Land Eligibility Questions

The 2012 Guide to Land Eligibility (the 2011 Guide to Land Eligibility incorporating the 2012 Update to Land Eligibility) explains the general land eligibility rules for:  

The rules cover the above schemes from 2011 onward. The guide should also be followed when submitting claims for Agri-environment schemes that started before 31 December 2007.

The booklet addresses eligibility of specific land types. Other frequently asked questions related to land eligibility are addressed below.

Call the Land Eligibility helpline on 0845 30 44 508

To access aerial photos online you need a Government Gateway ID and password and have enrolled for DARD online services.  If the customer already has these then do the following.

To view the aerial photo of your farm go to the DARD website www.dardni.gov.uk and click ‘Online Services’ which will take you to the DARD Online Services login page.

After logging in select ‘Online Maps’.  You may submit a request for the aerial photo of your farm business.  Requests normally take about 15 minutes to an hour to process.  When the request is complete you can view the photo in the ‘Requested Maps’ section.

Go to the DARD website www.dardni.gov.uk and click ‘Online Services’ which will take you to the DARD Online Services login page.  

Follow the links to apply for an individual Government Gateway account or an Agent’s account.

When you have your Customer ID and DARD Access Key go to www.dardni.gov.uk/onlineservices and click the service your wish to enrol for.  You will be asked to enter your details to complete the enrolment.

How long does it take to register for DARD online services?
One to two days.

No, online maps are for information only.

You can use the tools available from DARD online services to help measure areas on online aerial photos. If you need help to measure these areas, see page 40 of the Guide to Land Eligibility for contact details of those who can assist you.

You may complete a GIS2 form and send it to your local DARD Direct Office.  However, new maps will not be issued straightaway. You will receive a new map later this year as part of the Land Parcel Identification System Improvement Project.  In the meantime, you must make the necessary adjustments to the SAF claim to ensure you only claim for eligible land.

You need to consider the advice in Guide to Land Eligibility and the 2012 Land Eligibility update booklets carefully and check each field on the ground. The eligible area in your fields might now be lower than the area found at inspection last year and if it is, you need to change your Field Data sheet to ensure you only claim for eligible land.

DARD is considering the issue of retrospection and any approach will have to be agreed with the European Commission.  We will let the public know when a decision has been reached.

Contact your landowner. The letter going out with the aerial photos says, “If you are taking different land this year please give the photographs to the land owner, so that he can show them to the new claimant.”

Aerial photos are the latest photos we have, most are 1-2 years old but are no more than 4 years old. They are only a guide and If you may have made changes in your field since they were taken. It is important that you look at each field at on the ground as it is now and establish how much land is eligible for your 2012 claim.

Use the aerial photographs as a basis, walk the land to identify ineligible areas using the Guide to Land Eligibility, and only claim for eligible areas.

Yes, and you may receive written details of changes made to your map.  However in most cases you will not be issued with a new map until later in 2011 as part of the Land Parcel Identification System Improvement Project.

First, you should try to obtain the most up-to-date map from the owner of the land. If this fails your local office will try to let you have a map in these circumstances.  If you are registered to use DARD online services maps can also be viewed online. You should also ensure that you walk the fields to identify ineligible areas and only claim for eligible land.

First you should try to obtain the most up-to-date map from the owner of the land. If this fails, your local office will try to let the land owner have a map in these circumstances. If you are registered to use DARD online services maps can also be viewed online.

No, to satisfy EU legislation, we have to have and up-to-date mapping system. The LPIS project will help us meet the legislative requirements .It will also help farmers get claims right by ensuring maps are as accurate as possible and farmers are aware of what land is eligible to claim for.

Some farms are selected for inspection at random and others are selected using a risk based section. It is likely that LPIS will be used in the future to identify potentially ineligible areas as these are a risk if farmers are claiming on them. .  All inspectors use farm maps as a basis for on the spot checks and the improved farm maps will continue to be used for this purpose.

No, the Department has no power to reduce payments to farmers except where a farmer has not met scheme rules or there has been an overpayment. The disallowance has been levied on DARD and the cost of it has to be met by DARD. The drive for more rigorous controls comes from the European Commission asking for tighter compliance to the regulations covering land based payments.

There are a small number of changes as a result of European audits and guidelines from the European Commission.

You can correct your application at any time by removing or reducing an area you have claimed. We have to recover any payments which have been made incorrectly to you. If the changes go back to 2005, we will have to consider carefully what additional action we take. Any approach we take will have to be agreed with the European Commission.

If you have already completed a GIS 2 to notify a reduced field area and the reduced eligible area is the same as the new field area then nothing further is required. If the eligible area is different to the new field area then you need to complete a SAF3 form for each year’s claim you wish to amend.  These forms are available from your local DARD office or the DARD website.

You may only claim on eligible land.  All your entitlements must be activated every two year or you will lose them.  Entitlements and land may be traded to ensure you have sufficient land.

No. DARD is considering the issue of retrospection and any approach will have to be agreed with the European Commission.  We will let you know when a decision has been reached.

Yes. But the land must eligible for Single Farm Payment, not claimed by any other farm business and be at your disposal on 15 May for that claim year.

Currently entitlements are recalculated where ineligible areas are found at inspection. DARD is considering the issue of retrospection and any approach will have to be agreed with  the European Commission.  We will let you know when a decision has been reached.

The reduction for ineligible areas in a common will be made in the same was as in any field.  The reduced eligible area should be attributed across the graziers according to the number of shares.  Note: it is a common misconception that shareholders hold a right to graze a specific part of a common. However, their shareholding gives them a right to graze a proportion of the entire common.

Yes.

Complete a SAF 3 for each year you want to amend a claim. These forms are available from local DARD offices. These forms are available from DARD office or the DARD website.

No. Entitlements are not tied to the land declared in 2005, but can be claimed on any land providing it is eligible for SFP and available to the farmer (that is at the farmers disposal on 15 May). Farmers have the option of buying, leasing or renting other eligible land and, provided this is not already being claimed for SFP purposes, can use this to support their claims.

No. Cross Compliance regulations do not permit the removal of scrub (whins, trees or brambles) between 1 March and 31 August.  This is to ensure farmers are not in breach of the Wildlife Order which makes it an offense to intentionally kill, injure, or take any wild bird or their eggs or nests.  

Adjust your SAF claim so the ineligible areas of scrub are not claimed for.  See Section 4, p6, of the Guide to Land Eligibility booklet for more detail.

No. Where individual areas of scrub are mainly composed of whin (European Gorse) and are not being managed under an Agri-environment scheme, up to 0.1 ha can be removed (except between 1 March and 31 August – the bird nesting season) without prior approval from DARD.

If you wish to remove individual areas of whin greater than 0.1 ha contact your local DARD office for further advice.   Areas of scrub that are classified as habitat as part of an agri-environment must not be removed.

Burning of whin/gorse is not recommended as this causes seed germination and leads to the further spread of new growth of whin/gorse. Cross Compliance regulations do not permit the removal of scrub (whins, trees or brambles) between 1 March and 31 August.  

The scorecard is a guide to help you make a reasonable deduction from your claim. Use the advice in the Land Eligibility guide to make a reasonable estimate of how much to deduct.

Use the guidance on pages 6-12 of the Guide to Land Eligibility.  If more than 50% of the field is dense scrub, and the remainder is eligible grassland then deduct the % of the field that has dense scrub.  Use the scrub scorecard to help make the appropriate deductions and study the examples for detailed guidance.

The area of scrub identified as ineligible on your aerial photo already have the percentage appropriate deduction made in the field information table. We cannot calculate areas for ineligible areas not identified on the map.  If you need help completing your form see the list of Contact Details on p40 of the guide.

No.  Areas classified as scrub habitat in an agri-environment scheme must be retained and managed according to the agri-environment scheme rules.

If the ineligible feature is within 2m of a boundary the entire area of the boundary next to the ineligible feature is ineligible.  The rest of the boundary is eligible.

Hedges should be cut so their width does not exceed 2 m from the centre when measured at the base. They must not be cut between during the bird nesting season between 1 March and 31 August.

Develop a two or three year rotation for hedge cutting on your farm:

Yes, but bear in mind the following points:

Where bracken is present you must deduct the entire area of that part of the field.

No. Unless there is an area of bare earth or mulch under the trees and no grazing is available.  See p 14 of the Guide to Land Eligibility.

Heather burning or flailing can restore eligibility over time.

If the entire field was ineligible heather before burning then the entire area including the burnt portion remains ineligible for 2012 and it should not be claimed for.

It is recommended to burn or flail 10% of a field per year.  If more than 20% of the heath on a field is burned and/or flailed in one management season, then the entire area of burned and/or flailed heath is ineligible. See pages 16 and 17 of the Guide to Land Eligibility for guidance.

Burning

Flailing

You must not flail between 15 April and 31 August.

The agreed method is to measure the vertical height of the heather and if it is more than 50cm it is potentially ineligible.

If this land no longer meets the eligibility requirements because of the designated site management agreement, it may still be used to claim entitlements provided that it met the eligibility requirements and formed part of the determined area in 2010.  In these circumstances the land under agreement remains eligible for SFP.

Yes provided it meets the management prescriptions for the agri-environment scheme.  See p26 of the Guide to Land Eligibility.

If more than 20% of the heath on a field is burned and/or flailed in one management season, then the entire area of burned and/or flailed heath is ineligible. If some of your land is ineligible on 15 May or is ineligible for SFP at any time during the year, we may be able to consider your case under the force majeure/ exceptional circumstance provisions.  These provisions are explained on pages 15 and 16 of your "Guide on how to complete your 2011 Single Application Form”.

In summary, you need to tell us about the force majeure or exceptional circumstances either when you submit your 2012 claim or within 10 days of being in a position to do so. (SFP Force Majeure on Land Form FML1).  You will have to provide clear documentation to support your case, for example, if your heath was burned maliciously, then you would need to provide evidence that you reported this to the police or the Fire and Rescue Service.

See p 16 of the Guide to Land Eligibility for more detail on heather burning.

No. Up to 20% may be flailed / burnt in any Single Farm Payment calendar year.  See also the important points on page 16 of the Guide to Land Eligibility.

See p19 of the Guide to Land Eligibility

A sheugh is an open trench dug for the purposes of drainage and is usually less then 2 m wide at the base.  A stream is a naturally flowing waterway.  Naturally flowing streams and rivers as well as watercourses managed by Rivers’ Agency are not eligible.

If it is a designated watercourse maintained by River’s Agency or it a naturally flowing water waterway it is not eligible.  If it is not a designated water course it is now eligible.

If it is a designated watercourse maintained by River’s Agency or it a naturally flowing water waterway it is not eligible.  If it is not a designated water course it is now eligible but we recommend you leave it off your map

List of contact details are available on Rivers Agency website.    http://www.dardni.gov.uk/riversagency/contact-rivers-agency.htm

See p25 of the Guide to Land Eligibility. Cleaning sheughs and maintained watercourses: areas covered by spoil, soil or clay which is lightly spread adjacent to a sheugh or watercourse are eligible. Piles of spoil, soil or clay present are ineligible.

In 2010 all bare ground was ineligible but this changed in 2011. The Land Eligibility booklet clarifies the situation on p25. Bare ground, for example ground that is covered from spoil from sheugh clearing, is eligible if it is temporary and will green over for the next year.

No. Big bales are only eligible if they are temporarily stored in the field they were harvested from.  If bales are stored in the area year after year, or are on a hardcore storage area, then the area is ineligible.

If the FYM is stored temporarily, for less than six months, it is eligible.  However, if the same area is used year after year for FYM storage then it is not eligible.

Up to 6 months.

See p 25 of the Land Eligibility Guide. Yes it is eligible provided it is due solely to the presence of animals and which will naturally regenerate with grass.

See p30 of the Guide to Land Eligibility. Temporary areas of bare soil which are caused solely by the presence of poultry, and which will naturally regenerate with grass within a short period, are eligible.

Countryside Management Scheme and Environmentally Sensitive Area Schemes

Habitats are eligible for agri-environment scheme payment if they are actively managed according to your scheme requirements. In effect this means these habitats must be managed by means other than grazing, for example, controlling the spread of scrub and trees by hand cutting. If the area is not grazed it is ineligible for SFP. See also section 5 of the Guide to Land Eligibility and Section 9 in the Guide to completing the 2012 SAF.

Yes.

Grass margins are eligible for SFP and may be up to 25m wide.

If the fence is more than 1m from the top of a sheugh, or more than 2m from the centre of the hedge, then area from the fence to the centre of the hedge is ineligible.  The fence could be removed.