Welsh SAF 2015 Rules Booklet March 5, 2015 12:00 am The Welsh Government has published their ‘2015 Single Application Rules Booklet’. Although payment regions and the transitional period are still unknown the booklet does shed some light on other issues. We will not go into detail about all aspects of the scheme but will focus on where new information and clarifications are available. Cross Border Farms Cross border farms will need to submit a claim to each of the relevant payment agencies using either online or paper applications in Wales. A lead Paying Agency will make the payment, this will usually be the one where most of the land is held. Active Farmer Rules around the active farmer re-entry criteria have been updated. Like England, there is an area based re-admission criteria. Farmers on the negative list with more than 21 hectares of land will be eligible for BPS. Claimants with less than 21 hectares (but with a previous year’s claim of more than €5,000) may still be eligible for BPS if they can satisfy one of the income tests. This requires a letter from an accountant confirming that 5% of receipts are from non-agricultural activities or that total receipts from agriculture area at least total receipts for the business. Minimum Activity Levels Where a farm has more than 50% of its land ‘naturally kept in a state suitable for grazing or cultivation’ minimum activity levels apply. In Wales only sand dunes and saltmarshes come under this classification. In these cases one or more of the following must occur; production of agricultural products or rearing of livestock control non-native invasive weeds and scrub and ensure the area has stock-proof boundaries and a water source. minimum average annual stocking density to 0.01 to 0.05 Livestock Units per hectare. Land Eligibility Land previous ineligible for Single Payment due to the predominance of heather will be eligible for BPS and classified as Permanent Grass. Areas with scattered trees may also be eligible, provided that there is less than 100 trees per hectare. To claim on these areas a deduction must be made for tree trunks and stumps, detailed guidance on how to make the deductions is available in the Booklet. Crop Diversification The ‘Cropping Period’ for Crop Diversification is 1st May to 15th July. The new Guidance gives full details of how to code crops on the 2015 Single Application Form; helpfully it also gives the code that was used to be in the previous scheme. The Application Process There are couple of points to note with the application process; Sketch maps will be required if there is more than 1 crop within a parcel or if a feature (ponds, bracken, EFA) is present within the parcel. EFA features will need to be mapped each year until they become ‘stable in time’ after three years Amendments to the SAF without penalty can be made up to 1st June. Amendments includes adding parcels, changing land use and changing the schemes claimed. If spring and winter varieties of the same crop are being grown on the farm seed labels for the crops planted must be submitted. You must indicate on the SAF that you wish to be allocated entitlements. This will be easy to miss if completing a paper application.
