Section 5 - Additional requirements that you must agree to
- 5-1 - Good Farming Practice (GFP)
- 5-2 - Changes to your agreement as a result of European Community (EC) legislation
- 5-3 - Public rights of way
- 5-4 - Other activities on your land
- 5-5 - Metal detecting on your land
- 5-6 - Protection of historic features
- 5-7 - Allow inspection
- 5-8 - Keep necessary records
5.1 Good Farming Practice (GFP)
You must abide by the standards of Good Farming Practice as set out in appendix 4 throughout your farm. If you fail to abide by these standards you will be in breach of your agreement. 'Farm' for the purposes of Good Farming Practice is simply all the land and associated field boundaries that you farm as one business enterprise, including any land that has not been submitted as part of your ELS application .
If you are receiving payments under the Single Payment Scheme (SPS), you must also ensure that all your agricultural land (including any land in set-aside) is in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC) and complies with Statutory Management Requirements (SMR) as defined by the SPS rules.
5.2 Changes to your agreement as a result of European Community (EC) legislation
Changes to EC legislation may affect the requirements of your agreement. We will tell you about any changes well in advance.
5.3 Public rights of way
As a condition of joining the scheme, you must maintain existing rights of way and abide by the relevant legislation. This means that you must meet the following requirements.
5.3.1 Keeping rights of way clear of obstruction
Keep rights of way clear of any obstructions, such as padlocked gates, rubbish, barbed wire, slurry, manure, electric fences, hedgerows and chained or loose dogs. If necessary, cut back vegetation encroaching from the sides (but not the surface) and above, so that it does not inconvenience the public or prevent the right of way being apparent on the ground. Bridleways should have three metres (ten feet) of headroom to allow adequate access for riders.
5.3.2 Rights of way on cultivated land
Make sure that field-edge footpaths and bridleways and all byways are never cultivated. Keep cross-field paths clearly visible and clear of crops (other than hay or silage) and only plough or cultivate if unavoidable. If you do cultivate a cross-field path, the surface must be made good within 14 days of the first cultivation, or within 24 hours of subsequent cultivation, unless otherwise agreed with the highway authority.
5.3.3 Stiles, gates, bridges and signs
Make sure that stiles and gates on rights of way are maintained in good order.
Provide adequate bridges where, with the permission of the Highway Authority, new ditches are made or existing ones widened.
You may waymark public rights of way if you consider it necessary, and you must warn users of potential dangers (e.g. slurry lagoons, cliffs). Make sure that no misleading signs are placed near rights of way that might discourage access.
5.4 Other activities on your land
Subject to any other existing restrictions, country pursuits such as shooting, hunting and fishing are allowed. You should discuss an intended application with any sporting tenants and anyone else with rights over your land, e.g. profits à prendre, easements, etc. You should make sure that any activities, and the exercise of other rights, will not conflict with the delivery of the required management of the scheme options.
5.5 Metal detecting on your land
On Scheduled Monuments a licence is required from English Heritage before metal detecting can take place. Detecting without such a licence is an offence. On Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), where actions resulting from metal detecting (e.g. digging or vegetation disturbance) are listed as 'operations likely to damage the special interest' of your SSSI, you are required to give written notice to English Nature of these operations and can only proceed once you have received written consent.
As you are required to protect and maintain archaeological sites and other environmental features (i.e. all your FER features) over the entire area under agreement, you must ensure that no damage is caused to these features wherever metal detecting takes place (authorised or otherwise).
5.6 Protection of historic features
Your Environmental Information Map supplied by RDS will show some of the historic features (including archaeological sites and traditional farm buildings) on your land. If you have any of these features, you must meet the following scheme conditions:
- Do not cause ground disturbance on known and currently uncultivated archaeological sites.
- Do not sub-soil or de-stone on areas containing known archaeological sites unless these operations have been demonstrably undertaken as a routine in the past five years.
- Do not deliberately plough more deeply or undertake additional drainage on those areas already under cultivation that contain known archaeological sites.
- Do not run free-range pigs on archaeological sites.
- Do not remove any useable building stone, walling stone or traditional roofing material off the land, excluding materials produced from established quarries.
- Do not damage, demolish or remove stone from substantially complete ruined traditional farm buildings or field boundaries.
5.7 Allow inspection
Authorised Defra staff or their agents may visit you to inspect your land during the course of your five year agreement. You must give them access at any reasonable time. An appointment will usually be made shortly beforehand, and you may be asked to accompany them to help identify work and discuss the requirements of your agreement. Deliberate failure to be available to accompany the officer at the pre-arranged time will be treated as unacceptable and potentially a breach of agreement.
5.8 Keep necessary records
If your application is successful, RDS will send you a letter to confirm your acceptance into the scheme. Your FER and Options maps will be returned to you. You must retain these documents, as Defra staff or their agents may ask to see them during inspections .
You must also keep records of the location and timing of 'rotational options' and any specific records referred to in the management options in section 3 of this handbook.
Page last modified:
19 May, 2005
Page published: 3 March, 2005