To recap...
If, for BPS 2015, you were using eligible fallow land as either:..
- One of your crops to comply with crop diversification under greening, the fallow land was required to be in situ from 1 May to 30 June and shown in Part C of your BP5 form
and / or
- Using the fallow land for Ecological Focus Areas (EFA), the fallow land was required to be in situ from 1 January to 30 June and shown in Part D of your BP5 form,
…then many of the fallow land management restrictions associated with it have now come to an end.
What does this mean?
As an example, after 30 June you can graze or harvest grass, silage or make hay from the land or, for that matter, store straw or muck on it or have fertiliser applied (bearing in mind any NVZ restrictions that may operate).
You are also able to prepare and then sow a following crop, though this activity will depend on if you wish to use the same land for fallow under 2016 greening.
However, there are still some restrictions in place…
Please read the guidance before carrying out any operation as there are some restrictions that remain after 30 June on EFA fallow land, such as those that relate to grazing or harvesting wild bird seed mixes, or where grass was sown during the fallow period and may be managed under an agri-environment scheme, or any fallow land designated under BPS, but also included within an agri-environment scheme.
So please read the rules carefully.
Finally, if fallow land is being removed post 30 June, please remember that the rules require cross compliance margins next to watercourses or hedges to be retained. The land will still need to adhere to those rules going forward. Please also remember that land claimed under BPS needs to remain eligible for the entire year.
Just one more thing...
Don’t forget that 30 June is also significant for other greening reasons.
Midnight of 30 June is also the end of the inspection period for crop diversification under greening, so the rules around the crops needing to be present or crop residue being retained come to an end.
This time and date also marks the end of when a nitrogen fixing crop used for greening EFA or crop diversification has to be in situ. Again, reading the guidance before doing anything is always recommended.