Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) (England) Order 2009 (S.I. No. 2762 of 2009)

S T A T U T O R Y I N S T R U M E N T S 2009 No. 2762 LANDLORD AND TENANT, ENGLAND The Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) (England) Order 2009 Made - - - - 13th October 2009 Laid before Parliament 16th October 2009 Coming into force - - 7th November 2009 The Secretary of State, in whom the powers conferred by paragraph 4 of Schedule 6 to the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986(a) are now vested(b), makes the following Order in exercise of those powers. Citation, commencement and interpretation 1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) (England) Order 2009 and comes into force on 7th November 2009. (2) In this Order— “Council Regulation 1782/2003” means Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 establishing common rules for direct support schemes under the common agricultural policy and establishing certain support schemes for farmers and amending certain Regulations(c); “eligible hectare” is to be construed in accordance with Article 44(2) of Council Regulation 1782/2003; “the HFA Regulations” means the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2009(d); “moorland” means all the land that is— (a) severely disadvantaged land, and (b) shown coloured pink in the three volumes of maps entitled “Moorland Map of England 2006” each volume being marked with the number of the volume, dated 7th October 2007, signed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and deposited at the offices of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL; and “severely disadvantaged land” means any area of land shown coloured pink on the three volumes of maps numbered 1 to 3, each volume being marked “Volume of maps of less favoured farming areas in England”, dated 20th May 1991, signed and sealed by the Minister (a) 1986 c. 5; section 96(1) of that Act defines “the Minister”. (b) In relation to England, the functions previously vested in the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food are vested in the Secretary of State – see article 5(1) of, and paragraph 27 of Schedule 1 to, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (Dissolution) Order 2002 (S.I. 2002/794). (c) OJ No L 270, 21.10.2003, p 1; repealed by Council Regulation (EC) No 73/2009 (OJ No L 30, 31.1.2009, p 16). (d) S.I. 2009/138. 2 of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and deposited at the offices of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Ergon House, Horseferry Road, London SW1P 2AL. Assessment of productive capacity of land 2.—(1) Paragraphs (2) and (3) have effect for the purpose of the assessment of the productive capacity of a unit of agricultural land situated in England, in order to determine whether that unit is a commercial unit of agricultural land within the meaning of paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 6 to the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986. (2) Where the land in question is capable, when farmed under competent management, of being used to produce any livestock, farm arable crop, outdoor horticultural crop or fruit as is mentioned in any of the entries 1 to 3 in column 1 of the Schedule to this Order, then— (a) the unit of production prescribed in relation to that use of the land is the unit in the entry in column 2 of that Schedule opposite to that entry, and (b) the amount determined, for the period of 12 months beginning with 7th November 2009, as the net annual income from that unit of production in that period is the amount in the entry in column 3 of that Schedule opposite to that entry as read with any relevant note to that Schedule. (3) Where land capable, when farmed under competent management, of producing a net annual income is the subject of payments of hill farm allowance (see column 1 of entry 4 of the Schedule to this Order), or was an eligible hectare in 2008 (see column 1 of entry 5), then— (a) the unit of production prescribed in relation to that use of the land is the unit in the entry in column 2 of that Schedule opposite to that entry, and (b) the amount determined, for the period of 12 months beginning with 7th November 2009, as the net annual income from that unit of production in that period is the amount in the entry in column 3 of that Schedule opposite to that entry. Revocation 3. The Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) (England) Order 2008(a) is revoked. Jim Fitzpatrick Parliamentary Under Secretary of State 13th October 2009 Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs SCHEDULE Article 2 PRESCRIBED UNITS OF PRODUCTION AND DETERMINATION OF NET ANNUAL INCOME Column 1 Farming use Column 2 Unit of production Column 3 Net annual income from unit of production (£) 1. Livestock Dairy cows (other than Channel Islands breeds) cow 416 Beef breeding cows: on land in a less favoured area as cow -143 (a) S.I. 2008/2708. 3 Column 1 Farming use Column 2 Unit of production Column 3 Net annual income from unit of production (£) defined in regulation 2 of the HFA Regulations on other land cow -147 Beef fattening cattle (semi-intensive) head -48(1) Dairy replacements head 94(2) on land in a less favoured area as defined in regulation 2 of the HFA Regulations ewe -12 Ewes: on other land ewe -10 Store lambs (including ewe lambs sold as shearlings) head 3.50 sows and gilts in pig sow or gilt 182 Porker head 11.30 Cutter head 13.70 Pigs: bacon head 15.70 laying hens bird 3 broilers bird 0.30 Poultry: point-of-lay pullets bird 0.60 Christmas turkeys bird 6.10 2. Farm arable crops Barley hectare -29 Beans hectare 7.92(3) Oilseed rape hectare 9 Dried peas hectare -34.08(3) first early hectare 2497 Potatoes: maincrop (including seed) hectare 1866 Sugar beet hectare 357 Wheat hectare 42 3. Outdoor horticultural crops and fruit Orchard fruit hectare 2720 Soft fruit hectare 6830 4. Forage land Eligible forage area as defined in regulation 2 of the HFA Regulations hectare the amount of hill farm allowance required to be paid under regulations 3 and 5 of the HFA Regulations 5. Eligible hectares moorland hectare -22.73 Land which was, in 2008, an eligible hectare for the purposes of Council Regulation 1782/2003 severely disadvantaged land, excluding moorland hectare 145.03 Column 1 Farming use Column 2 Unit of production Column 3 Net annual income from unit of production (£) disadvantaged land as defined in regulation 2 of the HFA Regulations hectare 190.88 all other land hectare 103.88 (1) This is the figure for animals which would be kept for 12 months. In the case of animals kept for less than 12 months a pro-rata adjustment of this figure is to be made. (2) This is the figure for animals (irrespective of age) which would be kept for 12 months. In the case of animals kept for less than 12 months a pro-rata adjustment of this figure is to be made. (3) This figure includes the protein crop premium provided for in Article 76 of Council Regulation 1782/2003. EXPLANATORY NOTE (This note is not part of the Order) This Order prescribes units of production for the assessment of the productive capacity of agricultural land situated in England and sets out the amount which is to be regarded as the net annual income from each such unit for the year 7th November 2009 to 6th November 2010 inclusive for certain purposes of the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986 (“the 1986 Act”). This Order revokes the Agricultural Holdings (Units of Production) (England) Order 2008. An assessment of the productive capacity of agricultural land is required in determining whether or not the land in question is a “commercial unit of agricultural land” for the purposes of the succession provisions in the 1986 Act: see in particular sections 36(3) and 50(2). A “commercial unit of agricultural land” is a unit of agricultural land which, when farmed under competent management, is capable of producing a net annual income which is not less than the aggregate of the average annual earnings of two full-time male agricultural workers aged 20 years or over (paragraph 3 of Schedule 6 to the 1986 Act). Article 2 of this Order provides that, in determining this annual income figure, whenever a particular farming use mentioned in column 1 of the Schedule is relevant to the assessment of the productive capacity of the land in question, the units of production and the net annual income specified in columns 2 and 3 respectively will form the basis of that assessment. This Order includes net annual income figures for land which was, in 2008, an eligible hectare for the purposes of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1782/2003 (OJ No L 270, 21.10.2003, p. 1); it also provides, by reference to the Hill Farm Allowance Regulations 2009 (S.I. 2009/138), net annual income figures for land which is the subject of payments of hill farm allowance under those Regulations. An impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on business or the private or voluntary sector is foreseen. Crown copyright 2009 Printed and published in the UK by The Stationery Office Limited under the authority and superintendence of Carol Tullo, Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office and Queen’s Printer of Acts of Parliament. £4.00 E4976 10/2009 194976T 19585