Macaulay Land Use Research Institute Homepage
About Us | News | Research | Consultancy | Products | Policy Support | Education | Jobs | People | Contact |
Scottish Environment LINK
Scottish Environment LINK - The voice of Scotland's environment movement

THE STATE OF SCOTLAND'S FARMED ENVIRONMENT 2005

28. THE SFGS: FARMLAND PREMIUM

Implementation

The SFGS: Farmland Premium provides annual payments for 10 or 15 years for the conversion of agricultural land to woodland and payments are determined by type of trees and not the overall number of trees (SEERAD, 2005a). Farmers will receive payments for 15 years, if at least 60% of the area of the woodland is broadleaves and the woodlands contain more than 50% of broadleaves throughout the period. Payments will be made only for 10 years, if less than 60% of the woodland area is planted with broadleaves. The scheme does not allow trees to be felled within 30 years (for the 15 year payment period) and 20 years (for the 10 year payment period) after the first annual payment (Forestry Commission, 2005). However, payment rates differ depending on the land category. Table 28.1 summarises payment rates for different land categories.

Table 28.1 Payment rates of the SFGS: Farmland Premium

Land category

£/hectare/year

Non-LFA (arable and improved land)

300

LFA (arable and improved land)

  • disadvantaged areas of LFAs
  • severely disadvantaged areas of LFAs

 

230

160

Unimproved land

60

Source: SEERAD (2005a); Forestry Commission (2005)

Agricultural land is defined as land used for horticulture and fruit growing, arable cropping, seed growing, dairy farming, livestock breeding and keeping, as well as grazing land, meadowland, osier land and market gardens and nursery grounds. Planting woodland on common grazings in crafting areas is also eligible. On the other hand, land mainly used for horses and woodland to be used for Christmas trees is not eligible. The SFGS: Farmland Premium is restricted to a maximum of 200 hectare per farm with a minimum of 1 hectare per application. Applications for unimproved land are limited to 80 hectares maximum (Forestry, Commission 2005).

All applications are evaluated to ensure that they meet the environmental standards set out in the UK Forestry Standard and the associated guidelines on nature conservation, landscape design, archaeology, soil and water. Moreover, payments will only be provided, if woodlands are planted with the approval of the Forestry Commission under the rules of the SFGS. This is to ensure that satisfactory environmental and silvicultural standards are maintained (SEERAD, 2005a).

THE SFGS: FARMLAND PREMIUM -Evaluation >>