2016 Cross Compliance

The ‘Guide to Cross Compliance in England: 2016‘ has been published.  As part of the Governments ‘digital by default’ strategy, this will be the first year where the Guide is not sent out as a hard copy to farmers and is only available in electronic format.

Following the major changes to GAEC and SMR rules for 2015 there are only a few minor changes made for the 2016 year.  The main ones are;

• SMR 7 – Cattle identification and registration:  Cattle keepers must record the dam’s ear tag number for animals born on their holding, however it is not necessary to record dam numbers for animals arriving on the holding. 
• GAEC 7c – Trees: The RPA has clarified that trees acting as windbreaks in an orchard, vineyard, hop yard or hop garden are exempt from the 1^st March to the 31^st August (inclusive) non-cutting and trimming rules.

For 2017 GAEC 1 rules will also apply on parcels less than 2 hectares. This will mean that reasonable steps must be taken to maintain a green cover on land within 2 metres of the centre of a watercourse or field ditch.  Cultivations and fertiliser applications will not be permitted on the 2m buffer strip.  This informatiion is being provided now so that strips can be established in autumn 2016 if required.

The guide for 2016 is available from https://www.gov.uk/guidance/guide-to-cross-compliance-in-england-2016