Regulation 7(b)(i)
SCHEDULE 3REQUIREMENTS UNDER THE BASIC SCHEME
The requirements referred to in regulation 7(b)(i) are—
(1) the farmer shall not apply any inorganic nitrogen fertiliser between 15th August in one year and 1st February in the following year. The farmer shall not apply slurry or poultry manure between 1st July and 1st December in any year;
(2) the farmer shall not apply organic nitrogen fertiliser unless it has been produced in the nitrate sensitive area or on the holding subject to undertakings under these Regulations;
(3) where a crop is harvested before 15th October in any year—
(i)the farmer shall establish autumn sown cereals, autumn sown oilseed rape or a mixture thereof by 15th October in that year; or
(ii)if it is not intended to sow the next crop before 1st January in the following year, the farmer shall sow a cover crop as soon after harvesting as soil conditions allow;
(4) the farmer shall not sow a cover crop which is of the same crop as that harvested except where previously approved by the Minister in writing;
(5) the farmer shall not remove any cover crop whether by mechanical cultivation, herbicides or by grazing—
(i)before 1st February in the year after its establishment if the soil is sandy; or
(ii)before 1st December in the year in which it was established if the soil is not sandy;
unless the next crop is sown within four weeks of the removal of the cover crop;
(6) the farmer shall not house any animals or poultry, or other birds kept for commercial purposes, on the land;
(7) the farmer shall not provide any supplementary feed for animals grazing crops or cover crops on the land;
(8) the farmer shall not convert permanent grassland in the nitrate sensitive area to arable land unless that grassland is a grass ley in arable rotation;
(9) the farmer shall keep adequate records in a form approved by the Minister of the amount of all applications of nitrogen fertiliser; the dates when such fertiliser was applied; and the areas of the land and the crop to which application was made;
(10) the farmer shall not damage, destroy or remove stockproof walls, hedges, field trees, hedgerow trees, lakes, ponds or streams or other watercourses on or bordering the land except with the previous consent in writing of the Minister;
(11) the farmer shall not damage, destroy or remove any traditional weatherproof farm buildings or features of historical or archaeological interest or value except with the previous consent in writing of the Minister;
(12) the farmer shall comply with the requirements specified in Option A or Option B set out below.
Option A—Low nitrogen arable cropping (restricted rotation)
(i)The farmer shall not in any period of 12 months apply nitrogen fertiliser in excess of the quantity which would result in the application to the land of 150 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare or in excess of the crop requirement where that is less (and for this purpose the nitrogen content of organic nitrogen fertiliser shall be assessed on the basis of the available nitrogen content);
(ii)the farmer shall not cultivate any potatoes or vegetable brassica crops.
Option B—Low nitrogen arable cropping (standard rotation)
(i)Except as provided in point (ii) below, the farmer shall not in any period of 12 months apply nitrogen fertiliser in excess of the quantity which would result in the application to the land of 150 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare or in excess of the crop requirement where that is less (and for this purpose the nitrogen content of organic nitrogen fertiliser shall be assessed on the basis of the available nitrogen content);
(ii)in one period of 12 months (which can be any such period covered by the undertakings) the farmer shall not apply nitrogen fertiliser in excess of the quantity which would result in the application to the land of 200 kilograms of nitrogen per hectare, or in excess of the crop requirement where that is less (and for this purpose the nitrogen content of organic nitrogen fertiliser shall be assessed on the basis of the available nitrogen content).