You can now apply for direct CAP aid for 2019

Since last February 1, the campaign for the application of aid from the CAP 2019 is underway, which will allow more than 716,000 producers to submit, until next April 30, the Single Application for Direct Aid from the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) ), through which the producer can request all his aid at one time.

The total amount thereof amounts to 4,954 million euros, which may be paid in the form of advances as of October 16 and the balance as of December 1.

As in previous campaigns, the Single Application should be addressed to the competent authority of the autonomous community in which the exploitation or most of the surface of the farm is located and if it does not have a surface, it will be presented in the autonomous community where the greatest number of animals is found.

It is important to remember the importance of correctly completing this request and submit it in time, to avoid possible penalties or even the non-receipt of the aid for a bad declaration or a presentation late.

The direct aids that can be requested are included in the Royal Decree approved at the end of 2014 on the application as of that year of direct payments to agriculture and livestock, modified on November 8, 2018. This regulation describes the necessary requirements to qualify for each aid and the minimum information that the Single Application must contain.

The total amount of direct aid for the 2019 campaign amounts to 4,954 million euros, which may be paid from October 16

Also, to obtain more information about the application of the CAP, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food has made available to farmers and ranchers the updated technical notes of this new campaign, which can be accessed through their page Web (www.mapa.es) and the FEGA website (www.fega.es).

The aids that can be requested in 2019 are the following:

1. Community aid schemes.

– Basic payment to farmers (“basic payment scheme”); – Payment for farmers who apply agricultural practices that are beneficial for the climate and the environment (“green payment”); – Supplementary payment for young farmers who start their agricultural activity. – Payment of the scheme for small farmers

2. Specific aid schemes per area:

– Specific payment for cotton cultivation.

3. Voluntary partner assistance schemes, pursuant to Article 52 of Regulation (EU) 1307/2013. – Help associated with rice cultivation – Help associated with protein crops – Help associated with nuts and carob beans – Help associated with quality legumes – Help associated with sugar beet – Help associated with tomato for industry – Associated support for farms that maintain nurse cows – Associated help for the cattle holdings of bait. – Associated aid for dairy farms. – Associated support for sheep farms. – Associated help for goat farms. – Associated aid for dairy cattle farmers who maintained special rights in 2014 and do not have eligible hectares for the activation of basic payment rights. – Associated aid for cattle graziers who maintained special rights in 2014 and do not have eligible hectares for the activation of basic payment rights. – Associated aid for sheep and goat farmers who maintained special rights in 2014 and do not have eligible hectares for the activation of basic payment rights.

APPLICATIONS FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, NATIONAL RESERVE AND RIGHTS ASSIGNMENTS

It also opens the deadline for submission of applications for payment of rural development measures included in the scope of the integrated management and control system (basically aid for area and livestock aid), the request for transfer of basic payment rights and the request of rights for the National Reserve of Basic Payment that is oriented fundamentally towards the young agriculturalists and towards those producers who are incorporated to the agrarian activity and who have an adequate formation and qualification in the agrarian scope.

SIGPAC To facilitate the completion of the Single Application and taking into account that all grant applicants must submit the so-called “graphic statement”, in accordance with the Geographical Information System for the Identification of Agricultural Plots (SIGPAC), of all agricultural plots of land. exploitation, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food puts the necessary information at the disposal of applicants by accessing the SIGPAC through its website (www.mapa.es), the FEGA website (www.fega.es) or of the autonomous communities.

In the event that the SIGPAC does not reflect the real situation of the plots and if it is observed that the enclosures are not properly delimited, or if the use of any enclosure has been changed, the producer will notify the Administration through the timely allegation. An enclosure whose delimitation, or other information registered in the SIGPAC is not true and coincident with reality, may result in a reduction of the aid requested, especially if it includes elements that are not eligible.

MAIN CHANGES IN THE REGULATIONS

On November 8, the Royal Decree was published modifying the current regulations for direct aids from 2019, in which technical adjustments derived from the experience acquired in previous years are introduced. The most notable modifications are the following:

– In relation to pastures, new adjustments are introduced, in what refers to the determination of when there is agricultural activity on these surfaces, in order to avoid possible situations of abandonment.

Likewise, and given that the graphic declaration of surfaces is obligatory, it has been clarified, both to farmers and to the administration, who should provide the information on the areas of common use, both in grasses and in other types of surfaces, including the share.

– Technical improvements are introduced in the associated livestock subsidies, to favor the incorporation of new owners to the activity, in particular of young farmers.

– A new Annex is included, detailing, although not exhaustively, situations to be considered as possible cases of creation of artificial conditions for the collection of the aid.

MONITORING

In the context of the CAP’s simplification and modernization agenda, in the 2019 campaign, Spain will replace the traditional on-the-spot controls, in certain geographical areas, by the monitoring of the areas declared by the farmers, thus presenting itself as one of the Member States pioneers in the use of new technologies for the simplification and improvement of controls.

In November 2018 the Royal Decree was published modifying the regulations applied to direct aids in this 2019 campaign. These are technical adjustments derived from the experience acquired in previous years.

The monitoring of the plots consists in the periodic and systematic observation of the land, based mainly on the use of the images of the Sentinel satellites of the Copernicus Program. In the field of CAP aids, the high frequency and resolution of these images, together with the use of other new technologies such as drones, geo-tagged photos or artificial intelligence, make it possible to automatically check eligibility conditions of the surface of close to 100% of the farms, thus achieving its constitution, as a new way of simplifying the management and reducing the costs of controlling the aid.

In this way, the new technologies are presented, as a great opportunity at the service of the control and management of the aid of the PAC, to be able to monitor the declared area for the aid of the PAC of all the farmers, and not only of a small percentage of files as it has been until now, allowing a clearly preventive approach that will include improving communication with farmers.