CLA Agricultural Adviser Ed Barker's presentation to the 'Setting Your CAP' event at Stoke Rochford Hall, Lincs, on Thursday 23 October 2014.

1. CAP Reform Overview Edward BarkerCLA Agricultural Adviseredward.barker@cla.org.uk

2. 1.‘Minimum Activity’
•Growing crops or rearing animals
•Keeping land in condition to support grazing / cultivation
•No longer any test on ‘naturally kept land’
•CLA lobbyingActive Farmer -Minimum activity

3. 2.‘Negative List’ You cannot claim BPS payments if you are considered to operate:
•‘Permanent sport & recreation grounds’
•‘Real estate’ services
•Waterworks
•Airports
•Railway servicesHowever you will be ‘readmitted’ to claim payments if you meet certain criteria relating to your agricultural activity/income
Active farmer -Negative List

4. ‘Real Estate’ Services are:
•Estate Agents; those managing property on behalf of others
•‘Professional’ property developers (as listed on LSX)
•Those who have purchased land and developed it for non- agricultural purposes within last 3 years.
Active farmer -Negative List

5. ‘Permanent Sport and Recreation Grounds’ are where allthe following apply:
•Grounds are dedicated and kept throughout the year for sporting or recreational use
•Grounds include one or more permanent structures used for activity or spectators (e.g. Stands, cafe, toilet block)
•The grounds or facilities are primarily for personal use
Active farmer -Negative List

6. Likely to be aUnlikely to be aSport/Recreation GroundSport /Recreation GroundShooting/ target rangesNature reservesCricket, football, rugby pitchesMuseumsGolf coursesFields for driven shootingCross country jumping coursesPoint to Point CoursesProfessional campsites Small campsites (no perm structures) Racing tracksLakes for fishing/recreationFormal/ ornamental gardensIndoor arenasActive farmer -Negative List

7. If on the ‘negative list’ of businesses, you will be readmitted to claim BPS if you can satisfy oneof the following:
•Your BPS claim is at least 5% of total non-agricultural income in the most recent tax year;
•Your total agricultural income is at least 15% of the totalincome in the most recent tax year
•Your principal business objective is agricultural –proved by founding documents, articles of association etc. Active Farmer –‘Readmission Criteria’

8. •‘Artificiality’ of any business changes
•Does a business change reflect what is happening in reality?
•Relevant to all aspects of the new BPS
•The RPA are obliged to investigate any significant changes made to a business from nowChanging your business details

9. •Younger than 40
•Majority control of business
•Additional annual payment for 5 years
•25% top up of average payment per/Ha
•Limit set at 90 Ha
•No added eligibility criteriaYoung Farmers Scheme

10. England is currently brokendown into 3 payment areas: -Non-SDA, SDA and Moorland
-More money will be given to SDA and Moorland
-CLA lobbyingRegional Payments

11. •The minimum claim size will be increased from 1 Ha to 5 Ha
•Around 15,000 RPA claimants in 2012 were <5 Ha
•50,000 Ha of land covered
•Cross Compliance failures high in this categoryMinimum Claim Size

12. •England will rollover existing entitlements into 2015
•Can be traded after 1stJanuary 2015, but only to ‘Active Farmers’
•Will be traded online from next year
•Excess entitlements removed after 2015 claimEntitlements

13. •Capping –no longer on the table.
•Minimum reduction in payments over €150,000 of 5%
•Only subject to 70% of Direct Payments (not greening)
•Salaries will not be offset against deducted amount Capping / ‘Degressivity’

14. Will continue in much the same way, however there are a few changes:
•Soil Protection Standards-no longer a Soil Protection Review.
•No-cutting date for hedgerows extended to 31stAugust
•Some minor criteria have been removedCross Compliance

15. •Compulsory
•30% of Direct (Pillar 1) Payments
•Penalties apply after first two years (2017) 3 elements:
I.Crop diversification
II.Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs)
III.Permanent grasslandGreening

16. Greening requirements are based on all the agricultural land on a holdingthat will be eligible for BPS in 2015
•Holding; all of the land a farmer manages and uses for agricultural activities in the UK –all the land under the SBI (may contain multiple CPHs)
•Total agricultural area; the area of land on the holding eligible for the Basic Payment scheme, made up of arable land, permanent grassland and Permanent cropsThe make up of the agricultural area in 2015 will determine what the claimant needs to do for crop diversification and EFA:
•Arable land; land cultivated for crop production (other than permanent crops), fallow land and temporary grass.
•Temporary grass; land that has been in grass or herbaceous forage for less than 5 years
•Permanent grass; land used to grow grass or herbaceous forage, not included in the crop rotation for more than 5 yearsImportant greening definitions

17. Crop diversification
•Arable area 10 –30 Ha: 2 crops -Main crop < 75%
•Arable Area 30 Ha or more : 3 crops-Main crop < 75%
-2 crops < 95%
•Winter & Spring crops = defined as separate
•TG is a crop
•A set cropping period
•‘Permanent’ crops = exempt Greening -1

18. Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs)
•An equivalent of 5% of arable area
•Applies if arable land >15 Ha
•Weightings for each option
•Options include:
-fallow land
-buffer strips
-nitrogen fixing crops
-Catch/cover crops
-HedgerowsGreening -2

19. Greening -2
Feature
Description
Weighting
Fallowland
•No cropproduction or grazing
•Environmental mixes may, however, be planted
•For EFA must be 1 January –30 June
•May include temporary grass
•Minimum width 2m
•Will not become permanent after 5 years
•Minimum area0.01
1m²= 1m²
Buffer strips
•Next to a watercourse (includes all surface waters)
•Crosscompliance margin eligible
•Grazing & cutting allowed but no production
•Minwidth 1m
1m = 9m²
Nitrogenfixing crops
•List contained in most recentguidance
•1 May –30 June
•Minimum area 0.01
1m² = 0.7m²
Catch/cover crops
•Mix of 2 covertypes –1 cereal, 1 non-cereal
•Catch crops -establish by 31 Aug until 1 Oct
•Cover crops establish by 1 Oct until 15 Jan
•Minimum area 0.01
1m² = 0.3m²
Hedgerows
•Likely to becross compliance definition
•Potential payment delay
1m =10m²

20. Who the rules apply to: Unless...
•Certified Organic (you can opt out of exemption)
•More than 75% of eligible agricultural area is PG, TG and/or crops grown in water andthe remaining arable land is less than 30ha.
•More than 75% of your arable land is TG and/or fallow land andthe remaining arable land is less than 30ha (+ leguminous crops for EFA)
•50% arable land declared in 2015 is new which is all growing different crops –must be able to prove (CD only) Greening Exemptions
Arable land in 2015
Do you need to follow the CD rules?
Do you need anEFA?
Less than 10ha
No
No
10 –15ha
Yes –2 crops
No
More than 15ha
Yes –2 /3 crops
Yes
More than 30ha
Yes –3 crops
Yes

21. Agri-environmentschemes
Existing Schemes
•Double Funding
•Dual Use
•Uniform start dates –2015 cashflow
•‘Actual claims’

22. •Allocated 87% of RDP funding
•Worth £3.1 bnover programme period; £2.2 bn(71%) accounted for by existing scheme commitments (primarily ES and EWGS), so NELMS has c£900m for new agreements over the programme period
•One scheme, one set of options –no points or underpinning
•Less funding = more competitive
•‘Open to all’ but the bar has been raised
•New element to incentivise coordination amongst claimants
•Single application window, annual agreement start datesNew Environmental Land Management Schemes: NELMS

23. The main elements of NELMS

24. Making your claim: A new online service
•Costs to claimants
•Costs to farmers
•Minimised risk of disallowance from EU
•Avoiding past mistakes
•Improve efficiency and accuracy of service
•Delivered through controlled ‘releases’

25. What is in each release? R1
•Summer 2014
•Registration and familiarisation with the new service on private beta onlyR1.5
•October/November 2014
•Registration and familiarisation with the new service – move to public beta early winter
•Enables the business to prepare for Release 2R2
•Early 2015
•A Major Release supporting the introduction of the new Direct payment schemes andthe mastering of data for all new and legacy CAP schemes

26. What is in each release? R1
•Summer 2014
•Registration and familiarisation with the new service on private beta onlyR1.5
•October/November 2014
•Registration and familiarisation with the new service – move to public beta early winter
•Enables the business to prepare for Release 2R2
•Early 2015
•A Major Release supporting the introduction of the new Direct payment schemes andthe mastering of data for all new and legacy CAP schemes

27. The CAP Information Service will enable customers to checkand update their information, which is required before they canclaim payments or apply for schemesCustomers will be able to:
•Get help with going online if they need it
•Register to use the new service on GOV.UK Verify
•Give permission for others to use the service on their behalf
•Begin to complete all the information required before 2015
•Begin to check their eligibility for CAP payments and schemes
•Receive email alerts from the new service
•Contact the new CAP Information ServiceWhat is in each release?

28. Existing CAP customers can:
Add land use and land feature information for specific dates in 2015
This builds up a picture of how they will use their land
Land use: barley, oats etcManage land use and land features

29. Greening estimator
Existing CAP customers can:
Choose which land features and land uses are Ecological Focus Areas
Check if you are meeting the greening requirements using the Greening Estimator

30. Changes to existing agreements or claims will need to be done through existing process.
•Business and land data will continue to be managed in existing systems until 31stDecember 2014 along with key personal data. This is to minimise the impact on the 2014 claim year.
•If a customer wishes to make changes to a 2014 claim or existing agreement, they must inform the relevant delivery body through existing processes (telephone, fax, email etc).
•Changes to personal, business and land details will then be transferred onto the new CAP Services.

31. Digital Support and Assistance
•Some will require further support for claiming online
•Further support will be provided for those who need it –CAP Information Service and Digital Support Centres
•Changes to personal, business and land details will then be transferred onto the new CAP Services.

32. Thank youEdward BarkerCLA Agricultural Adviseredward.barker@cla.org.uk