The European Commission draft reform of the Common Agricultural Policy for the period after 2013 means farmers being more vigilant than ever.

Although there has been much speculation based on leaked documents, this is the first formal document issued by the EC clearly setting out changes to how the CAP will operate, Christopher Rhodes from Woolley & Wallis, Marlborough office told South West Farmer.

“Currently there is a range of different payment systems across the EC, which between 2013 and 2019 will move towards a uniform payment per Ha. In practice the principal of the scheme will remain unchanged with subsidy being paid in return for farmers meeting the cross compliance measures.

“Some subtle changes include: n We are already close to a ‘flat rate’ or ‘basic payment’ and this uniformity of payments across the EC will continue as we are brought in line with other member states and their rates of payment. This will result in a gradual adjustment in the support payments to UK farmers.

n Cross Compliance is to be simplified. The number of statutory management rules and good agricultural and environmental conditions reducing from 33 to 21.

“In order to receive the whole of the whole of the basic payment farmers will need to undertake agricultural practices that are ‘beneficial for the climate and the environment’, added Mr Rhodes.

“These measures extend to:

  • Maintaining permanent pasture at a level similar to that on the holding in 2011.
  • For those in arable production a farmer must cultivate three crops on the holding with none accounting for more than 70 per cent and none less than five per cent of the arable area. It is expected that the arable area calculation will include temporary grass leys.
  • Seven per cent of the arable area will need to be maintained as an ‘Ecological; Focus Area”. This no doubt will be refereed to as ‘Green Set-Aside’. We are yet to discover if field margins and buffer strips that have been put down as part of the ELS Scheme will be acceptable as Green Set-Aside.
  • The Basic Payment Scheme will be based on 70 per cent from Cross Compliance and the remaining 30 per cent from Greening. Therefore, those not choosing to meet the Greening requirement will only receive 70 per cent of the Basic Payment.”

New regulations include:

No subsidy will be available to those ‘Farmers’ whose (a) CAP payments make up less than five per cent of their income from non-agricultural activities or (b) if ‘Farmers’ do not meet the new standards of ‘Minimum Activity’. What the standards of ‘Minimum Activity’ are remains to be seen.

A ‘Top Up’ payment equivalent to an additional 25 per cent of the payment will be paid to new entrants under 40 years of age for the first five years of farming.

From October 2014 those with smaller holdings or wishing to opt out of the Basic Payment Scheme can participate in the Small Farmers Scheme and receive a flat subsidy of up to €1,000 per holding.

Income from the Basic Payment Scheme will be limited to €300,000 and reductions made at various payment tiers between €150,000 and €300,000.

Mr Rhgodes said that it was apparent that some would be “irritated by the newly proposed Green Set-Aside obligations and view this as an obstacle to production,” but however frustrating that may be, it wass hoped that those whom had voluntarily entered into the ELS Scheme and had already taken land out of production would not be punished for doing so.

“Of equal concern may be the requirement to demonstrate that one is an ‘Active Farmer’ and whether the standards of minimum activity will be reasonable, given the broad range of land uses we experience in this region.

“If caught out by the ‘Active Farmer’ rules the €1,000 Small Farmers Scheme seems to be minor compensation.”

  • Farmers already involved in commercially-funded agri-environment schemes could end up the biggest winners out of the new CAP Reform proposals.

Conservation Grade’s Tim Nevard, who says the scheme’s producers already benefit by attracting a premium while also meeting the requirements for ELS and HLS payments, adds that they could also automatically qualify for the proposed 30 per cent of the CAP support payments dependent on environmental criteria.

“We have heard that farmers will have to grow at least three crops on arable land and leave seven per cent of farmland ecologically fallow,” he said. “Conservation Grade already requires strict rotational management and 10 per cent of land to be specifically farmed for maximum ‘wildlife yield’ – and delivers other criteria in the proposals such as buffer strips, beetle banks, skylark plots and grass margins. While there may be debate about how beneficial these planned reforms will be overall, our growers look set to end up with significant benefits.”

Mr Nevard says it is also important to note the proposals state an aim to “support farmers who already manage in this way”, indicating the payments could favour growers who are already actively managing wildlife by the time the reforms are implemented.

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