Farm Practices Survey March 18, 2015 12:00 am The Farm Practices Survey, conducted in October asked over 6,000 farmers about their understanding of the BPS Greening rules and the actions they intended to take. Key results are: 78% of farmers intended to apply for BPS in 2015 (87% applied for SPS in 2014) 57% rated their understanding of Greening as ‘good’ or ‘full’ 25% though EFA would apply on their holding, 35% were unsure if they required EFA and 44% were unsure as to what changes were needed. 71% of Cereal farms thought Crop Diversification would apply on their holding, for General Cropping farms the figure was 21%. Despite 57% claiming a good knowledge of Greening, it seems that this may not actually be the case when it comes to the details of the rules. However, almost five months have passed since this survey. More information is now readily available and hopefully the message has been reiterated through the press, consultants, agents etc and farmers now have a better understanding.
