General Scheme requirements
The following table summarises the requirements of each option and the standards you have to meet.
Table of requirements
Options | Period the option covers | GFP | GEC | GAH |
|---|
Animal health and welfare management | Five years | * | | * |
|---|
Membership of quality assurance schemes | One year | * | | * |
|---|
Training | One-off events | | | |
|---|
Farm and woodland visits | One-off events | | | |
|---|
Off-Farm talks | One-off events | | | |
|---|
Buffer areas | Five years | * | * | |
|---|
Management of linear features | Five years | * | * | |
|---|
Management of moorland grazing | Five years | * | * | |
|---|
Management of rush pasture | Five years | * | * | |
|---|
Biodiversity cropping on in-bye | Five years | * | * | |
|---|
Retention of winter stubbles | Five years | * | * | |
|---|
Wild bird seed mixture | Five years | * | * | |
|---|
Summer cattle grazing | Five years | * | * | |
|---|
Nutrient management | Five years | * | * | |
|---|
Improving access | Five years | | | |
|---|
Farm woodland planning | Once every five years | | | |
|---|
Farm woodland management | Five years | | | |
|---|
The requirements of some options have to be met within a year, others you have to be committed to for five years.
Land ownership and control
- If you are a landlord, you can only apply for land that you let out on a seasonal basis. If you let out any of the land included in an option on a seasonal basis, you will be responsible for making sure the requirements are met on that land.
- If you are a tenant or contractual licensee, you must discuss the proposed application with your landlord to make sure it does not break the conditions of your tenancy or licence.
- If you have a tenancy or licence with less than five years to run, you will have to make a joint application with your landlord or the land owner if you wish to undertake agri-environment, forestry or access options. The landowner must fill in and sign the declaration in section 7 of the Menu Scheme Application form to confirm that they will make sure your commitments under any five year options would continue to be met if you stopped having control over the land during the five years of your agreement.
- You cannot apply for options on grazing land if your lease for the grazing or mowing is for a period of 364 days or less.This means that your seasonal grazing can be part of your holding calculation but it is not an eligible area for Menu Scheme options.
You have to meet standards for good farming practice including good animal husbandry and general environmental conditions. These standards apply over the whole area of your holding and are set out in The Standard of Good Farming Practice including Good Animal Husbandry pages.
Conservation or management agreement
If you want to take up an option on land in a 'site of special scientific interest' or Natura site, you have to meet the conditions set out in your management agreement and get any permission you need for specific activities before you apply to us.
As this is the first year of the Menu Scheme, you may have, or be negotiating, a conservation or management agreement with Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) for part of the area of land that you want to include under one of the Menu Scheme options. If so,we will accept your application if you have applied to SNH. You should contact SNH (contact details in annex L) as soon as possible so they can respond within a four-month period. In all these cases you must not proceed with any options without the permission you need.You must let us know, in writing, if you do not get any permission you need.
Scheduled monuments are protected by law. If you plan to carry out any works on a scheduled monument, you must obtain scheduled monument consent (SMC) in advance. Contact Historic Scotland for advice before making your Menu Scheme application. You can get advice and SMC from:
Historic Scotland
Longmore House
Salisbury Place
Edinburgh
EH9 1SH
Phone: 0131 668 8777
E-mail hs-farming@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Or, you can speak to your local monument warden who may have visited you recently.
You should apply for SMC as early as possible and by 15 May at the latest. SMC applications will be dealt with as quickly as possible, normally within nine weeks.You should have either a letter from Historic Scotland granting SMC, or written advice from them saying that you do not need SMC, before starting any option affecting land containing a scheduled monument.
Keep any written permission you receive as we will need to see these during an inspection. Do not send them to us with your application.
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