Articles
These short pieces of topical information are written as an update on the latest cross compliance regulations and cover topics that are of particular interest or concern to farmers over the relevant periods. The topics are based on calls coming through the cross compliance helpline as well as through subjects covered at locally organised events.
Farmers are advised to read them in conjunction with the cross compliance scheme handbooks and updates. The information comes as part of the Cross Compliance programme run by Momenta on behalf of Defra and Natural England. For further help or information farmers should telephone the helpline for free and confidential advice on 0845 345 1302.
Topics
Keep soil records up-to-date following run-off (June 2008)
Weed control in the protection zone (June 2008)
No action required on game cover amendment (June 2008)
Animal welfare at lambing (April 2008)
Cattle Identification and Movements (April 2008)
Control of weeds (April 2008)
Controlling weeds in challenging areas (April 2008)
Keeping the nutrients, keeping the money (March 2008)
Care of SSSIs (March 2008)
Spraying Safe (March 2008)
Managing and Cutting Hedgerows (March 2008)
Keeping Poultry Protected (February 2008)
Keeping Cross Compliant during Spring Cropping (February 2008)
Keeping Up to Date – Changes to Cross Compliance in 2008 (February 2008)
Supplementary Feeding in Difficult Times (November 2007)
Would your chemical store pass an inspection? (November 2007)
To cultivate or not to cultivate? (November 2007)
Hedgerows (October 2007)
The Importance of Animal Records (October 2007)
The Set-aside Challenge (October 2007)
Post harvest management – preparation of land (September 2007)
Food and Feed Law (September 2007)
Spring 2008
Keep soil records up-to-date following run-off
Farmers need to record any erosion or field run-off of water and soil following recent and sudden heavy downpours of rain.
“Where soil or water has run-off fields, or formed a gully in the field, the farm’s Soil Protection Review needs to be updated and the event recorded,” says cross compliance technical advisor Simon Draper.
The Soil Protection Review is a cross compliance document that must be made available for inspection and be updated every year or more often if necessary. Simon advises that any update should be made on the appropriate cropping page. “Under the remarks section of the Review document the field should be identified alongside a summary of any action taken to prevent a re-occurrence of the erosion or run-off. Prevention options are listed in the Cross Compliance Guidance for Soil Management booklet.”
Run-off or erosion prevention options range from simply using a spade to check that the soil structure across the field is favourable, to detailed plans relating to cultivation methods and crop choices, to soils and risks.
Weed control in the protection zone
Farmers and landowners need to know their options for controlling weeds in cross compliance protection zones alongside hedgerows and watercourses to prevent certain injurious and invasive weeds from spreading on their land or onto neighbouring land.
“For many farmers the strip known as the protection zone has been welcomed as the resulting luxuriant and grassy hedgerow growth has led to some knock-on benefits to the farm and field environment as a whole,” says cross compliance technical advisor Simon Draper.
The protection zone is a cross compliance requirement for farmers and landowners under ‘Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) 14 – Protection of hedgerows and watercourses’. It is the edge of a field, two-metres from the centre of a hedgerow or one-metre from the top of a watercourse bank, which cannot be sprayed, fertilised or cultivated. This is to protect not only the hedgerow, but also the surrounding habitat and help reduce the risk of water pollution.
The weeds listed as injurious under the Weeds Act that must not be allowed to spread, even in the protection zone, are common ragwort, spear thistle, creeping thistle, broad-leaved dock and curled dock. Other, less frequent, invasive weeds that must not be allowed to spread are rhododendron, Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed and Himalayan balsam. Spot application of herbicides is permitted to control these weeds in the protection zone. Giant hogweed should not be cut unless full protective clothing is worn as the sap can react with sunlight and cause blisters.
Mowing or cutting is the weed control option you should try first. The strips can be cut at any time of year but to protect ground nesting birds, it is advisable not to cut between 1 March and 31 July. Buffer strips in Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) or other agri-environment schemes which are additional to those required under cross compliance, are subject to their own management prescriptions, as set out in your agreement or handbook.
If cutting fails to control the weeds and you want to use herbicides in the protection zone e.g. to control a severe infestation of weeds not listed above (GAEC 11), you will have to seek a derogation from the Rural Payments Agency (RPA). You should bear in mind that green cover should be maintained on the protection zone margins. For growers that have obtained a derogation to spray, Simon recommends spot treating them with a knapsack sprayer using selective herbicides, where possible. If weed populations are too high for spot treatment then farmers can apply to the RPA for a derogation to use alternative application techniques such as a field sprayer.
“Grass weeds, including sterile brome and blackgrass, and broadleaved weeds such as cleavers that quickly spread from field boundaries and threaten cereal yields, are the main issue for arable farmers. Herbicide control tends to be expensive but control is achievable if the strips are mown before the nesting season starts and repeated after 1 August, at the end of the season,” advises Simon Draper.
No action required on game cover amendment
A revision of the Single Payment Scheme rules means that farmers who have entered wild bird or game cover on their claim form under the fallow land option will still receive payment without any further action.
Land used to grow cover has been confirmed as land in production under the OT1 code on the SPS claim form. There had been some debate that the cropping option came under the fallow land OT2 code and would have to be managed under cross compliance code under the Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) 12 regulations.
“Any land used to grow wild bird or game cover that has already been coded as OT2 does not need to be amended on the 2008 SPS claim form,” advises Simon Draper, cross compliance technical advisor. “And there will be no requirement for anyone who has used the code OT2 for wild bird or game cover to request an exemption as the land is not out of production and is not subject to the GAEC 12 conditions.”
If anyone has already written to the Rural Payments Agency, the Agency will reply confirming the agreed position. If an inspection takes place and the land has been coded as OT2 for wild bird or game cover land, the inspector will deem it to be in production and not subject to the GAEC 12 conditions.
The legislation makes it clear when land is deemed to be out of production. In most cases it is from the day after the day when harvest on the land was completed; the land otherwise ceased to be used for agricultural production; or the land ceased to be set-aside.
“Without any set-aside requirement this year any previous set-aside is now classified as GAEC 12, or land not in agricultural production, and is subject to a set of specific management regulations. However, a significant amount of this land is being returned to cropping this summer and is deemed to be back in production at the point when preparations begin for the following crop. This includes land being cultivated or being sprayed off with, for example, glyphosate as part of preparation for the following crop,” says Simon Draper.
More information on these and other topics is available from www.crosscompliance.org.uk or by calling the cross compliance helpline on 0845 345 1302.
Animal welfare at lambing
We all know that animals should be inspected at least once a day by skillful staff, and that sick animals should be cared for. However, what records should an inspector require showing that these requirements have been carried out when lambing?
At the very least you will need to have medicinal treatment records showing dates of treatment, and what has been given to each animal. These should be kept for three years.
You will also need to have a record of births and deaths. With lambing it is all too easy to ignore those lambs that are born dead. However, recording the details of birth date, and to which ewe they were born to, is an important management tool as well as showing that you are remaining cross compliant.
Do ensure that whether outside or in, the sheep have access to a dry lying area and have drinking water, as both these items are likely to be checked on inspection.
Cattle Identification and Movements
With summer grazing now being considered in some areas it is an appropriate time to review the cross compliance issues relating to cattle ID and movements.
The cattle identification and movement rules were introduced to make effective management of diseases possible, and keep track of where animals are across the country. The rules are not new, difficult or complicated, so why is it that cattle regulations are the most frequent cross compliance challenge for everyone?
It’s probably down to lack of time, but the old adage is true; a stitch in time saves nine. A little time spent now will make things easier for you to manage and avoid a Single Farm Payment penalty.
Some of the rules can appear complicated, but they’re not. Here is a summary:
· Calves born on your holding should be tagged within 20 days of birth or before they leave the holding, whichever is sooner. Dairy calves must be tagged with one tag within 36 hours and the second within 20 days.
· Tags should not be removed without prior permission from Defra, while illegible or lost tags must be replaced within 28 days.
· A birth should be notified to BCMS and an application for a passport must be made within 7 days of a calf being tagged (i.e. no more than 27 days after birth)
· When cattle are moved their signed and completed passports should accompany them.
· Deaths must be notified to BCMS within 7 days.
· BCMS must be notified of movements on and off holdings within 3 days.
On a busy farm it is all too easy for the paperwork to slip and not notify BCMS about changes to your herd. However, it is in your interest to contact BCMS if you find a mistake. Leaving it may compound the error and make things much more difficult in the longer term.
Control of weeds
We all know the huge environmental benefits of having a wide variety of flora and fauna on our farms. We also know what a nuisance some weeds can be, particularly when it comes to grazing or productive arable land.
In cross compliance terms common ragwort, creeping, field and spear thistle as well as curled and broad leaved dock, can, and should, be prevented from spreading across your own and other people’s fields or farms. Other invasive species such as Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed, Himalayan balsam and rhododendron are also included in the list of injurious weeds, although are less of a problem in most areas. All of these weeds should be controlled following the Defra codes of practice.
When attempting to get rid of any of these weeds it is best to stick to the principles used for all weed control. If you are going to use herbicides, consider which product is most suitable and at what rate as you ideally want to target just the weed and not other, more valuable, species. In general terms it is probably best to take advice from a BASIS registered agronomist who will be able to guide you on the most effective weed control, as well as telling you the rate, size of weed that can be controlled and the latest application.
Alternatively you may consider cutting or digging up of the weeds. The only word of warning here is don’t cut Himalayan Balsam as this will encourage the spread of this problematic weed. Giant hogweed should also not be cut unless full protective clothing is worn as the sap can react with sunlight and cause blisters.
Ragwort is one of the worst offenders for control and spreading. Help is on hand in the form of advice on the chemical and mechanical control of this particular weed in the Defra publication;
Guidance on the disposal options for common ragwort.
Controlling weeds in challenging areas
There are often calls to the helpline about whether weeds can be cut or sprayed in the 2m hedgerow and watercourse protection zone. Even if these areas are infested with weeds they cannot be blanket sprayed except with derogation from the RPA. However, they can still be cut, and spot spraying is allowed if necessary.
On most fallow land no spraying or cultivation should take place in the period between the 1st March and 31st July to avoid damage to ground nesting birds. If problem weeds are present they can still be controlled in this period through the use of graminicides, which will control pernicious grass weeds whilst avoiding destroying ground cover.
Bare fallow, that is land which is being fallowed to reduce the weed pressure for the forthcoming crop, should ideally not be cultivated or sprayed until the end of the ground bird nesting season. However, if necessary some grass weed sprays can be used. For example, glyphosate can be used as a preparatory spray when the ground is being returned to cropping.
If you are in doubt on any of these related topics speak to the Cross Compliance helpline on 0845 345 1302.
Keeping the nutrients, keeping the money
Proposed changes to the NVZ regulations have yet to be agreed, and until they are, it is worth remembering that the old rules continue to apply. However, there are still environmental and financial benefits to applying nutrients later in the spring anyway.
The existing rules mean that livestock slurries and poultry manures (with the exception of some duck manures) have closed periods for application to sandy or shallow soils.
The “no spreading” periods for fields not in grass or to be sown with an autumn sown crop are from 1st August until the 1st November. For fields in grass or to be sown with an autumn sown crop they apply from 1 September to 1 November.
It is likely that these closed periods will be extended and will apply to all soil types. However, with the increases in fertiliser prices in the past year, there are potentially large financial benefits from applying these high nitrogen content manures in the spring rather than the winter.
Standard figures indicate that in a cubic metre of cattle slurry, for example at 6% dry matter, there is 3.0 kg of nitrogen, 1.2 kg of phosphate and 3.5 kg of
potash. While this may not seem a lot, in a normal 50 cubic metres per hectare application that is 150 kg/ha of nitrogen, 60 kg/ha of phosphate and 175 kg/ha of potash. If all that were available to the crop then the value of the cattle slurry per hectare would be £261. Unfortunately, much can be lost to the environment through leaching and run-off.
You can make better use of this slurry by applying in the spring when the availability of nitrogen for crop growth increases to around 35% or better on all soil types.
Availability of nitrogen can be further increased in spring by incorporating slurry into the soil within 6 hours on arable land (45%) or by soil injection (50%). This represents a fertiliser value of £200/ha. This compares to a much poorer 5% to 20% availability for autumn applications and a potential net loss of £110/ha depending on soil type and method of application.
Care of SSSIs
The very structure of the English landscape has been influenced, managed and in some places, created by man. In many cases grazing land over the generations has helped produce the vegetation structure and composition that are essential for valuable plant and animal life. This is particularly true for SSSIs, which are examples of some of the country's very best wildlife and geological sites.
Across the country, some of our most spectacular and beautiful habitats are to be found in more than 4,000 SSSIs, covering 7% of the country’s land area. Yet the condition of many SSSIs is under threat, often damaged through inappropriate grazing and feeding. While insufficient grazing may result in an increase in scrub and less valuable species, heavy grazing can lead to the loss of vegetation. Poaching and compaction may also occur in areas of higher grazing intensities, reducing the ability of the land to absorb heavy rain. This can lead to erosion and local flooding, with a detrimental impact on water quality.
Part of Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition is the requirement to avoid overgrazing and unsuitable supplementary feeding on such environmentally valuable land.
If you graze, farm or manage a SSSI area in any way, please be aware of the cross compliance regulations covering the land. This is particularly true if you think you may be affected by over or undergrazing, moor and heather burning or drainage issues. These areas may well be the starting point of an inspection.
Natural England will advise and help the owners of SSSIs ensure that these sites are managed in the best possible way. It may be possible to give financial help to carry out the necessary management. For specific technical questions contact the cross compliance helpline on 0845 345 1302 or for local advice contact your local Natural England office (details from the home page of www.naturalengland.org.uk)
Spraying Safe
Simon Draper, technical adviser to Momenta, the organisation responsible for delivering cross compliance advice on behalf of Defra, explains what to look out for when it comes to spraying and SMR9, the use of plant protection products.
“The product label provides instructions on the safe use of the product. Instructions in the statutory area, now called Important Information, must be complied with. For example, you cannot use a product on a crop which does not appear on the label or exceed a maximum individual dose.”
“It’s really quite simple,” continues Simon, “and your spray records should show how you’ve complied with the rules as they will state, as a minimum, the product/s, quantities of chemical/s and water, field/s and whether any LERAPs apply. Remember that an inspector will want to double check what’s on the label and compare it with how you’ve used it.”
“The ‘Directions for Use’ contain all other recommendations required to use the product safely. However, you can deviate from the recommendations depending on individual circumstances. If you do use sprays in a different way the Code of Practice entails carrying out an appropriate risk assessment, which must show the different way is just as safe. Speak to your agronomist about this as specialist advice is vital.”
You should also note that, by law, there are certain situations where you will need to have a qualification called a ‘certificate of competence’. In general, you will need a certificate of competence if you supply, store or use
agricultural pesticides. These are pesticides used in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, in or near water and as industrial herbicides.
The circumstances in which you need a certificate of competence are explained and set out in the Green Code, available at www.pesticides.gov.uk
For general information about spraying, SMR9 or cross compliance please visit www.crosscompliance.org.uk or contact the cross compliance helpline on 0845 345 1302.
Managing and Cutting Hedgerows
Please remember that hedgerows should not be cut from 1st March to 31st July as it is the main breeding season for birds. All wild birds, their young, their eggs and active nests are protected by law.
If you are laying or coppicing hedges you will know that it is often difficult to complete the work by this period, so you can carry on until the end of April. However, do check for nesting birds before going ahead.
With all the recent publicity about the welfare of housed poultry now is a good time to ensure that you are fully up to date with the cross compliance regulations covering all aspects of animal welfare.
There are specific regulations for some animals, such as pigs and calves, but many of the regulations apply to all species.
Simon Draper, technical adviser to the Cross Compliance programme, outlines the main requirements: “The first thing to think about is staffing. Given that the aim here is to set minimum standards for care and husbandry, animals must be cared for by people who have the correct skills and knowledge.”
“For animals that need frequent human attention, such as housed poultry, there should be thorough checks at least once a day. Obviously a good lighting system is important to ensure a thorough inspection can be carried out at any time. Any faults found with automated or mechanical equipment need to be put right immediately.”
He adds: “Although the standards of animal welfare in the UK overall are really good, it’s worth checking the cross compliance handbooks again, just to be sure that you are up to date and to avoid negative attention from the public or regulatory bodies.”
Keeping Cross Compliant during Spring Cropping
Both practical and legal considerations have to be borne in mind when ploughing and preparing for spring crops.
The Soil Protection Review should have been completed by January 2007 and updated by the 1st January 2008.
Simon Draper explains: “The green pages at the back of the form are where you should start your review. In essence you simply fill in the boxes relating to any areas where there have been soil issues, such as poaching or erosion, and what actions have been taken to prevent further problems in the future.”
Mr Draper continues: “The fact that soil damage or erosion may have occurred is not the issue with regards to cross compliance, it is how these issues have been dealt with. The Soil Protection Review is evidence of any changes that have been made illustrating effective soil management and future planning.
“It’s important that the Soil Protection Review is completed on an ongoing basis.
You may well not remember what happens on each field over the course of a year, so treat your SPR as a working document helping you to identify problems, and then act to improve management required on key fields. This document could actually become very useful to you in the future as it can help reduce soil loss and compaction problems. Ultimately this will keep the productivity of the land at high levels. It will also make life much easier at the end of the year when all you then have to do is transfer the information to the summary page.”
Keeping Up to Date – Changes to Cross Compliance in 2008
Key changes outlined in the recently distributed Cross Compliance Single Payment Scheme booklets relate to fallow land, habitats and species, including sheep movement and tagging regulations.
- Fallow Land
With the change in regulations from Europe there has been much debate about how to safeguard the environmental benefits of land that has previously been set-aside.
Unless you are going to grow a crop by the 15th May, rules relating to fallow land now require that you must establish and maintain a green cover on or after 1st March following the date when the land ceased to be in agricultural production. The green cover can be created through seeding or natural regeneration. Manures and fertilizers cannot be applied.
If you plan to manage the land as bare fallow there is no requirement to establish a green cover immediately, although planting or natural green regeneration must be in place within the 15 month period. Cutting or ploughing is not allowed unless controlling an infestation of blackgrass, couch, creeping thistle or dock. Certain grass herbicides are allowed if controlling blackgrass or couch. Finally, ensure that the land is recorded as not being in agricultural production in your Soil Protection Review with appropriate soil protection measures identified and taken.
If the field is long term fallow it still must be cut once very 5 years. Only half the area is allowed to be cut in any one year. You can cut more often if you need or want to so long as this is not done in the closed period (1 March and 31 July).
- Habitats and Species
The changes to the Habitats and Species regulations are to protect wild species and in many cases should not affect normal farming practice. However, the big change is that farmers who destroy a protected species or damage habitat can no longer use the defence that the damage was the incidental result of an otherwise lawful activity.
An example would be hedgerow management in the West Country. Dormice are known to inhabit many of the region’s hedgerows, and should therefore be assumed to be present in all of them. The regulations also have implications for those who manage forests. By following best practice guidelines it can be shown that all reasonable steps have been taken to comply with the legislation and the risk of prosecution is reduced if you inadvertently cause some damage.
For the details of protected habitats and species, as well as best practice guidelines contact your regional Natural England office (found on the home page of www.naturalengland.org.uk).
· Sheep and goat identification (SMR 8a)
The new rules have been simplified and there will be separate publicity relating to this topic. If you haven’t already received one, a helpful booklet, ‘PB 12912: Guidance for Keepers in England: Rules for identifying sheep and goats (January 2008)’ is obtainable from Defra publications free of charge.
Autumn/Winter 2007
Supplementary Feeding in Difficult Times
As the autumn turns to winter thoughts inevitably turn to how to keep animals in the best possible condition over the forthcoming months, particularly given FMD and BlueTongue complexities. Whether it be out wintered cattle or grazing sheep many of these animals will be kept on areas of open land that is the very nature of the English landscape such as moor, marsh or common.
As David Gardner, technical adviser to Momenta, the organization responsible for delivering cross compliance advice on behalf of Defra explain, “looking after animals in these sometimes challenging environments and conditions can make feeding and day to day management very hard work at times. Supplementary feeding is vital, although please make sure that if your animals are on areas of natural or semi-natural grassland areas that the feeders are moved regularly so that the land doesn’t become overgrazed, trampled, poached or rutted. This will ensure you meet your cross compliance regulations.”
Natural England has recently produced a leaflet entitled ‘Grazing Your Landscape’, which provides advice on how to identify and avoid overgrazing and unsuitable supplementary feeding. Farmers should visit the Natural England website for a copy of this leaflet (www.naturalengland.org.uk). For free and confidential advice telephone the helpline on 0845 345 1302.
Would your chemical store pass an inspection?
With much of the cultivation work coming to an end now is an ideal time to check that everything is in order in the chemical store. Simon Draper, technical adviser to Momenta, the organisation responsible for delivering cross compliance advice on behalf of Defra explains what to look out for.
“Firstly, farm assurance has helped many farmers keep a close eye on what plant protection products they are using, as well as how to comply with the latest regulations, so there shouldn’t be too much extra to sort out.”
“The aim of SMR 9 is to ensure that plant protection products are used in accordance with the law to minimise any risk to health and the environment. This is nothing new and farmers should already be doing this. To avoid any doubt it is worth keeping all your spray records and checking with your agronomist that you are not storing products that are no longer approved to use or have.”
Some areas of product use have caused some confusion recently, particularly in respect of reduced volume spraying and up to date approvals on products. Advice on this and other questions that have been asked can be found on the PSD website at www.pesticides.gov.uk or via the cross compliance helpline on 0845 345 1302.
To cultivate or not to cultivate?
The recent publicity surrounding the removal of the set-aside requirement for the forthcoming year has highlighted many practical as well as wildlife issues associated with cultivating land that was previously in long term set-aside.
As Simon Draper ,technical adviser to Momenta, the organization responsible for delivering cross compliance advice on behalf of Defra explains, “if the decision is made to re-crop set-aside please remember to update your Soil Protection Review, including identifying any new risks and/or measures taken to address these.”
“You will also need to make sure the land you cultivate is definitely set-aside and not permanent pasture. You can do this by checking your SP5a form, if it says PP1 (permanent pasture) you’ll need to re-consider your decision as the rules relating to this are different to set-aside.”
“Finally, don’t forget the 2m protection zones for hedgerows and watercourses. These should not be cultivated under cross compliance and are vital wildlife habitats. If you can provide more than the specified width there will be significant benefits in both practical and environmental ways.”
“Also do not forget that ploughing uncultivated, natural or semi-natural grassland, or may require a Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). It is always best to check with Natural England if you feel this may effect your activities. The NE EIA unit is contactable on 0800 0282140. It is far better to be safe than sorry in this respect.”
The Curry Group have established a five point plan, summarised here, for how farmers can rise to the challenge of delivering the same level of environmental benefits from a smaller area.
1. Assess the environmental value of permanent set-aside land
2. Provide seed food for birds through the winter by leaving stubble and/or planting wild bird mix (game cover works well too)
3. Provide insect-rich habitats and nesting sites for birds through the summer; buffer strips, rough grassland, ditch banks and skylark plots are all ideal
4. Protect soil and water from erosion and run-off on banks, margins and steep slopes; heavy land may still not be ideal and light land may require cover crops and/or buffer strips
5. Find out more about helping scarce species and protecting the environment on your farm. You can gain further information from many organisations including the RSPB, FWAG, GCWT, all of whom will be able to help you consider wildlife options on your farm, including through agri-environment schemes, such as Entry Level Stewardship (ELS).
Notes to Editors
The Momenta consortium is delivering the cross compliance advice programme and comprises Momenta (part of AEA Technology), Farmcare, Kingshay, LEAF, The Game Conservancy Trust, the West Country Rivers Trust, The Arable Group and leading independent advisers.
As we come round to the hedge cutting season again, there will almost certainly be the regular debate about when is the best time, if at all, to cut hedges without affecting winter food for birds. Although there is no official guidance on this, the longer you leave the nuts and berries for birds, the better.
Although there are a few notable exceptions that can be checked with the Cross Compliance handbooks or helpline, the only normal requirement is that hedges should not be cut in the main bird breeding season,between 1st March and 31st July. For particular queries about removal or management of hedgerows, you should contact your local authority.
For best practice guidance on hedge cutting, Natural England has produced a booklet which can be obtained by visiting the hedge cutting section at www.naturalengland.org.uk.
The Importance of Animal Records
The recent Blue Tongue and Foot and Mouth outbreaks and the end of the summer grazing period highlight the need to ensure that your record keeping is up to date. The knowledge of the precise location of all livestock is essential for effective control and eradication of disease.
Keeping records up to date shows that, as an industry and country, English farmers are committed to ensuring farm animals’ health and welfare as they progress through the food chain. On a practical front, sorting out paperwork as you go along saves a lot of time and confusion later, and will ensure you are fully observing the requirements of Cross Compliance.
1) Cattle
As a reminder, when cattle are moved their signed and completed passports should accompany them and BCMS must be notified of movements on and off holdings within three days. To complement this process you must also keep an up to date on-farm register detailing births, movements and deaths.
Many farmers are now using CTS online to help make this process easier. For more information on CTS online, visit www.bcms.gov.uk. For further information on the Cross Compliance requirements, please check the 2006 Cross Compliance handbook.
If you have any further queries, contact the BCMS helpline on 0845 050 1234 or the Cross Compliance helpline on 0845 345 1302.
2) Sheep
Although it is likely that the regulations regarding sheep and goat identification will change, details are still being finalised. On this basis, it is still worthwhile covering a summary of what is required under existing Cross Compliance legislation. Any changes in the rules will be communicated to all farmers.
The responsibilities for identification and movement are with the keeper. This means the person with day-to-day responsibility for the animals, regardless of who owns them and whose land they are grazing. It is recommended that there is written confirmation of responsibility in case of inspection.
If a sheep (or goat) was born after 9th July 2005, it must be tagged with a UK tag within six months if intensively reared, nine months if extensively reared or before it leaves the holding of birth, whichever is the soonest. This tag shows an animal’s individual number and the flock number, which is specific to a holding. When animals leave a holding that is not their holding of birth, they should also have an S tag. This shows the flock number from where the animals are leaving.
Movement records should also be kept. A separate flock or herd register is required for each different holding where you keep sheep or goats. When the animals are moved, the records must be completed within 36 hours and one line should be used for each batch of animals moved. The easiest way to obtain details of what is required in the movement records, is to visit the Animal Movement Licensing section of the Defra website.
Finally, an annual stock inventory should be carried out on the entire flock on the 1st December. This is also the date that a new flock or herd register should be started.
Following the recent announcement of farmers having the option to reduce their set-aside to 0% please find following the official guidance from Defra and Natural England. Please contact me for further information, advice or if you would be interested in speaking to a technical specialist.
Set-aside has delivered large scale environmental benefits.
With the removal of the requirement to manage any land as set-aside in 2008, the NFU and CLA are urging farmers to ensure those benefits are retained. This follows their assurances to the Secretary of State, Hilary Benn, that increased production will not come at a cost to the environment. Hilary Benn has said he will be looking to the farming industry to deliver on these assurances.
Uncropped land is important because it can provide valuable habitat for a range of birds of arable land such as grey partridge and skylarks, some rare arable plants and wildlife such as brown hare. It is also important for reducing the risks of nutrients (from fertilisers and manures) and pesticides leaching into water from cultivated land.
So, if you're an arable farmer, what practical ways are there to retain the most valuable benefits that set-aside provided alongside any increase in production?
Here are some ideas as to how you can do this, and on less land.
How do I identify the best uncultivated land on my farm?
Generally, the longer the land has been uncropped, the greater the environmental value. There are other factors you will also need to think about.
* Are there valuable plant species or birds present that have been identified in surveys as important species in particular areas of your farm?
* Is the land next to water – so that it can capture run-off, nutrients, or spray drift?
* Is it close to another site of high botanical or species-rich value, or is the land protecting some archaeology?
* Does the land slope and aspect make it unsuitable for cultivation?
It is important to act now to try to protect the value of the set-aside habitats you have created on your farm, especially as this change has only been confirmed for one year and may be different in future years.
Will I lose out financially if I keep some of my land uncropped?
With most marginal land previously in set-aside, there are sound financial reasons why it was uncropped. It is important that you also consider the environmental benefits when you are making decisions to bring land back into production.
How can I rise to the challenge if I want to utilise all my uncropped land?
It should be remembered that while the change applies to this cropping year only, you may be asked to manage some of your land as set-aside in future years. With this in mind, you might consider keeping some of the more valuable uncropped land on your farm. This will of course depend on whether you are cultivating land that has been uncropped for some time, or whether it is part of your normal crop rotation. Here are a few helpful suggestions that should fit in easily with your current farm practice.
* Continue to leave awkward corners uncultivated.
* If you have set aside margins, don’t remove them altogether, but leave a reasonable width behind to keep the connection you have established between farm habitats. Keeping wider strips is particularly important for resource protection where they are on steeper slopes with shallow soils.
* Locate a smaller area of rotational uncropped land that will help to support the plants and birds using your farmland.
Won’t keeping land uncropped just lead to a build up of weed problems?
Any land you voluntarily leave uncropped will need to be managed under cross compliance requirement GAEC 12, in which problem weeds can be controlled and prevented from seeding.
I am planning spring cropping – can I still deliver environmental benefits?
Yes. Any land previously managed as set-aside which has been left uncropped and unmanaged over the winter and early spring perideliver valuable benefits for birds, plants and other issues such as resource protection. Some suggestions might be to:
* Leave your cultivations until early spring, providing your soil type allows for this. Any delay following harvest is valuable as it
* provides birds with an opportunity to feed on any shed seeds before they are buried.
* Follow the stubble from a spring crop with another spring crop, as this retains the beneficial weed value from one crop to another, which becomes an important source of insect and seed food for farmland birds next season.
* Try to minimise herbicide use in some of this season’s crops to allow some beneficial weeds to survive through to next harvest (they provide habitat and seeds for birds and small mammals). Obviously, where you have difficult grass weeds in fields, you will need to control them.
* If you are not already in Environmental Stewardship, look at the options that could safeguard these areas or reduce the impact of your cropping.
Rise to the challenge by following these five simple steps-
1. Don’t plough up valuable permanent set-aside land
2. Over the winter - provide food for birds
3. Spring/summer – provide food and nesting sites
4. Protect soil and water – protect banks and margins and steep slopes.
5. Find out more about the environmental/biodiversity value of your farm
– Get advice from RSPB, FWAG, Momenta etc.
So do more for less. By following these five simple steps you can help deliver the same level of environmental benefits using a smaller area.
Post harvest management – preparation of land
With harvest now heading (hopefully!) towards completion thoughts turn to the maize and sugarbeet crop. The weather patterns in England have changed over the past few years and we now tend to see drier Septembers followed by wetter Octobers. Therefore, if fields are deemed to be at all at risk of compaction or water logging they should be targeted to be harvested as early as possible in the season.
Harvesting in this way will help protect the soil - a farmer’s most valuable resource. It will prevent damage to the soil structure through compaction and heavy rutting of fields, which in turn results in a greater risk of erosion and an accelerated chance of run-off . By following the advice below you will also help to ensure compliance with GAEC 3, which states that you must not normally carry out mechanical field operations such as harvesting, cultivations and spreading and all other vehicle activity on an area of waterlogged soil. There are exceptions to this rule and details of these may be viewed in the 2006 Cross Compliance Handbook and RPA website at www.rpa.gov.uk.
The difficulty in adopting this approach is maintaining the balance of timing -combining appropriate harvesting conditions with the ripeness of the crop.
For maize this means looking at the crop and harvesting as soon as the cob has reached maturity. Cobs can be tested for maturity by testing with a thumbnail to see if there is still juice in the kernel; when there is not, it is ready for harvest. A more scientific method is to dry the crop down using an oven, although do be sure not to burn it as the smell given off stays with you for days! The difference in weights tells you the percentage moisture. Once the crop has reached 30% moisture it should be harvested as soon as possible.
For sugar beet there is not the same method of measuring the dry matter. The crop does benefit from being left in the ground as it encourages higher root yields, at the cost of the level of sugar in the root. If the historic plan has been to harvest in October every effort should be made to try and harvest earlier. This will ensure a quick delivery, ease of land management and allow for the establishment of a high yielding cereal crop afterwards.
After the severe flooding in parts of England, DEFRA announced a cross compliance derogation allowing harvest to continue on waterlogged land, also part of GAEC 3. However, if you were unfortunate enough to have to harvest under these conditions you still need to record any soil problems resulting from this activity in your Soil Protection Review and note what you intend to do to solve these. As per the rest of your SPR, this will need to be reviewed on at least an annual basis
Soil compaction reduces the pore space between soil particles, reducing the land’s capacity to absorb water and air, and this can be intensified when the soil is wet. Maize and sugarbeet harvest can result in deterioration of the soil structure which may enhance erosion and run-off. This can cause long-term environmental damage, a general nuisance to neighbours, as well as leading to difficulty in establishing a high yielding combinable crop in the following years.
Some options to consider and to include in your SPR could be:
* As soon as harvest is complete and the soil is no longer waterlogged, rough cultivate to help dry the field out.
* Subsoil tramlines and ruts when dry enough. On the wettest fields subsoil after the field has been roughly cultivated when there is more chance that it will have dried to the correct level.
* Drill into a rough seed-bed. This allows air to keep infiltrating the soil throughout the next crop’s life.
* Avoid rolling. Test bait for slugs as soon as possible to determine the threat. If levels are low then avoid rolling as the soil is more likely to cap and less air can get in.
* Change cropping. In very waterlogged fields drying will take a long time so it would be worth seeing if the crop rotation can be changed.
Clearly there will be other options, which may be more suitable in different situations and it may be advisable to discuss with an agronomist or other qualified professional.
If you have harvested under wet conditions and to ensure you remain cross compliant, record the option you have chosen to correct the problem in the Soil Protection Review. In the ‘comments’ box on the right hand side of the crop choice pages enter the field name where the problem has occurred and what option you have chosen to help correct the problem.
In 2006 Food and Feed Law became a Cross Compliance requirement (SMR 11). The basis for this law is to prevent contamination of food and feed and to stop unsafe products from entering the food chain. This requirement is relatively simple to understand and on a practical level comes down to traceability, record keeping and hygiene. Most of this should to be linked to your existing accounting and/or farm assurance system, which should mean that there is no additional burden.
It is important to note that SMR 11 does not apply to farm gate sales, only sales to and from other businesses. Similarly, you should note that the hygiene element of this requirement means abiding by the statutory pre-movement testing of animals and TB testing
One key element of the requirements is that you need to keep records showing not only what, and how, inputs and outputs tally for every food and feed enterprise on your farm (including the name and address of supplier/ customer, the nature/quantity of product and date of transaction), but also of anything relating to the treatment of your animals/crops, including any relevant reports on checks carried out on animals or products of animal origin.
