He writes:
With the application window for BPS 2017 opening in early March and with still so many farmers unpaid, or underpaid for previous years, we again find ourselves in a very unsatisfactory position of having to complete a new application when there is still unfinished business to deal with.
The response to this situation is again unfortunately the same as last year – that you need to ensure the application made this year is correct based on the rules in place this year. There is no level playing field when it comes to dealing with this situation. It’s in your interest to ensure you get the claim submitted into the RPA in good time ahead of the BPS deadline and, critically, that both it and what is on the ground (that could be inspected) are correct.
If you want to get ready and keep up-to-date, head to this RPA webpage. We’ve also got some regional BPS meetings going on in the coming weeks, find out more here.
Greening
Looking at greening in particular, perhaps one of the real costs of farmers being distracted with the poor implementation of BPS and the delay in payments is not fully understanding the greening rules that came into place for 2015. While there are no major changes for 2017, I would always say review the rules regularly to ensure that you understand them and are compliant. Some farmers might not need to do anything differently to meet the greening rules, but nevertheless all farmers need to check.
So what concerns me at this time about greening? Well I believe many farmers are getting it wrong. Why? Well for the following two reasons:
- There are reductions that have been made to BPS 2015/2016 payments that are as a result of failures to comply with greening rules. But sometimes these have not yet been fully explained by the RPA, despite farmers challenging them. In some situations a problem from 2015 could have been compounded into BPS 2016.
- The RPA tells us that a number of farmers have failed their 2016 inspection due to not understanding the greening rules – particularly around fallow land management and EFA options not being present when they should be.
Now I’m not saying farmers do not care for the environment they work in, far from it, but there are farmers out there that are not complying with greening, be that due to misunderstanding them or due to poor service from the RPA. So please double check your approach for 2017. Do you know with confidence the following?..
- Greening is an annual calculation for Ecological Focus Areas / Crop Diversification, based on arable land. So has your arable or farmed area changed since your 2016 claim? Did you know that this affects your greening calculations?
- Do you understand the importance of: 1) Arable Land (crop production, fallow & temporary grass); 2) Permanent Grass (five years or more); 3) Permanent Crops (it is the crop that is key, generally there 5 years +); 4) Organic land status and how these affect the greening rules?
- Do you know the significance of temporary grassland and permanent grassland when it comes to working out your greening requirement?
- Greening rules are based on the land at your disposal on 15 May, not the area you claimed BPS on at the same time - did you know that?
- Did you know that the RPA has provided an online Greening Workbook to use to work out your greening?
Have you got your greening right so far?
Footnote: Finally, you may have heard of a potential ban of pesticides on the EFA options of nitrogen fixing crops, fallow land and catch/cover crops, this change will not come into force until BPS 2018, but more of that later.
Need help?
If you need further assistance on greening or for that matter BPS or cross compliance, please call NFU Callfirst on 0370 845 8458.
