CAP Reform Q&A Online Discussion

[sleepy]

The Defra CAP Reform team will be online on The Farming Forum on Wednesday 27 August 2014, between 5pm and 7pm. Experts from Defra’s CAP Reform team will be available to discuss the new CAP with members; policy decisions, the development of new schemes or the new online CAP Information Service.

Please post your questions on this thread now and Defra will start answering them at 5pm on Wednesday 27th August.

So you are all aware the Offical account for Defra on The Farming Forum is @DefraGov

This thread is strictly for asking questions about the current policy - any questions questioning the merits of said policy will be deleted. Please start a separate thread if you wish to do that.

 

[Andy26]

Can Fallow as a third crop also count as the EFA?

i.e. 5% of arable area left fallow to satisfy the three crop rule, can this same 5% also count as the 5% of EFA?

 

[Mad Farmer]

Can Catch or Cover crops planted this autumn count towards our EFA for the 2015 BPS claim

 

[devonshire farmer]

I have planted 31 acres of kale for sheep behind barley, its up and away, 16 acres of it will be ploughed up in February for spring barley the rest in april for maize, will this count for greening or is kale even classed as a catch crop in your schedule, Thanks

 

[DRC]

I'm in the HLS, 2006 start date.
Will the 4m margins HE2, count as fallow for EFA.

 

[parker]

can I have a buffer strip running along the side of a hedge next to a water course ? and if the buffer only has to be 1 metre wide can I have a 5 metre fallow strip next to it ?

 

[sleepy]

Have you got any more details about the new entrant scheme yet?
What are the criteria to get it?
Does the SFP claim have to be in the 'new entrants' name or do they just have to be in partnership and making most of the decisions?

 

[Wombat]

What happens to existing field margins? Can they be counted as fallow? Do they also count towards the 3 crop rule as well?

 

[parker]

Are there any seed rate requirements for the two different crops to be grown in order to be able to use it as a cover crop towards efa as a cereal and non cereal are stated but no mention of seed rate required?

 

[Rob Holmes]

If Farmer A (who recieves entitlements) rents out 10 ha to Farmer B, and another 20 ha to Farmer C (all arable), does:

• Farmers B and C have to grow the 3 crops on their individual blocks,
• or, Farmer B have to grow 2 crops and Farmer C 2 crops,
• or, Can both farmers incorporate the smaller rented blocks into their own larger whole farm cropping rotation to ease logistics and economies of scale?

 

[Simon C]

A land owner has 10.25ha of entitlements, all of which have been claimed under the SFP. By only claiming for 9.99ha in 2015, would he be able to avoid growing two crops.

 

[Ramrod]

Will HLS and ELS options other than Buffer strips, which we already know about, be allowed as EFA's in the near future?

 

[Clive]

What is the definition of a cover crop ? How many species etc ? Planting dates ? Termination date ?

Are there minimum establishment standards that have to be met in terms of plant population numbers etc ?

 

[Wombat]

Does a ditch have to have water flowing in it all year to enable it to have a buffer zone? We have some that only run water Nov to April as they only have field drains and a pond overflow filling them and go dry in the summer

 

[gloria1]

I am in ELS post jan 2012.
managing options EE4,EE5,EE6,EK2,EK1,EA1. none of which appear in "double funding environmental stewardship agreements Q and A" Defra briefing note.
Is it therefore correct that I will have no ELS payment reduction.

 

[A Farmer]

What is the maximum width of buffer strip allowed ?
Could I have for example a 20 meter buffer strip adjacent to a 100meter water course and thus have 20m x 100m x 9m(buffer strip value) = 18000 m2
Or would the calculation be 1m x 100m x 9m = 900 m2 and the remaining 19m width would be classed as fallow land ??

Thanks in advance

 

[tullah]

Where there's a boundary hedge can both landowners claim the hedge area?

Can a buffer strip 2 metres wide be created around a field where there is no ditch or hedge I.e. just a 2 metre wide strip between 2 crops?

 

[Jon 3085]

What will the penalty be if you do not have any EFA, but have 3 crops and maintain PP?

 

[Goweresque]

I have bird cover crop areas, that are currently planted with Chicory, artichokes and canary reed grass (in blocks not mixed, ie an single block of cover may have a strip of canary grass and two strips of artichokes for example). These are not used for agricultural production and used as shooting cover. Some have been ploughed within the last 3 years, some are longer term. Do these areas count as arable for EFA calculations, and will they themselves qualify as EFA area for 2015?

With regards to buffer strips how wide do they have to be to qualify, and is there a maximum? And is the nine times factor applied to the area one leaves as a buffer, or some standard width time the length? Ie if one had a buffer strip of that was 100m long by 6m wide (ie 600m2 of actual buffer) would that count as 9x600=5400m2 for EFA purposes, or would some other value apply?

Can fallow be used in strips along hedges where buffers are not applicable? If so what is the minimum amount and does the land have to have been cropped the season before it is termed fallow, or can an existing grass field margin be termed fallow for EFA purposes?

Can you put a buffer strip next to a water course that doesn't belong to you? Agricultural boundaries are often the lip of the ditch on the far side of the hedge from the owner. Thus your neighbour actually has land that borders the ditch not you. Can he claim a buffer strip in those circumstances?

 

[Ivor Cornfield]

Can pp be classed as a 2nd or third crop?, regardless of whether it is grazed or baled.

Could a parcel of pp with a ditch along it be totald up and be included as a buffer?

Can a farmer claim on a parcel that is rented out for eg: potatoes, or would it need to be included on the tenant's claim? Given the fact that the parcel in question could have fallow, and/or buffers on part of it.

Thanks.