Scotland has launched new guidelines on ‘greening’ for next year.

Greening is the process of introducing ‘green’, or environmentally-friendly, practices to the farming process.

The new guidance, published on the Rural Payments and Services website, also introduces the ‘Equivalence Scheme’ for farmers.

This would, for example, allow Scottish farmers to choose alternative ways of meeting their crop diversification requirements.

The key points

Here is a run-down of the key points from the guidance:

• Off-setting: It is now possible to off-set cropping diversification requirements (3 crop rule) by having 25% of the arable area as ‘winter cover’ - using an approved mix from the list - if sown by October 1. Alternatively, there is the option of having 25% of the arable area in catch crops (undersown grass) if sown before October 1.

• Nutrient management plan: Farms must now have a nutrient management plan for all permanent grassland fields. There will also be a requirement to fill in a table stating how much inorganic fertiliser and/or lime is going to be applied to the field within the scheme year.

• Ecological Focus Area (EFA): EFA buffer strips will no longer have to be immediately adjacent to arable land; but they will still have to be within 5 metres of it. The EFA Green Cover crop list has also been extended to include clover and radish. A map must also be submitted with the Single Application Form to show where each EFA feature is located and its size.

• Nitrogen fixing crops: As indicated earlier this year, from 2016 there must be at least 2 different types of nitrogen fixing crops grown for EFA purposes. The main crop must not exceed 75% of the total of the two or more crops. They can be in different fields.

More flexibility and complexity

Mary Munro, Head of Farming at Strutt & Parker in Scotland said: “On one hand, there is a little extra flexibility within some of the elements but overall the changes seem to add complication with the additional requirement to provide a nutrient management plan for plant growth regulators, provide an EFA map and the requirement to grow two or more nitrogen fixing crops.

“The opportunity to off-set the requirements of the three cropping rule with 25% ‘winter cover’ seems attractive at first glance. It may suit some farmers if they can sow that amount of cover by the October 1 deadline.

“If there was an opportunity to simplify things or improve the practicalities of meeting the requirements, it would appear that that opportunity has not been taken.”

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and Environment Richard Lochhead hopes the new rules will benefit both the environment and farming finances.

He says that productivity and yields can be improved by increasing the number of birds and insects on farmland that eat pests and pollinate crops.