As the combines start to roll for this year’s harvest, thousands of Scottish farmers remain frustrated at the lack of information on how they will be required to meet the greening element of the new CAP.
According to NFU Scotland, just under one-third (30%) of Scotland’s direct support (Pillar 1) budget will be allocated to the greening payment and, to receive it, farmers will need to undertake standard greening practices where relevant or not exempt.
The Scottish Government is working on an equivalent greening scheme which, if approved by the EC in time, will be implemented next year.
However, if this scheme is not approved in time, the standard greening requirements will continue to apply for next year, with the intention to implement the equivalent greening measures from 2016.
But speaking this week, the union said this timetable is too “tight” for Scotland’s farmers, with the country only two weeks away from submitting its final reform roadmap to the European Commission.
“With harvest under way, many growers are unable to finalise planting plans for this autumn and next spring without the necessary clarity on how greening rules around crop diversification (three crop rule) and Environmentally Friendly Areas (EFA) will apply,” NFUS stressed yesterday.
In June, they challenged the Scottish Government to answer the following:
* Which crops can be grown to meet the crop diversification requirement?
* What nitrogen fixing crops will be permitted to be grown as EFA?
* What catch crops and green cover will be permitted as EFA?
* What are the start and end dates for the period during which agricultural production will not be allowed on fallow, field margins and buffer strips?
“A significant number of Scottish producers are still awaiting this vital information,” continued NFUS.
The union also said that while the original Scottish Government impact assessment on crop diversity indicated fewer than 1,000 farms in Scotland would be forced to change cropping plans, further analysis has led that figure to ‘balloon’ to more than 4,000.
“This is a major issue at farm level and is likely to impact on national crop output,” said the union.
NFUS president Nigel Miller said: “We appreciate that there is a balance to be struck in getting the detail right for growers and meeting EC deadlines but the driver must be the fact that growers need clarity and information now so they can plan for next season.
“The best choice for Scottish growers would be getting the right equivalence scheme in place for 2015.
“That said, we think Scottish Government is running out of time to meet this deadline, so growers may need to work with the existing greening measures as they stand for 2015 with proposed equivalence measures available the following season.
“Either way, decisions need to be made now and delivered quickly to growers.
“If the proposed equivalence scheme, which might provide an alternative to the three crop rule, is not live for 2015 then Scotland will be working on the core EC greening rules requiring crop diversity where the cropping area is over 30 hectares.”
The union’s combinable crops chairman Andrew Moir added: “Of equal importance to growers is clear information on how the 5% EFA requirement may be delivered through field margins and/or buffer strips; the use of nitrogen fixing crops and fallow.
“As yet no information or viable management standards have been agreed. That is creating frustration for Scottish growers, heightened by the fact that a set of pragmatic and workable rules on these matters have already been agreed for growers south of the Border.”
Mr Moir said he wants to see equivalent standards available in Scotland.
“In absence of clear detail, producers may have to build wiggle room into their cropping plans by retaining some stubble over winter,” said Mr Moir.
“The role of fallow as a fall-back to meet EFA requirements may also may be of use as an entry to oilseed rape but again more detail is needed.
“Nitrogen fixing crops may also be an option to grow a useful crop but also create diversity, a real resource for pollinators, improve soils and protect water quality.
“This is the keystone that can make greening function on many farms.”