CAP Reform
Greening Information Event
John Lynn
Paul Clenaghan
Countryside Management Delivery Branch
Arable farmers confront challenges cultivating
Arable farmers face challenges Harvesting
Now for the Challenge of complying
with:
CAP Reform regulations.
Introduction
Greening requirements are a compulsory element of the CAP Reform
and introduce practices that are beneficial to the environment and
climate.
From 2015, it will be mandatory for applicants to the Basic Payment
Scheme to comply with greening requirements.
Basic Payment Scheme and Greening
 From 2015, the Single Farm Payment Scheme will be replaced by
the Basic Payment Scheme, a Greening Payment and a Young
Farmers’ Scheme.
 Thirty per cent of the money allocated to Northern Ireland for direct
payments will be allocated to the greening payment.
 Farmers who comply with greening requirements will receive a
greening payment calculated as a percentage of the total value of
entitlements activated by them each year.
Greening
 There are three elements to greening:
• Permanent Grassland
• Crop Diversification
• Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs)
 Non-compliance with greening requirements will result in reductions
to the Greening Payment. It is therefore important that farmers
understand and comply with the greening requirements.
Definition of Permanent Grassland
 Land used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forage (this can be
self-seeded or sown)
 Land that has not been used for an arable crop in the previous five
years or more. In effect, this relates to six years (2015 and the
previous 5 years (2010 – 2014).
 E.g. land declared as FR1 (grass) in 2015 which was also declared
as FR1 in the previous five consecutive years (2010 – 2014) will be
classified as permanent grassland.
 Permanent grassland ploughed and re-seeded immediately with
grass or other herbaceous forage continues to be classified as
permanent grassland.
Environmentally Sensitive Permanent Grassland
 There is also a requirement to designate permanent grassland in
areas covered by:
• Natura 2000
• The Birds Directive
• The Habitats Directive.
 Farmers will not be allowed to plough or convert permanent
grassland in these areas.
 DARD will identify permanent grassland in these areas and will
make this information available to the relevant farmers in advance of
2015.
Crop Diversification – Arable land
 Crop diversification requirements are applicable to arable land, they
are not applicable to permanent grassland or permanent crops.
 Definition of arable land –use of land to grow crops other than grass,
orchards, short rotational coppice, ornamentals and nurseries,
forestry and multi-annual crops.
 Forage crops such as fodder beet, fodder rape, stubble turnips or
any cereal crop used for forage (e.g. maize) are regarded as an
arable crop use.
 Sainfoin, clover, lucerne and forage vetches are regarded in the
same way as grass and therefore are not deemed to be an arable
use.
.
Definition of arable land continued
 If your land will be used to grow an arable crop in 2015 or has
grown an arable crop in any of the years 2010 – 2014, then it will be
classified as arable in 2015.
 Land used to grow grass in 2015 but which has been used to grow
an arable crop in any of the years 2010 - 2014 will be classified as
arable in 2015.
 Areas available for crop production but lying fallow, including areas
set aside under EU schemes, will also be classed as arable land.
 There are some outstanding issues in relation to the classification of
land lying fallow, further clarification will be provided later this year.
.
Classification of fields
Field
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
Classified
7/82/12
Field 1
barley
oats
grass
grass
grass
grass
Arable
(temporary
grass)
7/82/12
Field 2
grass
grass
grass
grass
grass
barley
Arable
7/6/6
Field 10
barley
wheat
maize
wheat
barley
wheat
Arable
7/6/6
Field 16
grass
grass
grass
grass
grass
grass
Permanent
grass
Definition of Permanent Crops
 Permanent crops are non-rotational crops other then permanent
grassland that occupy the land for five years or more and yield
repeated harvests.
 Examples of permanent crops are orchards, short rotational
coppice, ornamentals and nurseries and multi-annual crops. Further
examples of permanent crops are available on the DARD website.
 Later this year, DARD will classify fields as permanent grassland,
arable or permanent crops and will make this information available to
farmers.
Crop Diversification Exemptions
Farmers will be exempt from crop diversification in the following
circumstances:1. Where they have less than 10 hectares of arable land;
2. Where more than 75% of the arable land is used for the production
of grasses (temporary grass) or other herbaceous forage, is land
lying fallow, or a combination of these uses, provided their remaining
arable area not covered by these uses does not exceed 30 hectares;
3. Where more than 75% of the eligible agricultural area is
permanent grassland, is used for the production of grasses or other
herbaceous forage, or a combination of these uses, provided their
arable area not covered by these uses does not exceed 30 hectares;
Crop Diversification Exemptions (continued)
4. Where more than 50% of the areas under arable land were not
declared by the farmer in his/her aid application of the previous year
and where all arable land is being cultivated with a different crop
compared to that of the previous calendar year.
(The operation of this exemption in Northern Ireland is subject to further
consideration by DARD; a decision on this will be made and publicised
in due course).
5. Land certified as being organically farmed automatically qualifies for
the greening payment but double funding (receiving the greening
payment for doing the same thing) is not permitted. This exemption
only applies to those fields which are organically farmed.
Crop Diversification - Requirements
Crop Diversification – Summary of Requirements
Area of Arable Land
Less than 10 hectares
Between
hectares
10
and
More than 30 hectares
Number of Crops that must
be grown
No
crop
requirement
Further requirements
diversification Not applicable
30 Farmer must grow at least two The main crop shall not
different crops on his arable cover more than 75% of the
land
farmer’s arable land
Farmer must grow at least The main crop shall not
three different crops on his cover more than 75% of the
arable land
farmer’s arable land and the
two main crops together
shall not cover more than
95% of his arable land
If close to the thresholds exercise caution!
Importance of checking requirements
 It is important that farmers actively check whether they have a crop
diversification requirement e.g. dairy farmers who grow arable crops.
 Farmers taking land in conacre may not be aware of the history of
the fields that they are renting.
 Farmers can check the history of the land use of these fields by
checking what was declared in the ‘Eligible Use’ column in the
Single Application Form Field Data Sheet (SAF 2) during the period
2010 - 2014.
Crop Diversification – Definition of a crop
 For the purposes of crop diversification, a crop is defined in the EU
Regulations as any of the following:a) a culture of any of the different genera defined in the botanical
classification of crops;
b) a culture of any of the species in the case of Brassicaceae
(e.g.cabbage), Solanaceae (e.g.potato) and Cucurbitaceae (e.g.
cucumber);
c) land lying fallow;
d) grass or other herbaceous forage (clovers, lucerne, sainfoin and
forage vetches) on arable land (temporary grass).
Crop Diversification - Definition of a crop
 Winter and spring varieties of crops count as separate crops.
 Most crops grown in Northern Ireland will meet the definition of a
crop outlined in the EU Regulations. The exceptions to this are
permanent grassland and permanent crops.
 Examples of suitable crops are available on the DARD website.
 The end use of the crop has no impact on how it is counted for the
purposes of crop diversification. For example, if a farmer grows
some winter wheat as whole crop and some for grain, this counts as
one crop (winter wheat).
Definition of a crop - continued
 Individual crops which fall within a single genus or single species in
the case of Brassicaceae, Solanaceae and Cucurbitaceae count as
only one crop for the purposes of crop diversification.
E.g. cabbage and cauliflower, these would count as only one crop
because they fall within the same species (Brassica oleracea).
 The crop must be present (or its stubble/residue present in a form
which enables the original crop to be identified) during the entire
period of 1 June to 31 July each year.
 A seed mixture(s) will be recognised as one crop.
 Different seed mixtures will not be recognised as separate crops.
Ecological Focus Areas
Paul Clenaghan
You will be familiar with
the decline in bees
and wild flowers
The Great Yellow Bumblebee
Irish Lady’s Tresses Orchid
Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs)
 Farmers with more than 15 hectares of arable land must ensure that,
from 1st January 2015, at least 5% of their arable land is used as an
EFA. This may increase to 7% in 2017.
 Farmers will be exempt from the requirement to have EFAs in the
following circumstances:
1.Where they have less than or equal to 15 hectares of arable land.
2.Where more than 75% of the arable land is used for the production
of grasses (temporary grass) or other herbaceous forage, is land lying
fallow, is used for cultivation of leguminous crops (peas, beans, sweet
lupins) or is subject to a combination of those uses, provided that the
arable area not covered by those uses does not exceed 30ha;
Ecological Focus Areas - Exemptions
3. More than 75% of the eligible agricultural area is permanent
grassland, is used for the production of grasses or other
herbaceous forage, or is subject to a combination of those uses,
provided that the arable area not covered by these uses does
not exceed 30 hectares.
Land certified as being organically farmed automatically qualifies for
the greening payment but double funding (receiving the greening
payment for doing the same thing) is not permitted. This exemption
only applies to those fields which are organically farmed.
Features and areas which can be used to meet
EFA requirements
The following features and areas which can be used as EFAs:
• Land lying fallow (clarification is being sought in relation to the
definition of land lying fallow)
• Landscape features required to be retained under cross compliance
(hedges, ditches, stone walls, archaeological features and
earth banks (does not include river banks)
• Areas of agro-forestry (supported under past or current RDP)
• Areas with short rotation coppice with no use of mineral fertiliser
and no use of plant protection products beyond the second growing
season post planting – max harvest 5 years
• Afforested areas which were used and eligible to claim SFP in 2008
• Areas with nitrogen fixing crops (peas, beans and sweet lupins)
Location of EFAs
EFA Feature
Location
Land lying fallow
Agro-forestry
Nitrogen fixing crops
Must be located on the arable land of
the holding
Hedges, ditches, stone walls
Earth banks
Archaeological features
Must be located on or adjacent to the
arable land of the holding
(Adjacent is thought to mean physically
touching a field of agricultural land on
the longest edge of the relevant EFA)
Eligible afforested areas
Short rotation coppice
No requirement to be on or adjacent to
the arable land of the holding
Ecological Focus Area Conversion Matrix
EFA type
(unit of measurement)
Conversion
factor
(m to m2)
Land lying fallow (per 1m2)
Weighting
factor
Area (m2) of EFA
(i.e. after
application of
both factors )
N/A
1
1m2
Hedges (per 1m)
5
2
10m2
Ditches (per 1m)
3
2
6m2
Traditional stone walls (per 1m)
1
1
1m2
Archaeological features (per 1m2)
N/A
1
1m2
Earth banks (per 1m2)
N/A
1
1m2
Hectares of agro-forestry (per 1m2)
N/A
1
1m2
Areas with short rotation coppice (per 1m2)
N/A
0.3
0.3m2
Afforested areas (per 1m2)
N/A
1
1m2
Areas with nitrogen fixing crops (per 1m2)
N/A
0.7*
0.7m2
* To be confirmed by EC in legislation
Exercise caution when calculating EFAs
Ecological Focus Area Conversion Matrix
 The conversion matrix converts the lengths/areas according to their
ecological values. For example, every linear metre of eligible hedge
can provide 10 m2 of EFA.
 When calculating whether you meet the 5% EFA requirement, you
should exercise caution if you are very close to the 5%.
Clarification being sought
 What constitutes a hedge
 Definition of land lying fallow
Ecological Focus Areas
 Ecological focus areas must be at the disposal of the famer. If the
EFA is in the field declared by the farmer, the entire EFA is at the
farmer’s disposal. However, if the EFA is on the boundary of the
field, the position is less clear.
Clarification is required on:
 How boundary features are to be treated. E.g. A hedge between two
arable fields at the disposal of two different farmers.
 If it was agreed that boundary features could be 50:50, farmers
would only be able to use 50% of the converted area of the hedge.
However, if located between two arable fields declared by the same
farmer, 100% of the converted area could be used.
Greening Payment
 The greening payment will be calculated as a percentage of the total
value of entitlements activated by claimants each year. Therefore,
over time, the value of the greening payment per hectare will move
towards a flat rate payment at the same pace as the movement of
the Basic Payment.
 For the first two scheme years (2015 and 2016), sanctions for noncompliance with greening requirements will result in a reduction in
the greening payment which may be substantial. From 2017,
additional penalties will be applied.
 It is important that you check whether you have a greening
requirement and that you comply fully with the requirements.
Greening on online Single Application
CROP DIVERSIFICATION
 The online application will calculate, based on the fields you have
declared, if you have a Crop Diversification requirement and advise
whether you have met it.
 It will display the area and percentage for the main crops you have
grown, which will show you how close you are in relation to meeting the
Crop Diversification requirements.
Greening on online Single Application
ECOLOGICAL FOCUS AREAS (EFAs)
 The online application will calculate, based on the fields you have
declared, if you have an EFA requirement and state the area of EFAs
required to satisfy that requirement.
 DARD are currently considering the online options to permit you to
then declare which EFAs you have for that scheme year and the
intention is that the system will advise you when you have declared
sufficient EFAs to meet your requirement.
Impact of Greening on Agri-Environment
Agreements
Agreements signed before 2012
No Greening impact. DARD is considering whether agreements need
adjusted to take account of new Cross-Compliance requirements.
NICMS agreements signed from 1 January 2012 onward
Agreements contain a revision clause. Greening must be taken into
account, and NICMS payments may be reduced to avoid doublefunding. Agreements must be adjusted to meet new Cross-Compliance
requirements.
Impact of Greening on Agri-Environment
Agreements
New Environmental Farming Scheme (EFS) Agreements
Greening must be taken into account, and EFS payments may be
reduced to avoid double-funding.
Agreements must meet new Cross-Compliance requirements.
Life for the arable farmer changes
Summary
 Arable area < 10 ha
No change
 Arable area 10 – 15 ha Crop Diversification (2 different crop types)
 Arable area >15 -30ha Ecological Focus area (5% arable area)
Crop Diversification (2 different crop types)
 Arable area > 30 ha Ecological Focus area (5% arable area)
Crop Diversification ( 3 different crop types)
 2 crop types: Main crop - max 75% arable area
 3 crop types: Main crop - max 75% arable area, Main two crops max 95% arable area
(Exemptions granted under specific conditions - Caution)
Further information
Further information on CAP reform is available on the DARD website
on www.dardni.gov.uk. If you have a specific query you can call the
DARD Grants and Funding Helpline number : 0300 200 7848
Or send an email to the DARD Helpline email address:
greeninghelpline@dardni.gov.uk