Tag: Greening

Field Margins to Satisfy Greening

With the prohibition of Plant Protection Products (PPPs) on Ecological Focus Areas, many are looking for alternatives to growing Nitrogen Fixing Crops (NFC) to satisfy their EFA requirement.  We have had a number of enquiries regarding Field Margins and this article sets out the situation.  The Greening Guidance is expected to be published at the same time as the BPS Manual, which will give detailed rules, but below is our present understanding.

Field Margins replace ‘Buffer Strips’ in the Greening rules from this year – the big difference is they don’t need to be next to a watercourse – you can put a Field Margin against any boundary.  The minimum width for a Field Margin is just 1m, so most existing Cross-compliance margins meet the requirements.  (Note, however, that the X-compliance strip is 2m from the centre of the hedge and the Field Margin is 1m from the edge of the hedge, so be careful if you have a very wide hedge).

Each 1m run of Field Margin gives you 9m2 squared of EFA so it is a very generous weighting.  In addition, it is possible to claim for both the Hedge and Field Margin for the same boundary, without having to make any deductions in the EFA output of either.  This means that 1m of hedge and a 1m margin length gives you 14m2 of EFA per one side of the hedge or 28 m2 of EFA if you can claim both sides of the hedge (if you can claim both sides of the hedge you would normally claim for each half in the associated eligible parcel).

Field Margins are a ‘linear feature’ under Greening and hence there is no need to split them out into separate parcels on the online system; you only have to record the linear metres, which will ‘filter’ through into the Greening section, so this makes completing the form much simpler for Margins as opposed to Fallow.

Where you have wide fallow strips around the edge of fields it is possible to claim the first 1m as Field Margin and then the rest as EFA Fallow.  However, the RPA require that the two types of EFA be ‘visually distinguishable’.  Unless claimants are prepared to go around mowing these margins at different heights, or they have a different seed mixture, it may be best to steer clear of this.  Because Field Margins give you 9m2 squared for every 1m run, if you have any fallow strips that are less than 9m wide, it makes sense to enter it as Field Margin rather than EFA Fallow.

Greening Factsheet

In light of the Greening rule changes which have been announced for the 2018 BPS, we have updated our Greening Factsheet.  This can be found by clicking on the ‘Bulletins’ tab at the top of the page.

Greening Update

DEFRA has confirmed a number of further updates to the Greening rules for 2018.  Our article back in August (see https://abcbooks.co.uk/2018-greening-rules-confirmed/) reported some changes, in particular the ban on the use of PPPs on Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs).  But readers will recall we have been waiting for confirmation surrounding the rules for EFA fallow, these and a few other small but quite key changes have also been confirmed.

With regards to fallow, DEFRA has confirmed it will still be possible to graze and mow EFA fallow outside the the EFA fallow period, which runs from 1st January to 30th June 2018.  There had been concerns that changes to the rules by the EU Commission would prevent this; indeed Wales has disallowed any grazing or mowing for the entire calendar year on land declared as EFA fallow.  There has however been some changes to what is allowed during the EFA fallow period.  In England between 1st January and 30th June producers must not carry out the following operations on EFA fallow land;

  • cultivate to control weeds
  • apply PPPs to the land
  • sow grass, unless specifically required under a Rural Development Scheme
  • apply any manure or fertiliser

In addition, a rule change means that land declared as fallow, including EFA fallow, for more than 5 years will convert to permanent pasture after the 5 year period.  However, the clock only starts ticking from 2018, so the earliest date this will be effective from is 2023.  This means that land which has been EFA fallow will no longer be allowed to be EFA fallow in the 6th year as it will become permanent pasture (which is ineligible to site EFA).  This seems to force people to plough-out areas such as field corners or margins after a period of time – which appears a backwards step in environmental terms.  It must be noted however that Brexit means that this rule change may never have any practical effect. 

Other key changes include;

  • the multiplier for EFA Nitrogen Fixing Crops has increased from 0.7 to 1, meaning 1 Ha of NFC is now worth 1 Ha of EFA (although far fewer claimants will be using NFC this eyar due to the ban on PPPs)
  • the 30 Ha limit for Greening exemptions has been removed.  Previously, where claimants had more than 75% of their eligible arable land in permanent or temporary grassland or where more than 75% of their arable land was in fallow or temporary grassland they were exempt from Greening as long as the remaining arable area was less than 30 hectares.  As from 2018, this 30 hectare limit has been removed.  This was a potential problem for dairy farmers who were all grassland apart from some maize.

Finally we understand that inspectors will be keen this year to ensure that where there is an EFA fallow area next to an EFA field margin, the two are visually distinguishable, this could be different sward heights.  If, as an agent, your client has a temporary grass strip and the first metre is claimed as an EFA margin and the remainder as EFA fallow, ensure they are familiar with the rules.