Smith’s fury over CAP plan

Concerns over environmental proposals in the Common Agricultural Policy package have magnified after the latest details emerged this week in a publication by the European Commission.

Alyn Smith MEP said he was “uneasy” after seeing how the civil servants in Brussels intended narrowly interpreting the “greening” policies which even in their original un-detailed state have caused anxiety in the Scottish farming community.

If the proposals go through, all recipients of support will require to adhere to these environmental policies if they do not want to see their subsidies slashed.

One proposal – which would see 7 per cent of all land taken out of production as environmental focus areas – caused Smith to say he feared the commission was shooting itself in the foot over already unpopular proposals by defining them in the strictest way possible.

“I don’t see why, for example, rough land on the edge of farms which does not qualify for entitlement but which can be made use of ecologically should not qualify for the 7 per cent, but the commission is against it,” he said.

In another example he cited, there is a proposal which will require all farmers with more than 3 hectares of arable land to sow at least three crops with the main crop covering no more than 70 per cent of the arable land.

Now it has emerged that while arable fallow and temporary grassland will be considered as a crop, due to their environmental benefits winter and spring varieties of a crop such as barley will not.

Smith said this would have “a significant impact on arable farming in Scotland”.