Important concessions on ‘greening’ rules, and the promise of more to come, were announced by the Scottish Government at NFU Scotland’s annual meeting.
Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing told delegates that as from 2018 hedges would count as a separate type of Environmental Focus Area (EFA); agro-forestry would be introduced as an EFA option and the period during which maintenance of field drains is prohibited on land declared as EFA-fallow would be shortened.
Later, in her speech, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced that Professor Russel Griggs would lead a review of the government’s approach to greening.
Mr Ewing later said the composition of the review group would be announced shortly and it would include farmers and ‘serious players’ on the NGO side.
Mr Ewing said he would have liked to introduce a wider list of changes but insisted it was vital not to risk impacting on the CAP Futures IT system which processes farm support payments.
He added: “Were we to have gone further with other measures there is a real risk we would have added complexity to the system which everyone agrees is far more complex than it needs to be or should be.”
The Cabinet Secretary said he was keen to see the outcome of the Hogan review of CAP greening measures which is due to be published in April.
“I can promise we will consider those matters swiftly,” he said.
Mr Ewing also said he intended to publish the impact of each of the greening changes NFUS has proposed.
“Farmers all want to operate sustainably but what has frustrated some farmers is that some of the rules seem to be either counterproductive or difficult to operate in practice,” he said.
NFU Scotland’s director of policy, Jonnie Hall, said the changes to the 2018 were a “step in the right direction”.
He added: “We will be working with Scottish Government officials on implementing these while still seeking further valuable improvements for future scheme years.”
Ringlink and AgriScot chairman Andrew Moir, who farms at Mains of Thornton near Laurencekirk, welcomed the inclusion of hedges as an EFA.
He said: “It’s positive news for people who’ve planted a lot of hedges. I planted 7-8km of hedges in the last 15-20 years and I will now think about planting more.”
nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk
