Building your BPS application: Check and update your land information

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1 Building your BPS application: Check and update your land information Version 1 10 March 2015

2 Building your BPS application: Check and update your land information Users have asked for more information on how to map their land and features on the Rural Payments service and what they need to check before they can claim the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS). This article explains what you need to do. We ll update this article when we add more functionality to the online service. Please check you are using the most up to date version by visiting our CAP Reform blog. Lists of the land use and features options on the service are on GOV.UK. What to check and confirm To apply for BPS, you need to make sure all your land is included on the Rural Payments service, even if you aren t claiming BPS on all of it. We ve put all the information we have about your land onto the service. This includes land you claimed for under the Single Payment Scheme and any land in a current Rural Development Programme agreement. To make your BPS claim, you need to check your land information and you might need to update some of it. You need to: 1. check that all of your land is included on the service 2. make sure all of your ineligible features are mapped 3. tell us about your ecological focus areas (if you need to some farmers are exempt. Read the BPS guidance for 2015 for more information) 4. make sure the land use we ve put in for your land is correct Tell RPA about mapping changes When you ve finished checking that the land use and features are correct for a land parcel, tick the confirmation box and then Submit and return. You will still be able to make changes to the land parcel before you submit your BPS application. We ll check all the changes you make and confirm the information after we ve mapped any features or checked any land use changes. If we haven t checked your changes by the time you want to apply, you will still see the land you have updated on your application. You can submit your application each year before we ve checked and confirmed your changes. Version 1 11 March

3 If you don t plan to claim for the Basic Payment Scheme, but will use Rural Payments to claim for a scheme in the Rural Development Programme, you still need to check your maps. We will be updating this article soon to let you know what you need to do. Version 1 11 March

4 Check that all your land is included on Rural Payments We ve included all the information from your latest Rural Land Register maps on the Rural Payments service, including the ineligible features. You need to check that your maps show: all your agricultural land parcels that are 0.1 hectares or larger, and any non-agricultural land you have in a current Rural Development Programme (RDP) agreement that is 0.1 hectares or larger - you don t have to tell us about any features (unless they are ineligible for BPS) or options you have for these schemes at the moment. Agricultural land is: arable land (including fallow land and temporary grassland) permanent grassland, or permanent crops If any of your land is missing or you have additional parcels showing in your application, call the Rural Payments helpline on Version 1 11 March

5 Map all your BPS ineligible features To apply for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), you need to map all the ineligible features on your land that are 0.01 hectares or more in size on Rural Payments. We ve already mapped the ineligible features that were on your Rural Land Register maps. You need to check that all your ineligible features are mapped and add them if they aren t. Where you have a number of smaller features that are ineligible, and together they add up to 0.01 hectares or more, you will also need to declare them. Read Scattered features (below) for more information. You don t need to map: eligible features unless you re going to count them as part of your Ecological Focus Area. any features or options you have as part of an existing Rural Development Programme agreement unless they are ineligible for BPS. The BPS guidance for 2015 provides a list of all of the features that are eligible and ineligible for BPS. Checking your ineligible features are mapped Each land parcel you click on will show a table next to it, listing the features and land uses we ve mapped. The way we show features on the Rural Payments Service is different to the way we showed them under the Single Payment Scheme). For BPS, we ve mapped them as a specific feature (such as a pond). The service will prompt you for more information on some features - To give us more information, click on the feature and follow the instructions on the screen. Adding ineligible features You may have ineligible features that we haven t mapped. These could include features that were known as temporary ineligible features under the Single Payment Scheme. For example, muck heaps that are located in a different field to the one they will be spread in. You need to make sure that all of your ineligible features are mapped on the Rural Payments service. How accurate you need to be Make sure we have accurate measurements for land uses or land features. What you draw on your map doesn t have to be exact, but you do need to type accurate areas, lengths or widths into the boxes on the screen when prompted. This is similar to the way you may have told RPA about land changes in the past using a sketch map from the Rural Land Register. Version 1 11 March

6 To tell us about ineligible features: click on the land parcel you need to add the ineligible feature in click Add a land use or feature tell us what the feature is, for example farm building type the area the ineligible feature covers in the Area box (we ll use this in your BPS claim). You ll need to be accurate to 2 decimal places, for example 0.04 hectares. if you can t see a feature on the map, give us details of where the feature is within the parcel and any measurements to help us to draw it. Type this into the box called Tell us anything else about this feature. put a pin on the map to show where the feature is or draw the feature on the map (the service will let you know which of these you need to do): o When you draw a feature, you only need to sketch it, as we ll draw it for you accurately when we check the change. If you need to update the size of the feature, click the back button at the bottom of the screen. make sure you save the feature by clicking on save and continue. What to call ineligible features on Rural Payments A full list of the features you can map on Rural Payments is on GOV.UK. If you have trees on your land that make the land ineligible, enter these as Trees clumps or Scattered trees. You don t need to map individual trees on eligible land, they can be included in the land use. Read page 27 of The Basic Payment Scheme in England 2015 for more information. Version 1 11 March

7 If you have ineligible areas of woodland, mark them as: Mixed woodland for natural woodland, or Forestry for commercial woodland Scattered features You might have a number of ineligible features in one land parcel that are each less than 0.01 hectares in size (these are sometimes called scattered features ). If together all these ineligible features cover an area of 0.01 hectares or more in a land parcel, you need to map them. If the ineligible features are a single land use, map them as such (eg scattered rocks) If there is more than one land use, use the scattered natural features, scattered man made features categories or Scattered mixed features (if they are a combination of man made and natural features). In some cases we will already show features that are less than 0.01 hectares in size that we may have found at a field inspection or through other mapping work. Please leave these as they are, unless they have been removed from the land. Ineligible features after 15 May After 15 May 2015, if you add new ineligible features you need to map them on the Rural Payments service. Read pages 50 and 51 of The Basic Payment Scheme in England 2015 for more information on changing an application and withdrawing parts of an application. Version 1 11 March

8 Mapping ecological focus areas Under the Basic Payment Scheme, farmers have to meet the greening rules. If you need to have Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs), you ll need to tell us about your EFA features and areas on the Rural Payments service. What to map for EFA You can tell us about your land areas for EFA, such as fallow land or nitrogen-fixing crops, through your land use information eg map EFA fallow land using the Fallow category on the service. You ll be able to tell us about catch or cover crops on the service from April. You only need to map eligible hedges and/or buffer strips if you want to use them in your EFA. You don t have to map any other hedges if you re not counting them as part of your EFA, unless they are ineligible for BPS. You can have more than one EFA feature or area in a field - information about how to measure these is in the BPS guidance for Tell us about all the features and areas you want to include in your EFA, even if it takes you over the 5% equivalent area under the rules. You can have more than 5% to make sure you are meeting the rules. Mapping EFA hedges You only need to map eligible hedges if you re counting them as part of your EFA. If an EFA hedge forms a boundary between two of your land parcels, you need to map it in both parcels. If you re only including half a hedge in your EFA, you only need to map it in one parcel. We ll provide more information later about how to declare hedges that are not within one of your land parcels, such as hedges that are on the side of a road. To map an EFA hedge: click on the land parcel you want to add the hedge to click add a land use or feature type in hedge if you have hedges all the way around the field, map them as one continuous hedge. If there is a gap of more than 20 metres in your hedge, you ll need to count them as more than one hedge and map each hedge separately type in the length of the hedge in metres, then press continue Version 1 11 March

9 draw the hedge on the map double click on the map to start drawing then move your mouse along the length of the hedge, clicking at various points as you move along to mark the location of the hedge. If your hedge is along the boundary, click near to the boundary and the line will follow it. Double click to finish drawing. if you need to change the length of the hedge, you can click on the back button at the bottom of the screen. Notional area When you ve drawn the hedge, the service will show a notional area for it on the screen, which will not affect your cropped area. Mapping EFA buffer strips You only need to map buffer strips that you are counting as part of your Ecological Focus Area. Buffer strips are mapped in a similar way as other features. You ll need to tell us the area of the buffer strip when you add it to Rural Payments. There are 4 categories you can pick from when you map a buffer strip: Fallow buffer strip Permanent grass buffer strip Sown mixed cover buffer strip Temporary grass buffer strip You don t need to map watercourses that are next to buffer strips, unless the watercourse is an ineligible feature. If you have a temporary grassland buffer strip that is wider than 1 metre, you may want to count the area beyond 1 metre as part of your EFA fallow land (read page 40 of the Basic Payment Scheme in England 2015 guidance for more information). Version 1 11 March

10 To map part of a temporary grassland buffer strip as EFA fallow land: map your buffer strip, then map the area you are counting as fallow land separately (it has to have a minimum width of 2 metres) An example of what to call these areas is shown below. Version 1 11 March

11 Adding land use in Rural Payments Land use is the name used on the Rural Payments service to describe what you have on your land (what it s used for). For example, you may use land for growing wheat or have it lying fallow. It replaces the land use codes used for the Single Payment Scheme. We ve put your land use into the service where we can. You ll need to check the information we ve already put in for you. To claim BPS, you need to give us land use information for every area of land on your holding that is 0.1 hectares or more in size (or 0.01 hectares if you are using the land use categories to show us the areas in your ecological focus area, such as fallow land or catch crops). You need to be accurate to two decimal places, for example hectares rather than 10 hectares. You can have more than one land use in each field. The land use should be correct as at 15 May unless you will plant a crop to meet the crop diversification rule which will be sown after 15 May. In that case, you can tell us what the land use will be for the majority of the cropping period. Read the BPS guidance for 2015, Annex A, for more information You must update your land use if it is incorrect or if you see More information required. We ll use your land use information in your BPS application and to work out if you re meeting the greening rules. A full list of the land uses that are included on the service is on GOV.UK. If you can t find a land use or feature that you need to map on the service, please call the Rural Payments helpline on Checking your land use is correct You need to check that any land you have that is permanent grassland appears with permanent grassland as the land use. If it doesn t, you ll need to update the land use. Where temporary grass covering a whole land parcel has been declared for more than 5 Single Payment Scheme applications, we ve updated it to permanent grassland. You can change it back if you grew a catch crop on the land during the previous 5 years - in which case the land counts as arable and can be declared as temporary grass or fallow. We ll update this guidance soon with more information on how to map any agri-environment scheme options you have on your land. You need to check that any land you have with permanent crops on appears with permanent crops as the land use. If it doesn t, you ll need to update the land use to perennial crops, nursery crops or short rotation coppice (depending on what is on the land). You ll need to tell us about the use of all your arable land, we ll use this information to work out if you re meeting the greening rules. Version 1 11 March

12 Grass strips You don t have to map grass strips - such as tracks, strips, margins and headlands separately on Rural Payments. You can include them as part of the main crop within a field when you map. However, you should map them if: they are part of your Ecological Focus Area (such as part of a buffer strip or fallow land), or you want to have them count towards your totals for a greening exemption or to meet the crop diversification rule Non-agricultural land use You may have land on your holding which isn t put to any agricultural use (eg woodland included in an RDP agreement). You need to check the land use for this land is correct on the service. If it isn t, you ll need to update the land use. Some land in an RDP agreement is eligible for BPS, even though it has become non-agricultural. You will be able to include this land in your claim on the Rural Payments service when you complete your BPS application If you have land which is ineligible for BPS as it will have non-agricultural activities on it for more than 28 days during the calendar year, map it as Sports and recreation on Rural Payments. Examples of how to update land use If Permanent grassland More information required shows on the screen: click on the line in the table that reads Permanent grassland More information required. confirm it is permanent grassland by typing in grass and choosing the appropriate option, then update or confirm the area it covers. if the area you are declaring is less than the rest of the field (after deducting ineligible features), the service will ask you to draw the land. If the area is the same size as the rest of the land parcel then you won t need to draw or sketch the land use. If Unknown cover More information required shows on the screen, do the same as you would for the example above. Version 1 11 March

13 Crown copyright 2015 You may re-use this document (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence visit gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence; or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 4DU or This document is also available on our website at Any enquiries regarding this document should be sent to us at: Produced by the Rural Payments Agency Version March 2015 Version 1 11 March