Impact of the European Parliament’s decision to ban plant protection products on Ecological Focus Areas.
Introduction
The European Parliament has voted in favour of a ban on the use of plant protection products (PPPs) on fallow, cover and catch crops, and nitrogen-fixing crops on Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs) . The ban applies from the time of sowing the crop, even if this is before 1 January 2018, to harvesting. The ban also applies to seed dressings.
The reason for the ban is to increase the environmental benefit from EFAs, due to concerns that they produce little benefit at present. Policy makers seem to now be thinking about the quality of management of EFAs, which environmental bodies would say is at least as important as the area they cover. Greening was introduced to improve the environmental performance of farming, with a new Greening payment 'for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and environment' paid in addition to the Basic Payment Scheme from 2015.
The ban is likely to have an impact on EFA option selection. Peas and beans, which have been a popular choice since EFA obligations began, are going to be less popular if they can’t be treated with PPPs as the gross margins are already tight.
Buffer strips, field margins, trees in a line and hedgerows will now be a very attractive way to meet EFA requirements due to their strong weighting and minimal impact to current farming operations. Fallow and / or catch and cover crops may be needed to meet any shortfall. Farms with Stewardship agreements (excluding Higher Level and Entry Level Stewardship agreements) should consider inexpensive cover and catch crops to limit income reduction from double funding and taking more land out of production than is necessary.
Precisely how the rule changes will be applied remains unclear. Grazing or mowing may be banned on land declared as EFA fallow after the fallow period ends until the end of the relevant calendar year. Various bodies are discussing how the changes will be implemented with DEFRA and the RPA, and this briefing note will be updated if there are any changes.