Cross Compliance 2018

The guide to cross compliance in England 2018 has been published, and will apply from 1st January 2018. There are a few s,a;;changes to the cross compliance rules for 2018, as listed below.

New for 2018

SMR 1: Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZs)

If your land was in an NVZ for the first time in 2017 you should read about the transitional arrangements under Nutrient management: Nitrate Vulnerable Zones.

Inspections - changes to how RPA checks existing rules

The way RPA checks the following rules is changing from 1 January 2018. These are not new rules but RPA must check them differently. The important parts of this are:

GAEC 5: Minimising soil erosion

You must make sure you have put in place suitable practical measures to limit soil and bankside erosion, and can show this during any inspection.

SMR 7: Cattle identification and registration, and SMR8: Sheep and goat identification

You must make sure that all your cattle and sheep are correctly identified and that lost and damaged ear tags are replaced within the deadlines. You must also make sure that any cattle notifications you make to BCMS are made within the deadlines.

You can read the rules about suitable practical measures, or animal identification and registration and deadlines in the 2018 Cross Compliance Guide.

There are also a couple of rule changes for Basic Payment Scheme for 2018, we are awaiting final confirmation but the main changes that may affect you are:

1. Nitrogen Fixing Crops used for EFA purposes will be subject to a ban on plant protection products, which probably rules out the use of beans etc as an EFA for many of you.

2. Field margins are being introduced as a new option for EFA, so any cross compliance field margins against hedges should be eligible for EFA (some good news for a change!)

The full 2018 Cross Compliance guide can be found at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/cross-compliance-2018