4. Am I eligible for LFASS?
We may pay LFASS to an applicant who actively farms eligible land. To be eligible for payment of LFASS you must:
- be a farmer or a crofter;
- be at least 16 years of age;
- have declared at least 3 hectares of eligible land in the SAF which you completed, signed and submitted in the year for which your LFASS payment is to be made. (Important - we explain what we mean by eligible land at paragraph 5 and active farming at para 7. These requirements have changed);
- be actively farming eligible land you declared in your SAF for at least 183 days, or periods totalling 183 days, in the calendar year for which your LFASS payment is to be made;
- meet Cross-compliance conditions on all the land declared in your SAF.
- allow RPID or our agents (or any EC institutions, their staff or representatives) to enter your farm(s), to inspect land, animals, relevant equipment and farm records at any reasonable time to check that you are meeting the scheme rules;
- co-operate with inspectors and give reasonable help during any inspection.
- undertake to farm at least 3 ha of LFA land for at least 5 years from the date of your first LFASS payment;
If you do not meet the above conditions we will refuse your LFASS application or apply the penalties explained in paragraphs 17 and 18 and withhold all or part of any LFASS payment.