With the heavy rain right across the country over the past number of months, farmers must be conscious where cattle are out-wintered to avoid poaching, as it may lead to cross compliance breaches during inspections and hence fines. In figures from the Department for 2016, it shows that poaching was the source of 48% of cross compliance breaches in relation to Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC).
With the heavy rain right across the country over the past number of months, farmers must be conscious where cattle are out-wintered to avoid poaching, as it may lead to cross compliance breaches during inspections and hence fines.
In figures from the Department for 2016, it shows that poaching was the source of 48% of cross compliance breaches in relation to Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAEC).
Cross compliance applies to direct payments such as the BPS and ANC, among others.
The GAEC is the obligation of keeping land in good agricultural and environmental condition and refers to a range of standards related to soil, the protection and maintenance of soil organic matter, avoiding deterioration of habitats and water protection.
With poaching the largest issue in relation to breaches, it is important that cattle and sheep are properly managed to ensure that poaching does not occur.
The use of supplementary feeding points may lead to sanctions where they are not moved frequently or ground conditions are poor.
The use of sacrifice paddocks are also a breach of cross compliance and will result in a sanction. Of the breakdown of the GAEC breaches, rutting or poaching damage accounted for 28% of the breaches, while severe poaching accounted for 20% of the breaches.
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