New Acres scheme

I want the money but will it be worth the hassle at all?

I'm not going out spot spraying thistles/docks ffs.....bad for my back, wallet, morale you name it.....the fact that I suspect its nonsense makes it harder to swallow....

If it can be scientifically justified I'd have less of a problem but for that kind of bull I nearly think I'd rather have more control on my working time on my property that I paid through the nose for .....it feels more and more like you are a slave at the whims of jobsworths................and the money on offer ain't great ........ they should at least be made justify what they are at and have it held up to some scrutiny rather than seemingly making stuff up as they go along to reduce payments but still remove any autonomy......there's too much inertia too.....every mam and his dog knows calendar farming is the height of nonsense but there it is every year sitting in the corner waiting to **** you over..

There's too much jnterference to our longterm detriment the way things are going.....im beginning to think we would be better off not taking the money and exerting a little more influence on our businesses rather thsn have industry groups/various vested interests and people it wont affect materially make decisions for us............

Don’t say he convinced you

No, they’re too quiet for my liking, i’ll stick to the Limousins and Salers for now🤔

Is letting it go not kind of the point🤔..low input pasture..biodiversity and all that

I can top in late late summer after all the auld biodiversity has had its wicked way with each other in the great orgy of spring/summer but they want to incentivise a lad going out with a knapsack......its cracked if you ask me.

I have one small place that has been neglected......and If I neglect it anymore you'll be talking about a sea of ragworth, thistles, docks nettles.......it hasn't gotten nitrogen since I can remember ....

But I tidy it up by topping and pulling the ragworth, would be interesting to get soil tested

Thistles will grow naturally on dry ground & if present in a intensive farm, they will be sprayed if a problem in number's. Nettles are manure reliant.no one should be attempting to justify such nonsense of thistles present in pasture for lipp being regarded as a negative indicator.

Has anyone looked their eligibility on Dafm, see we’re outside of a marked area, does that mean we can’t get in?

Oh you are probably right......but if you value your time and the hassle and how much of it you will have when they screw you out of it with marking/scoring schemes after you've put in time/effort investment complying

That's what has me wondering if it will be worth it this time.....some of the proposed stuff goes agsinst the science afaics.....There's a breakdown in trust when it comes to me given some of the stuff that happened in the past with bad advice etc when I was taking over from my father......

Added to that is a malicious fantasy that if lot opted out instead of rushing headlong in .... powers that be might be forced to come back to the table with a better offer.....or at least scientific justification for what they are at....answers to questions about broader implications/other industries etc

My gut tells me we should be attempting to have a little more control on our destinies than giving it away but I suppose I know in the end I'll be forced to follow the herd or lose out......you would wonder though.

Two types of entry , general and co-operation, marked areas are the latter ( I'm in this ) so you are in first one. On IFJ payment rates shown - planting trees around farmyard looks might suit some. ( over2k for 0.5ha max -- 0.18 ha minimum )

Chatting to my ag advisor about this recently...he doesnt know if he will do this scheme....seems to be alot of bullshìt in it....he doesnt fancy going around playing the bad cop...marking down farmers scores etc....

Dont blame him...

He doesn't have to be bad cop, just mark it properly. I can't see any advisors let the big money go

If in the Coop based scheme you have to choose either

Extensively grazed pasture

or

low input grass land.

I think low input grass land is results based where they look for positive and negative indicators etc. Up to 400/ha.

What is the definition of extensively grazed pasture? Is that results based? 200 per ha

Whatever about the crowd here I wouldn’t have much faith in the unelected eu beurocrats. Look at the joke of a situation with the designations. Land designated that is not a suitable habitat but it’s a box ticked. I shouldn’t say joke as it’s far more serious.

Ah yes that makes sense, it must be 1.5 billion over the 5 years not per year.