Consultation to convert cross compliance hedge rules into law.

[4course]

I had given some thought in a positive way of planting a couple of hedges to split a 120 acre block. This would make it easier to split the field to create a new parcel so as to make it possible to follow non insectcide in osr etc as under sfi it has to be the whole parcel which we currently split cropping . not likely to bother if im going to saddle myself with future costs and restrictions to land use in the future for me or my followers

 

[devonbeef]

jezz average field size 5 acres here, 2m all round every field , enforced ELMS without payment, what a surprise, wonder what other sneaky tricks up their sleaves

 

[An Gof]

jezz average field size 5 acres here, 2m all round every field , enforced ELMS without payment, what a surprise, wonder what other sneaky tricks up their sleaves

Yes, the people who already have the most hedges as a result of small average fields size are impacted most by this ridiculous idea

 

[Grass And Grain]

jezz average field size 5 acres here, 2m all round every field , enforced ELMS without payment, what a surprise, wonder what other sneaky tricks up their sleaves

Yes, the people who already have the most hedges as a result of small average fields size are impacted most by this ridiculous idea

This is what we should push back at.

Those who haven't got hedges, or have ripped them out, have no financial penalty, land loss or cutting costs.

Those who have retained hedges and done an environmental good have the trimming costs and set to lose cropping area.

Penalised for doing right.

This is wrong, and should be recognised in SFI. There should be a better payment just for fact a hedge exists, then a top-up if farmer leaves 2m. Neither of those SFI payments should be to do with 2/3 year trimming cycles.

 

[Will Blackburn]

The consultation is a fait accompli.

 

[4course]

The consultation is a fait accompli.

which is why there will be no new hedges created here wether actually new or reinstated from the 60s which was well before my tenure of the land. i.e twasnt me who pulled them out . I aint going to put them back under the current derisory payments for establishment ,the ongoing maintenence and any future restrictions or re classification of land use which could well be forced upon us by the back door .

 

[Bury the Trash]

jezz average field size 5 acres here, 2m all round every field , enforced ELMS without payment, what a surprise, wonder what other sneaky tricks up their sleaves

all of ours are about minimum 4mters wide anyway. so doesn't make much odds.

 

[renewablejohn]

Done. You make consider me sceptical but I suspect the decisions have already been made and the "consultation" is more about creating employment!

I did point that out in my response

 

[devonbeef]

all of ours are about minimum 4mters wide anyway. so doesn't make much odds.

around grass fields , no reseeded those 2m if taken to the book? or do i read it wrong?
next thing it will be no cutting until August around these boundary's!
My hedges are anything from 4m to 6 m wide due to banks ,roughy bits, i read it as 2 metres from a point which they declare is outer edge of hedge? Hopefully i am wrong ,i will re read it.

 

[Bury the Trash]

around grass fields , no reseeded those 2m if taken to the book? or do i read it wrong?
next thing it will be no cutting until August around these boundary's!
My hedges are anything from 4m to 6 m wide due to banks ,roughy bits, i read it as 2 metres from a point which they declare is outer edge of hedge? Hopefully i am wrong ,i will re read it.

Its 2m from centre of the hedge,


That's also where field area is measured to as well .

 

[devonbeef]

Its 2m from centre of the hedge,


That's also where field area is measured to as well .

ah not so bad then ,

 

[Vader]

Its 2m from centre of the hedge,


That's also where field area is measured to as well .

That why they keep changing my field sizes and keep changing mind where center of the hedge is.?

 

[BrianV]

Funny enough similar to what I have been doing for the last 50 years in a couple of weeks time we will start trimming the road hedges around us, these Devon roads/lanes are too scary for holiday makers to drive forward in let alone backwards so with the school holidays approaching & 7 grand daughters now riding their bikes & ponies around here we get the trimmer out & do a 2 meter side cut of the sting nettles & brambles in our road hedges in the name of road safety, so far no one has complained & no "dove nests" have yet been found.

 

[Walton2]

Its 2m from centre of the hedge,


That's also where field area is measured to as well .

The first reply to the blog on that DEFRA consultation was from someone who suggested that 3m was preferable to 2m!
I wonder what the reaction would be if the 2m regulation was applied to ALL HEDGES….and not just those related to agriculture?

 

[Levelsman]

The consultation is a fait accompli.

Penwith Moors to SSSI

Start clearing the desk before election called??

 

[PostHarvest]

Developers net hedges to stop birds nesting before they do their works.

HS2 certainly does not - they just rip everything out

 

[Sid]

This is what we should push back at.

Those who haven't got hedges, or have ripped them out, have no financial penalty, land loss or cutting costs.

Those who have retained hedges and done an environmental good have the trimming costs and set to lose cropping area.

Penalised for doing right.

This is wrong, and should be recognised in SFI. There should be a better payment just for fact a hedge exists, then a top-up if farmer leaves 2m. Neither of those SFI payments should be to do with 2/3 year trimming cycles.

Hedges vary so much around the country, some in the sw you would struggle to cut through with a chainsaw they are so thick and bushy. Head up where there is no stock and the proved as much shelter as a sheet of newspaper in a thunderstorm!!

Its 2m from centre of the hedge,


That's also where field area is measured to as well .

As above, 2m from centre of some hedges here and you still haven't reached farmable land!

 

[Dave645]

They seem to want to use the stick, take what they want create new laws of protection that removes our rights of ownership, while giving nothing back. then add fines and penalties.
by law hedges are protected these new rules or laws are not about that, these are about creating a structure of rules once supported by BPS payments the margins the no cutting dates etc, the problems never start at the beginning its where they end up.

year 1, 2 meter margin no cut between these dates. (light touch rules)
Then a year somewhere between year 3 and 10, 6 meter margins and permissions to cut them in set ways with rules and fines.
just look where SSSI's are going. once a structure for rules exists with no payments or compensation are involved they expand.

Its simple just pay us to continue to do what we did under cross compliance and set the payment based on area of land in the margins. this protects us from un compensated mission creep.
when some bright spark moves the goal posts, and changes the rules we will have no rights to argue against.

 

[Steevo]

Worth flagging this up again in case anyone has not yet completed it.

 

[Steevo]

Just been browsing the NFU section on this, and I think they are making things EVEN MORE confusing than they need to!

NFU state in their emails:

"Defra is seeking views on how the protection of hedgerows should be approached after the end of cross compliance, and the sanction regime which could be applied to enforce compliance.
Read our short breakdown of the proposals Defra is putting forward.
The NFU is currently developing a response to the consultation and would like to hear your opinions. You can submit your views by taking five minutes to fill in our form."

Click the link, and it brings up the NFU website with a form to fill in giving your views. NOTE: Deadline 18th August.


Nowhere that I can see on the page does it seem to state or provide a link to where FARMERS can submit THEIR OWN response DIRECTLY to the DEFRA consultation using the link that is provided in the first post in this thread. The deadline for the DEFRA consultation is 20th September.


Is it me.....or is the NFU's involvement more likely to make farmers (and NFU members) less likely to fill in the official consultation, as they may think they've already done their bit filling in the NFU section and therefore "had their say"? My concern is that the NFU sometimes seem to walk their own path rather than listening to their farmer members....and so by filling in the NFU form there's no guarantee that your response will be taken into account if it doesn't fit the NFU's preferred narrative. On top of that, we've heard previously that DEFRA etc. much prefer hearing from actual farmers and are more likely to put weight to their views than they would of trade organisations like the NFU,



Hoping that by flagging this up it might spur anyone who has filled in the NFU one but not the DEFRA one to speak their own voice directly to DEFRA also.