Farming Advice Service – Key Dates

Key dates -
1 October 2024
New rules make it a legal requirement for everyone in Great Britain who keeps birds to register with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), regardless of the size of their flock, even if the birds are kept as pets. Keepers must register by 1 October 2024. Register as a keeper of less than 50 birds on GOV.UK.

1 October 2024
You can burn heather, rough grass, bracken, gorse or vaccinium on land in upland areas from this date. (GOV.UK)

1 October 2024
For any land located in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ), this is the start of the closed period for applying organic manure with a high readily available nitrogen content (for example, slurry, poultry manures or liquid digested sewage sludge) to tillage land on soils which are not shallow or sandy. (GOV.UK)

15 October 2024
For any land located in a NVZ, this is the start of the closed period for applying organic manure with a high readily available nitrogen content (for example, slurry, poultry manures or liquid digested sewage sludge) to grassland on soils which are not shallow or sandy. (GOV.UK)

In case you missed them...
31 August 2024
New hedgerow management rules came into force in May 2024. As part of this, the hedgerow management rules on cutting and trimming, announced that hedgerows covered by the rules must not be cut or trimmed until after 31 August 2024 unless an exemption applies

1 September 2024
For any land located in a Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ), this is the start of the closed period for applying organic manure with a high readily available nitrogen content (for example, slurry, poultry manures or liquid digested sewage sludge) to grassland on shallow or sandy soils. GOV.UK

1 September 2024
For any land located in an NVZ, this is the start of the closed period for applying manufactured nitrogen fertilisers to tillage land. GOV.UK

15 September 2024
For any land located in an NVZ, this is the start of the closed period for applying manufactured nitrogen fertilisers to grassland. GOV.UK

16 September 2024
For any land located in an NVZ, this is the start of the closed period for applying organic manure with a high readily available nitrogen content (for example, slurry, poultry manures or liquid digested sewage sludge) to tillage land on shallow or sandy soils that have been sown with crops on or before 15 September.GOV.UK

For more details about the information provided in the key dates table, visit the Rules for Farmers and Land Managers and the relevant pages of GOV.UK

Upcoming Grant Deadlines
31 October Invited applicants have until 11.59pm on 31 October 2024 to submit their full application for the Water Management grant (round 2)
From 3 January 2024 the following grants opened for application
• Capital Grants 2024
• Higher Tier Capital Grants 2024
• Protection and Infrastructure Grants 2024
• Woodland Management Plan (WMP) Grants 2024
• Woodland Tree Health (WTH) Grants
• Implementation Plan Grant (PA1) or Feasibility Study Grant (PA2)

Key Dates for Annual Declaration Submission
To assist Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreement holders, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) have outlined the opening and closing dates for the annual declaration submission based on the start date of the agreement:

Agreement start date                             Declaration period opens                   Declaration period closes
1 October 2023                                         1 August 2024                                             30 September 2024
1 November 2023                                    1 September 2024                                       31 October 2024
1 December 2023                                    1 October 2024                                            30 November 2024
1 January 2024                                        1 November 2024                                       31 December 2024
1 February 2024                                      1 December 2024                                       31 January 2025
1 March 2024                                           1 January 2025                                           28 February 2025
1 April 2024                                             1 February 2025                                          31 March 2025
1 May 2024                                               1 March 2025                                              30 April 2025
1 June 2024                                              1 April 2025                                                 31 May 2025
1 July 2024                                               1 May 2025                                                   30 June 2025
1 August 2024                                          1 June 2025                                                  31 July 2025
1 September 2024                                   1 July 2025                                                   31 August 2025