Don’t be the next one to be fined – protection Zone?
Cross Compliance Inspections are in full swing at the moment...
Damaged 1m zone
Farmers everywhere are receiving phone calls and visits from RPA officers who have the job of assessing just how compliant farmers are being with all the Regulations that apply. People are up to speed with NVZ matters much more now, animal loadings are routinely considered and quite a few wasteful practices – such as Winter slurry spreading are now seen as pointless and wasteful ways to get rid of valuable nutrients.
So far, so good. There’s still a lot to do, we are in discussion weekly with clients who wrestle with manure storage and handling, it’s not easy, but if you can get compliant, get more out of the muck and buy a load less Nitram then maybe it will all come good. One day.
Meanwhile, on the nitty- gritty of daily inspections we note a new discipline and a new vigilance; it’s our old friend The Protection Zone.
If you plough too close to the hedge, or if you spray or plant or rotavate too close (in other words within an imaginary line 2m from the centre of the hedge) you will be sorry. We have clients whose paperwork is fine – we’ve seen to all that – but whose fields are not.
One man we met recently had his ditches cleaned out and the cleanings dropped at the top of the ditch – in other words in the obvious and traditional place for such dredgings. Now farmers are supposed to leave 1m from the top of the ditch, that’s the Protection Zone – you have to put the stuff beyond that line, not within it. Bingo! Deduction. Five per cent of your Single Farm Payment please. Thank you very much. That will do nicely.
Protection Zone breaches beside hedges and ditches show for months, ages, a whole season perhaps. You can’t rescue it. You, or your contractor, have left a mark out there for every inspector and footpath walker to see. Frequently, it’s contractors who do this, they are trained from another time, don’t waste any ground, plant it all, nobody wants nettles.
We all understand this approach but it’s way past its sell-by date now. Breaches in this area are expensive. The vital link here seems to be contractors, farmers nag them to keep out of the Protection Zone but they “Go Native” when out in the field and they do what Grandad told them to do. Those who breach the Protection Zone – whether hedges or ditches – can expect a repeat visit next year and that’s the dangerous one. Second breaches are “Deliberate”, you couldn’t argue otherwise really, and the penalties are much higher.
Now all this is going on despite the Macdonald report of 2 years ago which recommended lighter Regulation and Inspection. It hasn’t happened yet and farmers smartest defence is to “pass first time” and then get back to the day job.
You Go Farming.
If you think that you might need some help with assessment visit www.cxcs.co.uk or email karen.powell@crosscompliancesolutions.co.uk – they may be able to help.
