Giving up pigs payment

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Giving up pigs payment

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Mardu

Joined: 20 May 2005
Posts: 67

Posted: Sat May 21, 05 10:47 am Post subject: Giving up pigs payment

We were looking at a house for sale with some land the other day and the owner was asking what plans we had for the land. When we mentioned pigs he said we wouldn't be able to keep them as the previous owner had received an EU payment a few years ago to come out of pigs. The man from DEFRA had called last year to check that pigs were not being kept on the property.
We were trying to work out what the payment was and how long the no pigs rule applied.
The pigs had been fairly intensively reared with most of the land in poor condition when we saw it so I don't think the countryside stewardship scheme would apply?

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Mon May 23, 05 8:26 am Post subject:

I would think you would be best off talking to Defra about this. For a start, you will not have received the payment, so does it apply to the person who received the money or to the land? Would you be wanting to keep pigs for sale or for just your own consumption? The latter may be possible.
As you say, you also want to know how long any ban would apply - the time limit might be up next year for all you know.
Definitely one to talk to Defra about.

Rob R

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 31902
Location: York

Posted: Mon May 23, 05 11:59 pm Post subject:

Condition of the land may not have been an issue with the CSS, as there are payments to restore and/or preserve certain key features, depending upon local target features. However, the CSS has now been replaced, and the new Environmental Stewardship is being made much more widely available, as well as the additional tiers of the Higher level scheme, which is the new equivalent of the CSS. You are best to contact your local DEFRA Rural Development Service and/or FWAG office for free advice- you'll find a load of information on the DEFRA website.

As for the PIRS scheme, from what I have read, it would appear that the agreement applies to both individual and premises (for ten years, up until 2011), even if they are subsequently sold, though if you contact DEFRA, you may get a dispensation if the pigs are for non-commercial use. The PIRS (Outgoers) leaflet is available here: PIRS 2000 leaflet

Lloyd

Joined: 24 Jan 2005
Posts: 2699

Posted: Tue May 24, 05 12:08 am Post subject:

I find these schemes quite bewildering. I own 2 hectares of woodland, and to date, have not been able to work out what if anything I can claim. The "system" keeps redirecting me to different phone numbers, until I get to Newcastle, where I get a "sorry, we're too busy to talk to you" message. I know the previous owners got grants to manage and maintain the wood under the Woodland Grant Scheme, but I can't make any headway!

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Tue May 24, 05 9:34 am Post subject:
It does sound awfully complicated! I bet loads of people just don't bother. After all, if you bought land and downsized, presumably you wanted to get away from paperwork - there seems to be more of it in farming than anywhere else!

Mardu

Joined: 20 May 2005
Posts: 67

Posted: Tue May 24, 05 4:33 pm Post subject: Giving up pigs payment
Thanks, Rob the PIRS 2000 hits the nail on the head. Paddington usually ends up asleep over the keyboard when trying to get info on the DEFRA website!

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