At last we have the final guidance on the Basic Payment Scheme rules. I set out a summary below:
Active Farmers
To claim you must be both a ‘farmer’ and an ‘active farmer’. To qualify as a ‘farmer’ you must either produce, rear or grow agricultural products or simply keep land clear of dense scrub.
You automatically qualify as an ‘active farmer’ in 2015 if your 2014 SPS claim was worth £3,886.50 or less. If you did not make a claim, but had you made one which, based on the eligible land you have in 2015, would have been £3,886.50 or less, you will also qualify but must call the RPA to check this.
Farmers will also automatically qualify if the business does not operate an airport, railway services, waterworks, real estate services or permanent sport or recreational grounds. If you do operate one of these activities you will still qualify as an ‘active farmer’ if any of the following apply:
1. You have 36 hectares or more of eligible land
2. Your total agricultural receipts were at least 40% of your total receipts in the last financial year.
3. In the most recent financial year the value of your SPS claim was at least 5% of your total non-agricultural receipts.
In the case of the latter two exemptions an accountant must complete an ‘Accountant Certificate – Active Farmer Status’ which must be sent to the RPA by 15th May in order to qualify.
Land ‘at your disposal’
To apply for BPS you must have at least 5 hectares of eligible land ‘at your disposal’ on 15th May 2015. If inspected you may need to provide evidence that that the land is ‘at your disposal’, e.g. a written tenancy agreement.
The land must be eligible for the whole of the calendar year.
All of your agricultural land (arable, permanent grassland & permanent crops) and any land in RDPE schemes must be declared on your application and mapped correctly online.
Ineligible features
The area of certain features must be deducted from the eligible area. The full list is in the BPS guidance, however the main changes from last year are outlined below:
1. Only hedges which do not have a continuous length of at least 20 meters and are wider than 2 meters from the centre are ineligible
2. Land parcels which contain solar panels are ineligible
3. Woodland is only ineligible if it prevents the growth of a vegetative under-story
Entitlements
If you declare fewer hectares of eligible land on your 2015 BPS application than you have entitlements. Those excess entitlements will be lost. After 2015, you must activate all of your entitlements in a single application once every 2 years. Rotating is no longer permitted.
Entitlements will hopefully be able to be transferred by sale/gift or lease to ‘active farmers’ using the new online system within the next couple of weeks. The deadline for transfers is 15th May.
Greening
Permanent Grassland – Permanent Grassland covered by the Wild Birds &/or Habitats Directive (Natura 2000) cannot be ploughed up.
Crop Diversification – If you have 10 to 30 hectares of arable land (defined as land cultivated for crop production, fallow & temporary grassland) you must grow 2 different crops with one not comprising more than 75% of the arable land. If you have over 30 hectares of arable land you must grow 3 different crops with one no comprising more than 75% and two combined not more than 95% of the arable land.
Ecological Focus Areas (EFA) – If you have more than 15 hectares of arable land you must have the equivalent of 5% of the arable area as EFA. The following EFA options are available:
1. Fallow, i.e. no crop production or grazing from 1st January to 30th June
2. Hedges with one side adjacent to arable land
3. Buffer strips that are next to arable land and a watercourse, or on a slope parallel with a watercourse, with arable land on either side
4. Nitrogen fixing crops that are present from 1st May to 30th June
5. Catch crops established by 31st Aug and retained until 1st October and cover crops established by 1st October and retained until 15th January
The maximum penalty for noncompliance with the greening rules is 30% of the total claim, while the maximum penalty for noncompliance with either crop diversification or ecological focus areas is 15% of the total claim.
‘New’ and ‘Young’ farmers
‘New’ and ‘young’ farmers may apply for BPS entitlements from the national reserve using the new online system by 15th May.
New farmers must be at least 18 years of age, must be in ‘control’ (have more than 50% of the shares and votes) of the farm business, their business must have started ‘agricultural activity’ in 2013 or later and they mustn’t have carried out any farming in the previous 5 years.
Young farmers must be between the age of 18 and 40, must be in ‘control’ of the farm business and must have set up or taken ‘control’ of the business for the first time on 1st January 2010 or later.
In order to prove one’s status as a ‘new’ or ‘young’ farmer evidence of the above must be checked by an independent solicitor who must fill in a ‘certification form’ which must be received by the RPA by 15th May.
In addition to entitlements young farmers can apply for a top up payment worth up to 25% of the average value of their entitlements on up to 90 hectares of entitlements. This can be applied for each your for a maximum of 5 years after the year they started or took ‘control’ of the business.
