It is time for planting, harvest planning. In Globalcaja It's time to start the campaign PAC 2025 (Community Agrarian Policy) and to know their news. If you are the owner of an agricultural holding, it is important that you know the requirements and developments of the CAP and thus avoid penalties for not meeting the requirements and loss of income for not properly applying the eco-regimes.
Globalcajaan entity strongly committed to the agri-food sector, has already started its round of training sessions, following the changes approved for this campaign. “Knowing the rules of the game, before starting to play, is very important,” he says. Alberto Marcilladirector of Rural Banking at Globalcaja, a highly professional service, made up of experts in all areas, from agronomy techniques, to deep knowledge of the regulations, who are in charge of deciphering those rules of the game. The ultimate purpose is for the people who are in charge of the farms to obtain the highest possible performance. In this publication, we are going to delve into those obligations that CAP recipients must comply with and the practices available to them to avoid losing income.
Who is entitled to receive CAP aid?
Let's start by remembering an aspect that, without being new, is worth taking into account. ¿Who Do they have the right to receive these aids? What are the requirements to be considered as such? Be the owner of a farm and assume the business risk of its management. Be registered in the Special Regime for Self-Employed Workers in the agri-food sector. that the agricultural income represents a percentage equal to or greater than 25% of the totals. For the 2025 CAP application, the 2024 agricultural income is used as a reference, hence the importance of keeping this aspect in mind.
Conditionality versus Ecoregimes
To begin to analyze the new features of the CAP, it is worth differentiating what conditionality is and what eco-regimes are. The conditionality It is made up of a set of good agricultural and environmental conditions that are mandatory. Failure to comply with any of the Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditionsknown as BCAM, represents a penalty in the aid to be received. Conditionality is not new in the CAP, since these 'green' requirements were already introduced in 2018, although with the reform approved for the period 2023-2027, it increased. The ecoregimes They are agricultural or livestock practices beneficial for the climate and the environment that, unlike the previous ones, are voluntary. Although it is true that up to 23% of the aid that the owner of a farm may receive may depend on its application, hence its voluntariness is qualified. In this infographic we summarize the main developments for 2025, both in the conditionalityas in the ecoregimes.
Conditionality, main developments for 2025
At the outset, we must remember that with the flexibility introduced by the Ministry of Agriculture of the CAP, after the approval in Brussels of a proposal to lighten the bureaucratic burden that the new CAP entailed, the Beneficiaries with plots of 10 hectares or less are exempt from controls and penalties for conditionality.
In Spain, according to ministerial estimates, 55% of recipients of CAP aid are small farmers who do not exceed this declared agricultural area. Entering the news, we find three aspects to highlight. 1. Crop rotation or diversification. The farmer will be able to choose between rotation or diversification, to comply with BCAM 7. Whoever opts for rotationyou will have to change the crop at least once every three years, except in plots of multi-annual crops, fallows, herbs and herbaceous fodder or low-water crops. Rotation must be done annually, for 3 consecutive years, of at least 33% of the cropland area. Those who opt for the diversificationthey will have to comply with the following: On farms of between 10 and 30 hectares, there must be at least two crops without the majority accounting for more than 75% of the surface. In farms of more than 30 hectares, there will be three different crops, without the majority accounting for more than 75% and without the two majority crops occupying more than 95%. 2. Minimum ground cover. BCAM 6 tries to avoid bare soils in the most sensitive periods. To this end, it establishes that: In winter arable crops that leave stubble or crop remains, it will not be tilled with turning between the harvest and September 1. In woody cropsif the slope is equal to or greater than 10% and is not compensated with terraces or terraces, a cover with a minimum width of one meter must be maintained between November and February. 3. Elimination of fallow. In BCAM 8, which regulates the withdrawal of land from production, the obligation to leave a percentage fallow is eliminated
Ecoregimes, what's new?
The rural protests led the Ministry of Agriculture to approve a series of flexibilities in the eco-regimes, which must be taken into account for the 2025 campaign. They are four main novelties to take into account. 1. Crop rotation. When you opt for the crop rotation with improving speciesthere are new developments to take into account, such as elimination of maximum percentage of fallow and the reduction of the required percentage of legumes in arid areas. In Castile-La Mancha There are several regions in which, due to their aridity, the cultivation of legumes within the surface covered by this practice is reduced to 2.5%. In the province of Albacete, this measure affects La Mancha and La Manchuela, the central region, the area of Hellín and Almansa; In Ciudad Real, there are two regions declared arid, Campo de Calatrava and Mancha; in Cuenca, the Mancha Baja region and in Toledo the areas of La Sagra, Monte de los Yébenes and La Mancha. 2. Vegetable covers. The application of vegetal covers on dryland and arid dryland surfaces is much more difficult due to climatic conditions. To favor its application, the rule has been made more flexible, for example, allowing these green covers only on alternate streets or eliminating the requirement that the green cover remain alive for a minimum period of time. 3. Biodiversity spaces. Biodiversity spaces are areas that provide shelter and food for birds or pollinating insects and, therefore, contribute to conserving this biological diversity. To apply this eco-regime, among other requirements, a percentage of the cropland must be left uncultivated (7% rainfed and 4% irrigated). As a novelty, for this CAP 2025 campaign the non-harvesting of legumes or biodiversity strips is included. 4. Extensive grazing. The grassland ecoregimes They also bring new features, since it is allowed to reduce the minimum stocking rate in the practice of extensive grazing, allowing 0.1 Large Livestock Units (LGU) per hectare in Mediterranean pastures and 0.2 in wet pastures. The campaign begins at sowing This brief description of the main developments brought to us by CAP 2025 can give us an idea of the importance for farmers of planning their harvest properly, and on time. Not knowing the regulations, requirements and voluntary practices can lead to a very significant loss of income.
