Greening to be removed from 2021

The Government have announced that the Greening element of the Basic Payment Scheme will be removed from 2021.

The change to the rules will remove the need for the 3 crop rule, and the Ecological Focus Area which will significantly simplify the scheme for many farmers and land owners.

These changes will not affect the overall payment received by each farmer as the Greening element of the subsidy will instead be added to farmers’ entitlements under the Basic Payment Scheme.

The Greening rules fell under EU law, and these requirements have historically delivered very little for the environment.

There are no other changes announced to the scheme, or Cross Compliance at this stage.