Regulation 2 Interpretation

In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

• “agriculture” includes horticulture, fruit growing, seed growing, dairy farming and livestock breeding and keeping, the use of land as grazing land, meadow land, osier land, market gardens and nursery grounds, and the use of land for woodlands where that use is ancillary to the use of land for other agricultural purposes, and “agricultural” shall be construed accordingly;

• “the appropriate Minister” means—

  1. (a)

     in relation to England, the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and

  2. (b)

     in relation to any other part of Great Britain, the Secretary of State;

• “approved breed” means any hardy breed or cross breed of sheep approved by the appropriate Minister for the purposes of these Regulations, being a breed or cross breed which is suitable for breeding and rearing on land in respect of which the severity of the permanent natural handicaps affecting the breeding and rearing of sheep on that land is greater than that affecting the breeding and rearing of sheep on severely disadvantaged land generally;

• “breeding cow” means a female bovine animal, comprised in a regular breeding herd which is not maintained primarily for the production of milk and which, on or before the qualifying day—

  1. (a)

     has borne a calf and is capable of lactation, or

  2. (b)

     has been brought into the herd primarily for the purpose of replacing an animal which has borne a calf, and is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, suitable for the purpose of bearing a calf during the year following the qualifying day;

• “Council Regulation” means Council Regulation (EEC) No. 2328/91^f1 on improving the efficiency of agricultural structures;

• “designated maps” means—

  1. (a)

     in relation to England, the 3 volumes of maps numbered 1 to 3, each such volume being marked “volume of maps of less-favoured farming areas in England” and with the number of the volume, dated 20th May 1991, signed and sealed by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and deposited at the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food at Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3HX;

  2. (b)

     in relation to Wales, the 2 volumes of maps numbered 1 and 2, both volumes being marked “volume of maps of less-favoured farming areas in Wales” and with the number of the volume, dated 20th May 1991, signed by the Secretary of State for Wales and deposited at the offices of the Welsh Office Agriculture Department at Trawsgoed, Aberystwyth, DyfedSY23 4HT;

  3. (c)

     in relation to Scotland, the 4 maps numbered 1 to 4, each such map being marked “map of less-favoured farming areas in Scotland” and with the number of the map, dated 15th May 1991, signed by the Secretary of State for Scotland and deposited at the offices of the Scottish Office Agriculture and Fisheries Department at Pentland House, 47 Robb’s Loan, Edinburgh EH14 1TW;

• “disadvantaged land” means the land shown coloured blue or coloured pink on the designated maps, being land—

  1. (a)

     which is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, inherently suitable for extensive livestock production but not for the production of crops in quantity materially greater than that necessary to feed such livestock as are capable of being maintained on such land, and

  2. (b)

     whose agricultural production is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, restricted in its range by, or by any combination of, soil, relief, aspect or climate;

• “ECU” means the unit of account used for the purposes of the common agricultural structures policy of the European Economic Community, and any reference in these Regulations to a specified number of ECU in relation to a compensatory allowance shall be taken to be a reference to the sterling equivalent of that number of ECU converted into sterling at the agricultural exchange rate applicable on the qualifying day in the year in which the compensatory allowance is paid;

• “eligible land” means an area of land of not less than three hectares—

  1. (a)

     which is situated in an area included in the list of less-favoured farming areas adopted by the Council or the Commission of the European Communities under Article 2(2) of Council Directive No. 75/268/EEC^f2 on mountain and hill farming and farming in certainless-favoured areas as amended by Council Directive 80/666/EEC^f3, which list is contained in Council Directive 84/169/EEC^f4 as amended by Commission Decision 91/25/EEC^f5, and

  2. (b)

     which is severely disadvantaged land or disadvantaged land;

• “ewe” means a female sheep which, on the qualifying day, is more than one year old;

• “forage area” means the area of land producing plants grazed by, or fed to, livestock;

• “hill sheep land” in relation to Scotland means severely disadvantaged land suitable for use for the maintenance of sheep of a hardy breed, but not of sheep of other breeds;

• “livestock unit” means a unit of measurement of numbers of livestock described in article 19 and annex 1 of the Council Regulation;

• “occupier” includes a person who has a right to use eligible land for the purpose of grazing cattle or sheep;

• “overgrazing” means grazing land with livestock in such numbers as adversely to affect the growth, quality or species composition of vegetation (other than vegetation normally grazed to destruction) on that land to a significant degree;

• “qualified flock” means a flock of ewes which is kept on eligible land, or on eligible land and other land used with it, primarily for the breeding and rearing of lambs, and which is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, maintained and managed in accordance with sound husbandry practice;

• “the qualifying day” means, in respect of any year in which a compensatory allowance maybe paid under these Regulations, 1st January in that year;

• “regular breeding herd” means a herd of cattle which is kept on eligible land, or on eligible land and other land used with it, and which—

  1. (a)

     has, on the qualifying day, been in existence for a period of at least six months;

  2. (b)

     is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, maintained primarily for the purpose of breeding and rearing calves; and

  3. (c)

     comprises, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, a reasonably constant number of cattle and is maintained and managed in accordance with sound husbandry practice;

• “relevant afforested land” means land which in the opinion of the appropriate Minister was converted to forest on or after 1st January 1986 and before 1st January 1988 by or on behalf of a person to whom a compensatory allowance was paid in respect of that land before the date when the conversion to forest was completed under the 1984 Regulations, the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1979^f6 or the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1975^f7; but land shall cease to be relevant afforested land for the purposes of these Regulations 15 years after the date when such conversion was completed;

• “retirement pension” means a category A and category B pension within the meaning of section 12(1)(f) of the Social Security Act 1975^f8 ; a category C and category D pension within the meaning of section 34(1)(e) of that Act; or graduated retirement benefit as referred to in Schedule 1 to the Social Security (Graduated Retirement Benefit) (No. 2) Regulations 1978^f9 ;

• “severely disadvantaged land” means—

  1. (a)

     the land shown coloured pink on the designated maps, being land—

     1. (i)

        which is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, inherently suitable for extensive livestock production but not for the production of crops in quantity materially greater than that necessary to feed such livestock as are capable of being maintained on such land, and

     2. (ii)

        whose agricultural production is, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, severely restricted to its range by, or by any combination of, soil, relief, aspect or climate, or

  2. (b)

     land situated in the Isles of Scilly;

• “sound husbandry practice” includes practice in relation to the grazing and feeding of livestock;

• “specially qualified flock” means a qualified flock in which all, or in the opinion of the appropriate Minister substantially all, of the ewes comprised in the flock are of an approved breed, and which—

  1. (a)

     in England and Wales is maintained on severely disadvantaged land or on severely disadvantaged land and other land used with it;

  2. (b)

     in Scotland is maintained or substantially maintained on hill sheep land;

• “the 1984 Regulations” means the Hill Livestock (Compensatory Allowances) Regulations 1984^f10 .

Where in Scotland any agricultural unit consists in part only of eligible land, that land or any part thereof shall be deemed for the purposes of these Regulations not to be eligible land unless, in the opinion of the appropriate Minister, such land or such part thereof would be suitable to be dealt with as a separate unit which is capable, having regard to the number of other animals normally grazed thereon, of maintaining a regular breeding herd or a qualified flock.

Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation shall be construed as a reference to the regulation so numbered in these Regulations.