Under the organic conversion option, or the organic maintenance option in certain circumstances, you may phase entry of the land into the agreement when this is included in your proposal. A phased maintenance agreement must follow a previous organic conversion agreement where land was phased in, and where this agreement is not yet completed. The land parcels and phases must follow the same order as the conversion phases.
The last phase (conversion or maintenance) must be entered no later than 5 years from the date of entry into Rural Development Contracts (RDCs); therefore your agreement may be for a maximum of 9 years. Each section of land must be deemed to be a separate production unit, or common grazing, and each phase would be entitled to 5 annual payments.
Bringing additional land into an organic contract
You may bring additional land into your contract by submitting a new proposal to include that land. Note that this further land must constitute a viable production unit, and the maximum hectare limits, and minimum payment, include all land for that IACS business (irrelevant of the number of agreements) under either the RDC conversion or maintenance option.