The Department of Agriculture has begun to develop the procedures and regulations for greening. In the new CAP, tillage farmers with more than 30ha of arable land will need to have more than three allowable crops and those with more than 10ha will need two crops.

Farmers with more than 15ha of crops, plus temporary grassland, must have at least 5% of their arable land in a use consistent with the Environmental Focus Areas (EFA).

Test farms are currently being visited to check if computer generated assessments of allowable features correlate with what is actually present on the ground. A few farms are also being visited to crosscheck these assessments.

In a few months this process will be completed for all the farms likely to be caught by greening. The initial assessments will then be sent to those farmers and it will be up to the individual to check that the features presented are correct.

This will mean checking if hedges or ditches shown on the OSi maps are still present, if all allowable features have been included and if the features allowed actually qualify.

Farmers must examine and correct things seen to be wrong and inform the Department of valid alterations. In early autumn, the Department will tell farmers how much EFA is needed and also how much is provided by the features in each parcel and on the farm. But this must be also be crosschecked.

If the features on the farm do not provide adequate EFA, individuals will need to decide on alternatives to meet this requirement.

This could include the upgrading of hedges, the growing of a protein crop which is accepted for EFA, or by leaving an area of land fallow.

Discussions continue with the Commission to find a solution to the three-crop rule for farmers involved in share-farming.