The Common Agricultural Policy Single Payment and Support Schemes (Set-aside) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005

Exemptions from the requirement to establish a green cover on set-aside land

7.—(1) In each field or part of a field to which any of the options mentioned in paragraph 1(1) or (2) is applied, a farmer shall by virtue of this provision be treated as exempt from a requirement to establish a green cover by the start of the current green cover season, where he satisfies the Department that for climatic reasons it was not practicable for a green cover to be established by that time, and, where he is treated as exempt, he shall establish a green cover as soon as reasonably possible after the start of the green cover season.

(2) In each field or part of a field to which any of the options mentioned in paragraph 1(1) or (2) is applied, a farmer need not establish a green cover on a strip of land forming part of the land set aside and bordering its edge, of a width up to –

(a) 1 metre, where the strip of land set aside borders land planted with a crop other than a seed crop;

(b) 2 metres, where the strip of land set aside borders land planted with a seed crop; or

(c) 5 metres, in any place where vehicular access to that land from a road or track adjacent to that land may be possible, provided that the strip is ploughed and left as bare fallow.

(3) In sub-paragraph (2), “seed crop” means a crop grown so that the seed of the crop may be harvested and sown to establish a further crop.