Agriculture Flashcards
Describe a typical arable rotation in your area.
OSR, WW, SB, WW
What is the price of spring barley (malting) per tonne at the moment?
£185 / t
What is the price of feed barley per tonne at the moment?
£155 / t
What is the price of oil seed rape per tonne at the moment?
£375 / t
What is the price of winter wheat per tonne at the moment?
£195 / t
What are the key aspects of an in-hand farming practice, specifically contract farming? What are the pros and cons?
Contract farming is an agreement between a landowner and a contractor. The landowner or farmer engages the services of the contractor. Both entities are farm businesses in their own right. Landowner provides the land, buildings, fixed equipment, new bank account. The contractor provides the management expertise, labour, machinery and additional storage (if required). Pros - vacant possession, occupation of farm, release of working capital, economies of scale.
What are the region entitlements?
Payment Region 1
This includes better quality agricultural land that has been used for arable cropping, temporary grass and permanent grass.
Payment Region 2
This includes rough grazing with a Less Favoured Areas (LFA) grazing category of B, C, D or non-LFA.
Payment Region 3
This includes rough grazing with an LFA grazing category A.
What are the current region rates?
Region 1: BPS: £147/ ha greening £75/ha
Region 2: BPS: £ 32/ ha greening £12/ha
Region 3: BPS: £9/ha greening £4/ha
What are the current social/ economic factors affecting Scottish farmers at the moment?
Uncertainty over the new landscape for rural payments
Increase in maintenance costs for buildings and machinery caused by inflation
You mentioned you carry out silage pit inspections what are the key changes in legislation that affect the storage of silage?
Silage and Slurry storage regulations have brought in changes which dictate the following:
The size of effluents tank based on how much silage is kept in a silage clamp
What is the purpose of a Land Maintenance form?
LMF is used to notify rural payments for various changes in land ownership such as:
- when you sell your business or change the ownership structure
- when you buy, sell or transfer land
- when you transfer land from one holding to another for any reason
- when you change a permanent boundary of a land parcel
- when you split or merge land parcels
- when you register a land parcel for the first time
- when you add, remove or modify an ineligible hard or soft feature contained within a land parcel
- when you want to notify us of an increase in a technical assessment band of the ineligibility of a soft feature, therefore increasing the ineligible area
What is the purpose of IACS?
Single application form used for applying for single farm payments
Eligible for farmers who are actively farming their ground
You do not necessarily need to produce anything from your farm to be eligible however need to be keeping your farm within GAEC standards
What is BPS?
BPS is run by the Scottish Governments Rural payments service. To qualify for basic payment scheme you must be actively farming your land.
What is an AECS scheme?
Agri Environmental Classification Scheme
Can you briefly outline to me what the silage and slurry store rules are?
I can only comment on the silage storing rules are as this is what I have got experience in. The General Building Regulations for Slurry and Silage Storage 2022 outline the following guidelines for new pits and improvements:
- Size of effluent tanks based on a per m3 of silage taken
- Tanks should be fitted with an automatic overfill prevention device
- If a pit is installed or substantially improved then these plans must be discussed with SEPA at least 30 days prior to the works commencing
- Located more than 10m away from any water courses
How did you advise your client to proceed on completion of your cost analysis of the upgrades?
This is a large scale project and requires a large amount of capital input from the client. I proposed a phased approach in order to spread the costs. Silage pits which were requiring more renovations are to be carried out first.
Where did the responsibility for the upgrade of the silage pits sit – with the landlord or the tenant?
This sits with the landlord as it is seen as replacing. However, maintaining is a tenant’s obligation.
In addition to GBRs, what other areas of compliance are there for farmers in Scotland?
Good Agricultural Environmental Condition (GAEC)
Statutory Management Requirements (SMR) various management requirements such as:
- Nitrate Vulnerable Zones
- Conservation of Wild Birds
- Welfare of farmed animals