AB9 Redrilling. How do you decide with an inspection perhaps due.

[tullah]

I redrilled two year AB9 mix last May and am about to redrill it with a one year again because I don't think there's enough kale etc survived to pass the inspection. It came up perfectly last year with favourable rains but now mostly weeds. It's such a hassle to fiddle around with these plots at a busy time of year when they could just fail to establish again.
How lenient are the the RPA when inspecting AB9 and if I were to just produce a seed invoice would that satisfy them?

 

[Tamar]

Thinking the same. £732 / ha might sound great, but our 0.4ha (£292) doesn't cover anywhere near the cost and hassle of doing these plots.

I expect if you showed him a field of weeds and an invoice that would pass. The birds and the bees are just as happy on flowering thistles and fat hen, as they are on fodder radish and millet.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Cant you just drill the stuff thats missing or is it all missing

 

[tullah]

Cant you just drill the stuff thats missing or is it all missing

Got to be ploughed and drilled destroying nests as too much overyeared rubbish. Ideal for nature to thrive in.
If it's Chris Packham advising DEFRA then I'm not surprised but it's not only madness to disturb it end of May to get boxes ticked by people who haven't a clue but just adds to the carbon footprint . These people are a menace.
Another issue that our Nfu signed off. Perhaps when the British Farming Forum gets fully established after ridding us of RT then they are the people who can talk sense to DEFRA.

 

[Grass And Grain]

Email RPA, send some photos, and ask if it can remain, or if they think it needs redrilling, but risk poor establishment so is it better to keep what you've got. Say it was a 2 year seed mix, send photo of invoice. It's then the RPA's decision.

 

[tullah]

Email RPA, send some photos, and ask if it can remain, or if they think it needs redrilling, but risk poor establishment so is it better to keep what you've got. Say it was a 2 year seed mix, send photo of invoice. It's then the RPA's decision.

Thank you. First job tomorrow morning and hope I don't have to wait too long for their reply.

 

[Grass And Grain]

Thank you. First job tomorrow morning and hope I don't have to wait too long for their reply.

I've usually found them quite quick to reply.

Give them a timescale to respond to, then if they haven't read your email and replied, it's their fault.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

• re-sow winter bird plots that fail to establish
• 
  
• This is what is what it says

 

[tullah]

• re-sow winter bird plots that fail to establish
• 
  
• This is what is what it says

Nature thrives here and theyre at the seed before it comes up and pick off what does.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Nature thrives here and theyre at the seed before it comes up and pick off what does.

Think that's the idea
We be better going out with the quad bike and spreading bird food and just let it grow wild

 

[Skimmer]

As long as you can prove you've made the effort should be fine.

 

[Goweresque]

Email RPA, send some photos, and ask if it can remain, or if they think it needs redrilling, but risk poor establishment so is it better to keep what you've got. Say it was a 2 year seed mix, send photo of invoice. It's then the RPA's decision.

How that going to work when 70% (ha ha) of UK land is covered by ELMS then? Are we all going to be outsourcing every little decision to Defra? I can't see them going for that. Not least because they'd need thousands of staff to deal with all the emails. Making decisions that they then have to abide by is not Defra's style. They prefer the 'light touch regulation' method, which means drawing up schemes with vague and subjective 'aims', making the farmer make all the decisions about how to achieve those aims, and then an inspector deciding afterwards if they agree with him. And fining him if not.

 

[Derrick Hughes]

Email RPA, send some photos, and ask if it can remain, or if they think it needs redrilling, but risk poor establishment so is it better to keep what you've got. Say it was a 2 year seed mix, send photo of invoice. It's then the RPA's decision.

Email RPA, send some photos, and ask if it can remain, or if they think it needs redrilling, but risk poor establishment so is it better to keep what you've got. Say it was a 2 year seed mix, send photo of invoice. It's then the RPA's decision.

Think @Nielo has experience of emailing the RPA
Problem with the schemes the information they give at the start is so vague