Those of you with your own land

T

Tilda

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 January 2010
Messages
1,125
Visit site
Hi

My yard manager is very stressed at the moment so I am trying to help her out and wondered if anyone with their own land or knowledge of countryside management might be able to offer some advice.

The yard and grazing are owned by a big country estate and they are forcing her to keep the horses in at the moment due to the ground being so wet (is written in to the contract). Some of the liveries are giving her a hard time about this despite the fact that it is out of her hands and has been the same for the last 3 years.

I think the estate must be in some sort of stewardship scheme because they have said that DEFRA can fine them £200,000 if the land gets poached and they have said she will have to pay it if that happens.

They won't allow her to even have a trash paddock so they could at least alternate and allow the horses some turnout.

So a couple of questions really:

1) has anyone ever heard of DEFRA fining for this? (I can't imagine how they would monitor it)

2) Does anyone have any suggestions of how we could get the horses turnout without ruining the land? (we are shortly to be getting a horsewalker and do have an all weather arena)

Obviously none of us want the paddocks trashed and she actually manages the land well but would be nice if the horses could get a bit of turnout every day.

Any help will be greatly appreciated as I love this yard and would hate it if my YM decided it was too much stress and gave it up!
 
I have heard of this before where the owner was claiming 'set aside' for the land and therefore it is not to be grazed by horses.

The way to overcome it would be for the landowner to claim less set aside next year to enable a sacrifice paddock I would think.

It could be that they shouldn't have livestock or horses of any sort on the land and by it being poached up there is stark evidence it has been used in this way should DEFRA inspect, which they do from time to time.

There is also a small grant for horse grazing and as part of the grant you need to maintain your paddocks well. I cannot see that some poaching in the winter would be deemed as unacceptable though for this funding, which is very small in any case.
 
Last edited:
Thanks YasandCrystal I don't think that is the case as it is a working farm with cattle etc..

Interesting about the set aside thanks.
 
1) yes, DEFRA do fine for failing to fulfil cross compliance obligations, it takes form of withholding single payment to the offending farmer.
However, unless they are in Higher Level Stewardship I fail to see how grazing animals would affect cross compliance, providing that the land is actually grazing land.

2) you could turn out for a bit in the arena, perhaps?

ETS - ''set aside'' doesn't exist any more.
 
I suspect Martlin has hit the nail on the head, they are in the Higher Level Stewardship scheme and using the land for grazing. However if they allow it to become poached they are no longer fulfilling the requirements of the scheme and they will be in for a heavy fine. DEFRA can and will do this.

Set aside no long exists, replaced by stewardship schemes.

Not in the estates interest to decrease the amount of land in the scheme financially.

I would suggest the YM checks her contract as this will be in the terms and conditions of her tenancy and therefore she should in turn have made her liveries aware of it.

Rock and a hard place for her by the sound of things.

ETA - Sorry Martlin didn't see your bit about set aside - must put my glasses on!!
 
They are probably in receipt of 'Single area payment' which is about £60.00 per acre per year at the moment. People who have outdoor pigs can also claim 'Single area payment' look at how much they trash the land! If the landowners where claiming a higher status than the basic Single Area Payment then there would be a problem because it is rated as being more enviromentally sensitive so the grazing of horses on it may damage it too much.
You need to find out what status they are claiming for.
 
It does not sound to me like an ELS/ HLS grazing scheme. They are no ELS garzing options so far as I am aware. If they are in an HLS grazing scheme the will only be able to graze between 1st April/ after 1st hay cut to 30th September.

It sounds like they are enforcing their cross compliance restrictions which includes keeping the land in Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition (GAEC rules). There is very little you can do as a tenant. maybe a word with the estate to see if in the future they could provide a hidden field maybe?
 
Single Payment Scheme is quite complicated system, there are historic entitlements and area entitlements and all sorts, it also depends what part of the country you are in. BUT, don't sweat quite yet - 2012 is the last year of CAP as it stands, nobody knows how it will look like after that yet ;) There are various ramblings of replacing it entirely with environmental schemes etc.
BTW - the basic level of Single Payment is 280 Euro per hectare, less modulation, plus historic value and any disadvantaged areas supplements.
 
This stewardship stuff is worth quite a bit of money. I would move from a yard that restricts turnout that much, we haven't even had a wet winter! They need to decide whether the want the stewardship or a livery yard, the two don't go together. Me thinks the landowners are being a tad greedy.
 
info on here

http://www.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/farm-manage/single-pay/

not only can you be fined, you can also lose your SFP entitlement if it is shown you have not looked after your land.
poaching also causes future drainage problems for the land and should really be avoided, whilst everyone likes to turn their horses out in the winter months many seem to not realise the damage it does on land that does not drain well :(

if it is included in her tenancy agreement not a lot she can do.............
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top