Baroness Byford – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Byford on 2014-04-02.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the three crop rule included in the new Common Agricultural Policy relates to single parcels of land owned or rented by one person or company, or whether the entire holding can be treated as one parcel of land.

Lord De Mauley

The requirements of the crop diversification measure of greening, also known as the “three crop rule”, apply to the total arable area of a holding.

Farmers with between 10ha and 30ha of eligible arable land will usually need to grow at least two crops. Farmers with over 30ha of eligible arable land will usually need to grow at least three crops. Compliance with the measure will be assessed at the holding level, not the parcel level.