CAP Reform Overview

Edward Barker

CLA Agricultural Adviser

edward.barker@cla.org.uk

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 lobbying

Active Farmer - Minimum activity

2. ‘Negative List’

You cannot claim BPS payments if you are considered to operate:

• ‘Permanent sport & recreation grounds’

• ‘Real estate’ services

• Waterworks

• Airports

• Railway services

However you will be ‘readmitted’ to claim payments if you meet

certain criteria relating to your agricultural activity/income

Active farmer - Negative List

‘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

‘Permanent Sport and Recreation Grounds’ are where all the

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

Likely to be a Unlikely to be aSport/Recreation Ground Sport /Recreation Ground

Shooting/ target ranges Nature reserves

Cricket, football, rugby pitches Museums

Golf courses Fields for driven shooting

Cross country jumping courses Point to Point Courses

Professional campsites Small campsites (no perm structures)

Racing tracks Lakes for fishing/recreation

Formal/ ornamental gardens Indoor arenas

Active farmer - Negative List

If on the ‘negative list’ of businesses, you will be readmitted to claim

BPS if you can satisfy one of 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 total income in

the most recent tax year

• Your principal business objective is agricultural – proved by

founding documents, articles of association etc.

Active Farmer – ‘Readmission Criteria’

• ‘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 now

Changing your business details

• 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 criteria

Young Farmers Scheme

England is currently broken

down into 3 payment areas:

- Non-SDA, SDA and Moorland

- More money will be given to

SDA and Moorland

- CLA lobbying

Regional Payments

• 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 category

Minimum Claim Size

• England will rollover existing entitlements into 2015

• Can be traded after 1st January 2015, but only to ‘Active Farmers’

• Will be traded online from next year

• Excess entitlements removed after 2015 claim

Entitlements

• 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’

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 31st August

• Some minor criteria have been removed

Cross Compliance

• 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 grassland

Greening

Greening requirements are based on all the agricultural land on a holding

that 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 crops

The 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 years

Important greening definitions

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

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

- Hedgerows

Greening - 2

Greening - 2Feature Description Weighting

Fallow land • No crop production 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 area 0.01

1m² = 1m²

Buffer strips • Next to a watercourse (includes all surface waters)

• Cross compliance margin eligible

• Grazing & cutting allowed but no production

• Min width 1m

1m = 9m²

Nitrogen fixing

crops

• List contained in most recent guidance

• 1 May – 30 June

• Minimum area 0.01

1m² = 0.7m²

Catch/cover

crops

• Mix of 2 cover types – 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 be cross compliance definition

• Potential payment delay

1m = 10m²

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 and the remaining arable land is less than 30ha.

• More than 75% of your arable land is TG and/or fallow land and the

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 an EFA?

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

Agri-environment schemes

Existing Schemes

• Double Funding

• Dual Use

• Uniform start dates – 2015 cashflow

• ‘Actual claims’

• Allocated 87% of RDP funding

• Worth £3.1 bn over 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 dates

New Environmental Land Management

Schemes: NELMS

The main elements of NELMS

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’

What is in each release?

R1

• Summer 2014

• Registration and familiarisation with the new service on private beta only

R1.5

• October/November 2014

• Registration and familiarisation with the new service –move to public beta early winter

• Enables the business to prepare for Release 2

R2

• Early 2015

• A Major Release supporting the introduction of the new Direct payment schemes and the mastering of data for all new and legacy CAP schemes

What is in each release?

R1

• Summer 2014

• Registration and familiarisation with the new service on private beta only

R1.5

• October/November 2014

• Registration and familiarisation with the new service –move to public beta early winter

• Enables the business to prepare for Release 2

R2

• Early 2015

• A Major Release supporting the introduction of the new Direct payment schemes and the mastering of data for all new and legacy CAP schemes

The CAP Information Service will enable customers to check

and update their information, which is required before they can

claim payments or apply for schemes

Customers 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 Service

What is in each release?

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

etc

Manage land use and land features

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

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 31st December 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.

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.

Thank you

Edward Barker

CLA Agricultural Adviser

edward.barker@cla.org.uk