you must comply with the organic standards (as laid out by European Commission Regulations and the UK Organic Products Regulations) as well as the Organic Production and Care of the Environment Standards as advised in the UK Compendium of Organic Standards for the duration of your contract for the area subject to maintenance for each payment category

the land must remain registered with a UK-approved organic certification body for the duration of your contract (for the avoidance of doubt, the land registered with the organic certification body must be in the name of the applicant)

each year of your contract, you must provide a copy of your annual production (Land Parcel) schedule and a copy of your most recent certificate(s) in support of your annual recurrent claim. The certificate(s) provided must cover the whole period of the year of claim. You should send these to us as soon as they are supplied to you by your organic certification body

if you enter land into the Fruit and Vegetables Maintenance option you must grow a fruit or vegetable crop on that land at least once in the duration of your contract. There is an expectation that land entered under the fruit and vegetables option will grow organic fruit or vegetable crops that are destined for human consumption. You should consider whether you can meet this expectation carefully before selecting the fruit and veg option.

you should also refer to the checklist of requirements

Ancient Wood Pasture

Away Wintering Sheep

Beetlebanks

Cattle Management on Small Units (Introduction / Retention)

Chough Grazing Management

Rural Payments and Inspections Division (RPID) - for application guidance and scheme administration

NatureScot - for environmental advice and endorsements where required

Farmwalk - for digital farm mapping and environmental compliance support