Steevo
Member
- Location
- Gloucestershire
If you have a hedge and a ditch (watercourse)....does that leave you with the same 1m length = 10sq.m EFA that you'd get with JUST a hedge? or can you get extra for the "watercourse buffer" too?
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EFAs for this year
- Thread starter dontknowanything
- Start date
If you have a hedge and a ditch (watercourse)....does that leave you with the same 1m length = 10sq.m EFA that you'd get with JUST a hedge? or can you get extra for the "watercourse buffer" too?
Its a bit of a ball ache isnt it.
Here, average field size is a sniff over 4ha, and most have hedges, which makes up a big chunk of ELS, the rest being some field corner grass areas, and some over wintered stubble.
EFA's here used to be partly beans, but no more. We have some 4m grass margins next to the xcomp 1m from bank top of water courses, (LERAP tick) that I thought were in ELS but arnt, so they'll form part, cant remeber ottomh wether they're fallow grass or margins, whichever points are greatest. We have 6ac of fallow grass (occasionally take a small hay cut in mid July if theres enough to bother and the docks/thistles arnt too bad to keep it tidy, otherwise just top it over once a year) That is now EFA provision, and 19ha iirc cover crops on land coming spring crops and not taken by ow stubble. Covers are area x 0.3 = EFA
iirc 1 linear metre of hedge = 9m2 of EFA - ie 100m 1111.11m of hedge = 1ha EFA
Here, average field size is a sniff over 4ha, and most have hedges, which makes up a big chunk of ELS, the rest being some field corner grass areas, and some over wintered stubble.
EFA's here used to be partly beans, but no more. We have some 4m grass margins next to the xcomp 1m from bank top of water courses, (LERAP tick) that I thought were in ELS but arnt, so they'll form part, cant remeber ottomh wether they're fallow grass or margins, whichever points are greatest. We have 6ac of fallow grass (occasionally take a small hay cut in mid July if theres enough to bother and the docks/thistles arnt too bad to keep it tidy, otherwise just top it over once a year) That is now EFA provision, and 19ha iirc cover crops on land coming spring crops and not taken by ow stubble. Covers are area x 0.3 = EFA
iirc 1 linear metre of hedge = 9m2 of EFA - ie 100m 1111.11m of hedge = 1ha EFA
Ramrod
Member
- Location
- Skendleby Psalter, Lincolnshire
Rule says-
"The EFA buffer strips option is extended in definition to include field margins as well as buffer strips. In addition to buffer strips adjacent or parallel with a water course, you can also claim field margins towards your EFA. The minimum width of 1 metre remains. The EFA value of field margins will be the same as EFA buffer strips - every metre in length equals 9 square metres of area for EFA."
This is how I interpret it , please feel free to correct me-
If field margins are next to ditch plus 1M or hedge plus 2M (termed as EFA buffer strips), then the width doesn't count (1m length= 9m2), therefore no advantage or increase of EFA's.
If next to any other boundary (road track etc.) regardless of width still counts as 1M length = 9M2, this is an advantage or increase of EFA's
"The EFA buffer strips option is extended in definition to include field margins as well as buffer strips. In addition to buffer strips adjacent or parallel with a water course, you can also claim field margins towards your EFA. The minimum width of 1 metre remains. The EFA value of field margins will be the same as EFA buffer strips - every metre in length equals 9 square metres of area for EFA."
This is how I interpret it , please feel free to correct me-
If field margins are next to ditch plus 1M or hedge plus 2M (termed as EFA buffer strips), then the width doesn't count (1m length= 9m2), therefore no advantage or increase of EFA's.
If next to any other boundary (road track etc.) regardless of width still counts as 1M length = 9M2, this is an advantage or increase of EFA's