Ewing publishes ‘greening’ guidance
NEW ‘GREENING’ guidance for CAP 2018 has been published by Rural Economy Secretary Fergus Ewing MSP.
The new guidance, which has been endorsed by Professor Russel Griggs’s expert group and includes changes introduced by the European Commission’s simplification agenda, provides further flexibility for farmers and crofters to mitigate the impact of farming on the environment including:
❚ The inclusion of hedges and agro forestry as Ecological Focus Area (EFA)
❚ Changes to the management of EFA fallow regarding the maintenance of drains
❚ Banning the use of plant protection products, such as pesticides and herbicides on EFA
❚ The merging of some EFA features such as field margins and buffer strips.
Under CAP, it is mandatory for applicants to the Basic Payment Scheme to comply with ‘greening’ requirements, where relevant on their land in return for receiving additional payment.
Mr Ewing said: ‘As the Scottish Government has repeatedly made clear, we are absolutely committed to finding a balance between protecting our natural environment while not disproportionately burdening our farmers.
‘Having listened to the concerns raised by industry and considered these very carefully, I am pleased that our new guidelines will reward and incentivise sustainable farming practices from next year.’
Commenting on the guidance, NFU Scotland president Andrew McCornick said: ‘There are several very positive and hard-won changes to Scottish Government’s Greening rules for 2018 that will be welcomed by Scottish farmers. One downside is the new EU requirement which bans the use of plant protection products on many EFA options.
‘While a very detailed document, first reading has also raised a number of queries and NFUS has gone back to Scottish Government for clarification on some of the rules around EFA, in particular on hedges and grazing of margins.
‘With such a significant list of changes, most of them positive, NFUS has also requested that Scottish Government produce a simple condensed list of the changes for 2018 to allow them to more easily identify the right Greening measures for their farm.’