Three crop rule

[ajd132]

Grass seed ?

i have looked into this and it looks interesting, quite risky maybe. it is definitely an option

 

[Steevo]

The government should not be interfering in the efforts of private enterprise. They can't manage a pish up in the proverbial and don't understand agriculture at all. Defra clipboards need to stick to counting marsh waders and leave actual farming alone.

I’m expecting the reply to that to be - take public money, do what they say.

How long until buses must always be carrying a minimum of three nationalities at any one time?

 

[lloyd]

i have looked into this and it looks interesting, quite risky maybe. it is definitely an option

Several doing it around here .
By the sound of it you bank on 2 very profitable years and one wiping its face.

 

[ajd132]

Several doing it around here .
By the sound of it you bank on 2 very profitable years and one wiping its face.

My aim is to reduce our fixed costs more, and also reduce our variable cost because of following a different agronomic path, so our business can weather the storms better and not get so many peaks and troughs we often see in farming. I don’t want ludicrously high fixed costs which then means really high input costs trying to get yield to cover the overheads, that’s more risky in my opinion.

 

[lloyd]

My aim is to reduce our fixed costs more, and also reduce our variable cost because of following a different agronomic path, so our business can weather the storms better and not get so many peaks and troughs we often see in farming. I don’t want ludicrously high fixed costs which then means really high input costs trying to get yield to cover the overheads, that’s more risky in my opinion.

Around here the rye grass stalks will be worth good money
and then its let for sheep keep approx 50pp head pw.

 

[Hesstondriver]

i have always been in favor of it i) because i seen the benefits of a varied rotation but also because i dont belive that there is a huge amount of wild life diversity in the middle of a 300 acre block of one crop what ever it is. round here it would not be un common for a rotation to to have been WW,WW,OSR . easy to manage etc , but i thought the principle behind it was to encourage more wildlife diversity etc as well as agronomic benefits(BG)

my issue with it is the low thresholds which have affected smaller or stock based farms who just want to grow a bit of barley for feed/ straw.

 

[essex man]

Don't see how it is anything other than a blunt instrument that may suit some and not others.
If I want to put the whole farm down to one crop why shouldn't I?
Different crop each year, 5 different crops, 5 year rotation

 

[lloyd]

Don't see how it is anything other than a blunt instrument that may suit some and not others.
If I want to put the whole farm down to one crop why shouldn't I?
Different crop each year, 5 different crops, 5 year rotation

At the moment we are still receiving subsidy so
one can't expect money for nothing but if the subsidy money is virtually
removed the crops will have to pay on their own and you will have a valid argument.

 

[Steevo]

At the moment we are still receiving subsidy so
one can't expect money for nothing but if the subsidy money is virtually
removed the crops will have to pay on their own and you will have a valid argument.

BPS is supposed to be decoupled from production, so isn't supposed to be a subsidy.

Bizarrely the 3 crop rule only applies to those with over 30ha arable.....it doesn't quite make logical sense.

 

[Steevo]

i have always been in favor of it i) because i seen the benefits of a varied rotation but also because i dont belive that there is a huge amount of wild life diversity in the middle of a 300 acre block of one crop what ever it is. round here it would not be un common for a rotation to to have been WW,WW,OSR . easy to manage etc , but i thought the principle behind it was to encourage more wildlife diversity etc as well as agronomic benefits(BG)

my issue with it is the low thresholds which have affected smaller or stock based farms who just want to grow a bit of barley for feed/ straw.

I would agree with much of this.

Is there much more diversity in 300ac of grass than 300ac arable though?

The real point at which it falls down though is with a large farm.

I'm fairly sure a 1000ha ringfenced farm could be 700ha (2000ac) wheat in one block, 250ha (600ac) OSR, 50ha (125ac) spring barley.

It could also be split into thirds - 333ha (800ac) wheat, 333ha (800ac) OSR, 333ha (800ac) spring barley.

Not much diversity in that lot.

 

[lloyd]

BPS is supposed to be decoupled from production, so isn't supposed to be a subsidy.

Bizarrely the 3 crop rule only applies to those with over 30ha arable.....it doesn't quite make logical sense.

Yes its decoupled but it's still budgeted money which
has to show a benefit or why are we having it?

Probably those under 30ha were already mixed farmers
with livestock so made sense not to prevent someone
growing a couple of crops to feed to animals.
They already had/have diversity.

 

[7610 super q]

The public are getting a benefit from subs in the form of food at 1970's prices. Well, when it leaves the farm gate anyway........ Quite why there was an obsession for endless remapping, goal post moving and petty rules has always been something of a mystery to me. Keep clip board types in jobs, I suppose. ?‍

 

[Steevo]

Yes its decoupled but it's still budgeted money which
has to show a benefit or why are we having it?

Probably those under 30ha were already mixed farmers
with livestock so made sense not to prevent someone
growing a couple of crops to feed to animals.
They already had/have diversity.

I recognise this - it does seem strange to be almost recoupling by linking it to production, when we are continually told that it's a decoupled payment. It shows me that the govt aren't really considering it decoupled.

It's an interesting assumption that they had/have diversity. I wouldn't suggest a 1000ac sheep farm to be "diverse".

 

[DrWazzock]

The public are getting a benefit from subs in the form of food at 1970's prices. Well, when it leaves the farm gate anyway........ Quite why there was an obsession for endless remapping, goal post moving and petty rules has always been something of a mystery to me. Keep clip board types in jobs, I suppose. ?‍

Every year we go through the same pantomime to come up with 78.78 ha claimable. Been the same since IACS days. Some years it’s been +/- 0.1 ha as we have had various satellite and measuring wheel reassessments. So thousands spent haggling over £20. That’s DEFRA for you.

 

[DrWazzock]

Sometimes I felt like opening my wallet and just giving them a £20 note and telling them to bugger off. That’s all it’s ever amounted to. Bet it wouldn’t cover their fuel never mind their wages. What an absurd system.

 

[Brisel]

That's something you can blame Brussels for! They insist that everyone is remapped every 3 years and has parcels measured to 3 decimal places.

 

[Steevo]

That's something you can blame Brussels for! They insist that everyone is remapped every 3 years and has parcels measured to 3 decimal places.

Only 3...? Did we add the fourth then?

 

[Steevo]

We can blame Brussels for it...but I’m pretty sure our own guys would have done just the same if not worse themselves!

 

[czechmate]

That's something you can blame Brussels for! They insist that everyone is remapped every 3 years and has parcels measured to 3 decimal places.

Really?
We just tell them how much we want and they send a chq by return

 

[ajd132]

I don’t really see how it helps diversity. The 10000acre estate near here can grow a 6000acre block of skyfall if they want under the current rules. The old boy with 100 acres next door has to grow 3 crops!