. This year, however, the payments are likely to be delayed as the RPA need to get their maps sorted. Businesses dependent on timely receipt of the payment should probably steer clear of the hedges option this year. DEFRA haven’t exactly reinvented the wheel with the greening measures, as usual farmers will adapt and no doubt there will be some novel solutions. It is important that each farm is carefully considered on an individual basis to ensure the most efficient system is selected.
THE JOURNAL OCTOBER 2014 89
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD STANTON AND RICHARD HODGSON
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