One can only become more and more wary of the RPA. Following the recent announcement that the UK are being fined £86 million for its “lenient sanction” of Cross Compliance measures etc, the new 2013 Handbook whilst not very exciting should still be vital reading!
Planning on permanent pasture
Permission may be required before converting permanent pasture although how this will be enforced is not clear and is probably an attempt to prevent widespread ploughing up of permanent pasture prior to further new rules coming in. The current rules state that permission may already be needed if ploughing up land that has not been cultivated for 15 years or which is semi-natural grassland or another semi-natural area. Apply for our Facts Sheet “Permanent Pasture and EIA Regulations”, if in doubt.
Dual use
This has received an additional note clarifying that there must be a written record signed and dated by both parties before the 15th May if different people are claiming Single Farm Payment and Stewardship from the same land.
New penalties for intentional over-declaration
This handbook gives examples of inegligible features such as roads, ponds, concrete pads and buildings, permanent marquees, a rough on a golf course, heaps of straw, hay, silage or muck, machinery or in some cases bare soil and other “infield features”. As more examples are provided it will become more difficult for farmers to argue that their mistake was not intentional and intentional over-declaration by 0.5% or more than one hectare will mean a penalty of the whole Single Farm Payment for that year! In effect the degree of accuracy now with claims is particularly acute and one must now consider leaving a general margin for all enclosures.
Flooded land
Land that is flooded or waterlogged can still be considered to be eligible provided the flooding is temporary and would otherwise still be available for agricultural activity.
Hedge fencing
New guidance suggests that where normally permanent fences would be treated as land parcel boundaries, now all fences within three meters of the centre of a hedge, inspectors can take the hedge as the boundary feature. The area however between the hedge and fence will only be eligible as long as it is available for grazing or provides an environmental benefit.
Modulation
Modulation as expected has been fixed at 19%.
Cross compliance
Soil Protection Reviews is one of the most common Cross Compliance breaches which must be updated once a year. Also common breaches include the lack of GAEC19 maps, required by all farmers that are not in NVZ’s and apply organic manure showing surface waters and land within 10 metres of them as well as springs, wells and boreholes within 50 metres of their holding and land within 50 metres of them. Other failures include not keeping up to date NVZ records, applying fertiliser and pesticides to land within two metres of the centre of a hedgerow or watercourse and failure with cattle and sheep identification.
Tips on filling in the SP5
- Many farmers are still claiming on land for which they do not have a written tenancy and whilst one can have an oral tenancy many farmers would be surprised to know that it is extremely difficult to prove that you have a lease which is needed if you use land for your SP5 claim that you do not own. With no written lease you must show that you enjoy exclusive possession and in our experience nine times out of ten such arrangements are found to be merely licences.
- Still many overlook the ability to claim on under-grazing woodland. Whilst careful measurement and deductions are required it is still an underused option.
- As the RPA consider each claim on an enclosure by enclosure basis any mapping changes required should be carried out well in advance of the 15th May so that new RPA maps are available using the new areas as calculated by the RPA. The RPA use a digital mapping system that does not correlate to other systems commonly used. The area of one field under-claimed on cannot be used to offset against another field over claimed on.
- We still find that fundamental errors are made with the right ring fence areas being used between Non-SDA, SDA and SDA Moorland.
Land use codes still cause problems and even where the RPA admit they are not clear by defined in the Handbook and would confuse anyone it is better to ask then take any risks. If the RPA subsequently inspect and point out an error then it is too late.