Eligible Land (the
10-month Rule)
You must have an eligible hectare to get payment on an
entitlement. An eligible hectare includes arable land and
all forage area. It excludes land under permanent crops
(including forestry), horticultural crops (fruit,
vegetables, potatoes other than starch potatoes) or used
for non-agricultural activities.
You are free to use your eligible land for any
agricultural activity (other than stated above).
An agricultural activity is defined as the production,
rearing or growing of agricultural products including
harvesting, milking, breeding animals and keeping animals
for farming purposes, or maintaining the land in good
agricultural and environmental condition.
The land used to activate entitlements must be at your
disposal for a minimum period of 10 months. This
requirement is to ensure that a parcel of land can only be
used to support one claim in any year and that land is
managed according to the cross-compliance conditions.
You have the discretion to choose the start date for the
10 month period at any time between 1 October in the year
preceding the claim to 30 April of the year of claim. We
will use a default date of 1 February if you do not state
an alternative on the application form. You will be able to
choose different start dates each year.
If a parcel of land appears against more than one claim
then it will be necessary to resolve any resulting dispute
before the payment involved can be released.