Scottish Greening

Some additional details on Greening in Scotland have been announced by the Rural Affairs Secretary Richard Lochhead.  The main points are as follows;

• for 2015 it will not be a requirement to grow two nitrogen-fixing crops for the area to count as EFA.  This rule will be introduced from 2016 onwards
• the fallow period for EFA in Scotland will be from 15^th January to 15^th July
• spring crops undersown with grass will be able to count as a catch crop for EFA

There were also some announcements on cross-compliance.  Firstly, there will be a 2m cross-compliance margin in Scotland from next year.  Similar to those already required in England, this will have to be 2m from the centre of the hedge, or top of the ditch bank, and be unfertilised, unsprayed and uncultivated.  It will only apply to fields where crops are sown after 1^st January 2015.  In addition, the no-cutting period for hedgerows will be extended for a month, and will run from 1^st March to 31^st August.

Details are available from http://news.scotland.gov.uk/News/Greening-update-10fb.aspx.  There have also been a few minor technical updates to the Greening FAQs on the website.  This can be found at – http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/farmingrural/Agriculture/CAP/GreeningFAQs