Article 4(3), point (c), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 establishes that, when an agricultural area is used as a grassland and has not been included in the crop rotation of the holding for five years or more, it is to be considered as permanent grassland. However, some farming systems entail crop rotation on arable land where the grasses or other herbaceous forage are not included in the crop rotation for periods longer than five years, but where those areas are ploughed up to remain arable land. As a consequence, farmers in the Member States where such farming systems are applied face difficulties in managing their agronomic rotations and in remaining viable while meeting the requirements for the implementation of GAEC standard 1. In addition, the use of longer crop rotations with grasslands may bring significant benefits in terms of biodiversity and ecosystem services, while allowing farmers greater flexibility in their agronomic management. Therefore, in order to promote such flexible and sustainable agronomic practices for the management of grasslands, it should be possible for Member States to extend the period determining the classification of an area as permanent grassland from five to seven years. Therefore, Article 4(3), point (c), of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 should be amended accordingly.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
