[Closed] Any farmers here?

Not a farmer but I think they have the option of using the whole field or leaving the headland untouched in return for a payment.

Not a farmer, but I have worked in the regulatory side of this a little.

The real answer is "it depends" 😁

Good environmental practice would be to leave a decent margin for wildlife etc.

Sometimes payments are available to compensate for the loss of crop production if in a management scheme.

Sometimes the field might have some protection on it SSSI, or maybe length of time as grassland.

Some farmers just maximise land use, sometimes within the law/guidance, sometimes not.

Depends if there's a PROW there in England and Wales. If there is it shouldn't be ploughed out at all if it's field edge; though occasionally they have been asked to for the purposes of making a surface that people will actually walk on if it's rough enough that people aren't walking on it. Otherwise people end up walking in the crop anyway.

Otherwise it depends if they have grants/subsidies that specific to leave a certain width.

Strangely enough mrsleffe knows something about this.  I'll ask when she reappears from her latest meeting

If it's a footpath 1.5metres, bridlepath 3metres, byway 3metres. If a border around a field 1metre of sterile ground from a hedge. Conservation borders are 6metres from the 1metre sterile border but can have crops in them.

Here in sunny Scotland - it depends. Payments are calculated on the cultivated area, not the boundaries, and payments also require to you to keep youre land in "Good environmental and Agricultural Condition".
However, if you were to seek payments under AECS (which is now defunct unless you get a rollover) you could potentially get some funding for conservation measures. Generally though, AECS is a nightmare on smaller holdings, designated sites and often is was so restrictive it wasnt worth the bother.
Rules abound and restrictions are hidden under every rock. Speak to a decent farm advisor (your local farmer will have a fav) and see where to go from there.
Its all up in the air at the mo though as there has been no defined repalcement for AECS. although the feeling is it will be replaced with a payment programme that shifts towards payments for "natural capital" - that was before the world caught fire though!!!

This falls under cross compliance gaec 7a....you need to not damage green cover from 2m from centre of hedge (known as hedge protection zone) so no cultivating or spraying off. You can top etc to keep woody growth down. Any farmer under BPS will be expected to adher to cross compliance (all smes & geacs). However it wont be a breach if field is under 2ha.

A lot of farmers get this wrong, commonly the fact it is 2m from centre of hedge. If you have wide hedges you're often fine. Under CS or ES, any grass margin/buffer strip should not include the 2m hedge protection zone.

Ditches have protection zones too under cross compliance: 1m from top of bank, 2m from centre of ditch. No 2ha minimum for ditches...applies to all field sizes

Nuke, that is what i am looking for. No right of way issues, wayleave issue maybe in the future, currently in conversation with the landowner/farmer regarding this. There will be a watercrossing consent in place prior to the works for any ditches. Many thanks all.

mrsleffe says that nuke knows his stuff and is the most correct here but it does depend on what part of the country you are in and if you are in a protected area of some sort.

Is @nuke a farmer and if so can she have a picture of some animals 🙂