The Common Agricultural Policy Schemes (Cross-Compliance) (Scotland) Regulations 2004

Undergrazing

10.—(1) A farmer must not allow undergrazing of land.

(2) Where undergrazing under sub-paragraph (1) is identified by an authorised person, and the Scottish Ministers form the opinion that the land is undergrazed, the farmer must in addition comply with the conditions of any written management regime imposed by the Scottish Ministers in relation to that land; and the Scottish Ministers must pass or send a copy of that management regime to the farmer.

(3) In establishing a non-compliance for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1), land is not undergrazed unless it is not capable of recovering to the extent that the use of the land or the growth, structure or species composition of grazed vegetation is no longer detrimental to the environmental or agricultural interest of the land by any time during the growing season in the calendar year following the date when the land first became undergrazed.

(4) In this paragraph, “undergrazing” means not using land fully or scrub or coarse vegetation becoming evident, where the use of the land or the growth, structure or species composition of grazed vegetation is detrimental to the environmental or agricultural interest of the land.