I am putting together my ELS application and have some land that has been in set-aside for 8 years that I don't want to plough but want to include in ELS.  Can I call my set-aside low input grassland in ELS?  This would mean that it's not ploughed but maintained as grass.

 Johnson

I would say If it is managed as low input grassland then yes it can go into ELS because it is not being double funded through the Single Farm Payment. Set aside is no longer a requirement even though part of your SFP is made up of set aside compensation. Placing the land in low inputs or very low inputs will maintain your set asides wildlife value as well.

Johnson

I have passed your question to Natural England and hope to be able to come back with an answer next week.

David Middleditch, ADAS

19 Oct 2007

Johnson

I have confirmed with Natural England that land that has been in set-aside for more than one year and that has a grass cover can be entered into ELS under the grassland management options EK2 or EK3 (grassland with low or very low inputs).  The management of the grassland would then have to comply with the scheme requirements.  The real benefits would come from areas of wet land or land of low fertility being entered into ELS as grassland as those are the kind of areas that are likely to provide the greatest environmental gains.  Please note that it would not be easy to bring the land back into set-aside or cropping whilst the ELS agreement is in place and would require an amendment to the agreement.

David Middleditch

I have also not yet applied for ELS however out of my total 240 acres 100 are either established miscanthus or due to be planted spring 2008. This area was NOT eligible for IAACS as it is reclaimed land which had been used for grazing or silage since reclamation in the 1990's. Am I correct in thinking that this would be considered "low Input"?

Very sorry for the late reply, I'd missed your question.  Miscanthus is an energy crop rather than grass, so wouldn't be eligible for the grassland management options, but if you decide not to increase your area of miscanthus then it may well be worth considering ELS grassland options for the remaining area.  The grassland management options are really targeting permanent pasture rather than grass leys or very produdctive grass as the older pasture is generally of higher environmental value to start with.  You must get the land on the Rural Land Register (RLR) if it isn't already, and then it will be eligible for ELS.

David Middleditch

David,

Ialso have land that has been in setaside for several years and now has a grass cover and could be entered as EK2 or EK3.

I am concerned that by doing this the land when it comes out of the agreement ( after 5yrs) would not be eligible again as setaside. As it will have been in grass for 5yrs presumably it would now be termed permanent pasture and therefore could not be used as setaside.It may be that setaside has gone for good but I like to keep my options open.

It is a shame that there is not a category within ELS ( as far as I can tell) which ex setaside could be put but where the land remains arable. This is forcing many farmers to plough up marginal land that could remain of conservation value as they are worried that it will be termed permanent pasture after 5yrs and then be ineligible for setaside and may need a EIA before returning to arable.

I would be interested to have your comments

Regards

Geoff

I know that I could 'find' the answer to the following question if I could find my ELS books but, just in case someone who knows is reading this my question is, 'At the end of my ELS agreement on 10 acreas of permanent pasture, could I plough it and plant arable crops?'

Can't see the chapter and verse, but I understand that you could technically crop the land at the end of the term (which is 5 years not 10, unless combined with HLS) provided that you go through the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) procedure.

Under the present EIA rules, you would not have a problem, but in 5 or 10 years time who knows? The clever thing from their point of view is that although you have an ELS agreement probably indicating that there are no restrictions on cropping at the end of the agreement period, the EIA rules are completely separate.

Therefore there is nothing to stop the powers that be changing the EIA rules, either to prohibit intensive cropping or just making it extremely time consuming, complicated and costly to comply. Don't forget that in 5 - 10 years time there will be a whole new raft of environmental legislation relating to nitrates, phosphates, water quality, pesticide residues, etc. And you just trying getting anyone from English Nature or Defra to put an assurance to you in writing!

Nothing wrong with the (old) ELS scheme - but have your eyes open when going into it. I think Defra will find a lot of farmers choosing not to renew their ELS agreements when they reach the end of the first term - which will be a shame.