Arable Land Set-aside - some issues

The RPA released further guidance on the issue of set-aside in late 2004 and people are now getting to grips with the detailed rules.

New rules: The definition of arable land for set-aside has changed.

Realisation is dawning that many farmers who previously had no set-aside obligation or never claimed arable aid may now have a set-aside obligation under the new regime.

This is because the definition of arable land has changed. Farmers should forget the old IACS arable aid designation as it has no relevance to the new scheme.

The new scheme rules are as follows and should be considered in two steps for each field:

Step 1
Has the field been in an arable crop at any time between the 15 May 2000 and 16 May 2005? If the answer is yes this field is classified as arable.

Step 2
Have any of the fields identified as arable in step 1 been in an arable crop at any time between the 15 May 1998 and 15 May 2003?

If the answer is yes to both steps 1 & 2, this field is now classified as arable land eligible for set-aside under the new regime.

Subject to the small producer threshold you will need to set-aside 8% of this land unless you are in the SDA where you need to set-aside 1.3%.

You are a small producer if the total of your land identified in both steps 1 & 2 is less than 19.48 ha in the lowland and Disadvantaged Area (DA) or 122.36 ha in the Severely Disadvantaged Area (SDA). Set-aside does not apply in the Moorland areas.

Your set-aside requirement can only be placed on the land classified as arable.

Matters to consider

1. It is now clear that land that was in set-aside with a grass cover at any time since 15 May 2000, will be included in your set-aside calculation. This is particularly relevant to those who placed land into set-aside in 2001 following FMD.

2. If your area of arable land is close to the small producer threshold in a particular region then consider leaving sufficient arable land off your 2005 claim to bring the area under the small producer threshold. The effect of this is to forego the area element of the Single Farm Payment on the area not claimed (history will be concentrated onto the area claimed and therefore will be unaffected). By qualifying as a small producer you will have no set-aside requirement allowing you to farm the land as you see fit and thus avoiding the associated management implications of having land in set-aside. You will also avoid receiving any set-aside entitlements which have to be claimed first. The calculation to make therefore is the benefit of being free of set-aside against the loss in area payment on the land not claimed.

3. Once fixed the set-aside entitlement area will remain the same. If you do not grow anything other than grass from now all your land will eventually be defined as permanent pasture (i.e. not in the arable rotation in the last five years). You cannot then use your set-aside entitlements against that land. In that case the set-aside entitlements have to be sold or transferred. The same will happen if a farmer moves to an all permanent grass farm from a holding where he previously held set-aside entitlements.

So with all this uncertainty what do you do?

Be generous in the area you set-aside in 2005. A small mistake may result in a large penalty to your entire Single Farm Payment. At the end of the day the set-aside entitlements will eventually be paid at the same regional area payment as ordinary entitlements ie by 2012.

With all these complications it is essential that you seek professional advice if you are uncertain of the rules. Act now as the set-aside period technically started on 15 January 2005 and land to be set-aside should be managed as such from that date.

H & H Bowe has a team of professional advisers who are able to assist in all aspects of the Single Payment Scheme including the complicated area of set-aside. Please contact either Tim Parsons MRICS, FAAV, or Nigel Parmenter MRICS, FAAV.

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