Confusing messages given out by Defra about the new single payment scheme (SPS) due to come into effect next year have been clarified.
The department has now confirmed that traditional - established 25 years - orchards will be eligible for the scheme. Previously all orchards were considered to be permanent crops and therefore would not have qualified for payment under the new scheme.
Defra has now confirmed that traditional orchards will be eligible for the new scheme. This threat had meant many traditional orchard owners had no choice but to grub up following the harvest of this year's fruit crop.
But pressure from the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and English Nature has resulted in government providing reassurance to traditional owners. "We're sure traditional orchard owners will be delighted at this news," said Ian Woodhurst, CPRE's senior rural policy campaigner. "But the government urgently needs to make sure this message gets out to the owners before it is too late."
Traditional orchards are typically defined as being established at least 25 years ago with widely spaced planting that allows grazing by animals. However, the rules on grazing have yet to be defined and CPRE is still awaiting confirmation from the European Commission.
"We believe the Commission has already signalled its willingness to accommodate traditional orchards within the rules of the new scheme," said Woodhurst. "The government also needs to highlight other support schemes such as the new environmental stewardship scheme which are likely to offer a greater return than the money from the single payment scheme alone."
The SPS is being introduced following the Common Agricultural Policy reform agreement in 2003. Applicants must apply to the new farming payment scheme by 15 May 2005.
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