The Options For Establishing The EFA-Green Cover Option In A Late Harvest
30 October 2024With harvest much later than previous years, this has impacted on growers who intended sowing green cover following harvest as part of their EFA obligations with the 31st October deadline for establishment fast approaching.
The green cover option has gained popularity in recent years, providing benefits to biodiversity, water quality, the opportunity for extra forage in the new year as well as providing growers with the opportunity to grow more crops. It does however carry a degree of risk in a year like this where having a field harvested and cleared to allow a green cover to be sown can be a challenge.
What should a grower do if they are struggling to establish their EFA green covers in the fields chosen on their 2024 Single Application Form (SAF)?
- Firstly, contact your local SGRPID office and explain your circumstances- many crops remain unharvested, from maize in the south west to cereals and potatoes throughout the rest of the country. In some cases, harvesting has been completed but ground conditions mean it is too wet to travel, meaning establishing the green cover is impractical and may do more damage than the intended benefits.
- Do you have suitably eligible, equivalent sized fields or areas which you can move the option to? Suggest these to SGRPID as alternatives, allowing obligations to be met and perhaps even benefits to be enhanced.
- There is no guarantee that any amendments for greening plans will be approved by SGRPID so consider carefully the viability of meeting your greening requirements in a wet or late harvest year.
By providing this information, your local SGRPID office can then make a decision as to whether or not to allow you to make a switch – satisfying your EFA obligations for 2024 and avoiding the risk of penalties and deductions.
Also, don’t lose sight of the basic rules- the green cover must remain in place until 1st January and consist of two or more of the following species only:
· alfalfa | · barley | · red clover | · white clover |
· mustard | · oats | · phacelia | · radish |
· rye | · triticale | · vetch |
Later establishment into colder seedbeds also means that some of these species will struggle to grow- so simpler mixes with cereals may stand a better chance of success and ensuring seed to soil contact is as important as ever.
Greening makes up a sizeable proportion of most farmers payments - failure to comply can see significant penalties applied. While harvest and intended EFA green cover areas may not have gone to plan this autumn- getting in touch with SGRPID as soon as possible and even making suggestions of alternatives may help reduce the risk of having deductions applied for not managing to sow green covers in the right place and right time.
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