The recent Minister announcement on Greening and what it means for England’s farmers is extremely welcome news in the view of Tony Rimmer, Director of Rostons.
The new Basic Payment Scheme requires new Greening measures and the Ministerial statement made on 10th June provides further detail as to how farmers can meet their Ecological Focus Area (EFA) requirements under the new Basic Payment Scheme.
There are 5 areas which can meet this requirement as follows:
- Land lying fallow
- Buffer strips
- Catch and cover crops
- Nitrogen fixing crops
- Hedges Whilst this is a much shortened list than is available in the initial EU Legislation, in the view of Tony Rimmer, this simplifies matters for farmers and should aid the decision-making process.
Within his statement he has recognised that farmers may be disappointed but he has focused on the need to make a scheme implementable and capable of delivery. He does however provide a warning to those who may consider using hedges as this could be more complicated than some of the other issues, potentially delaying payments.
Rostons are now advising their clients what this means and for those that are not currently clients, they would be delighted to assist regarding the practical issues arising from the implementation of the Basic Payment Scheme.