Challenge 6: Agri-Environment Climate Scheme (AECS) Tender

This is the last big task of the qualifiers. Through the previous planning and administration tasks linked to production, you gained an insight into the functioning of the farm. This week’s exercise focuses on planning for the future and considering tender opportunities, within the limits of the farm.
The agronomist mentioned that recently an increased number of official inspections were carried out at local farms. You were very concerned that the administrative backlog – accumulated due to the illness of the financial administrator – could cause problems during an inspection. However, to everyone’s delight, she was able to return to work today (Monday).
During the discussions, the agri-environment AECS tender was also mentioned several times. You have discussed the arguments for and against, and now the agronomist asks you to quantify how much extra support the farm would get from the tender (EUR/Hectares).
To help you make the calculation, the agronomist has summarized the farm’s past performance and future prospects as follows:
“The farm, as you can see, is doing well overall. The team is characterized by continuous improvement and future-oriented thinking. The agricultural aspects of the Sustainable Development Goals and their practical implications are observed with special attention. Perhaps partly for this reason, we would like to apply for the AECS tender in the horizontal arable land use category (Annex 1) this year. In addition to the mandatory requirements (1-7), we are also considering the following optional requirements (8;9;10;13;18;19;20). Make a calculation for the amount of subsidy (EUR/year/hectares) that could be obtained this way.
Describe what costs – in addition to the current general production costs – are to be expected during the tender. Also calculate how much of the additional subsidy received remains available after the deduction of the fixed additional costs (EUR/tender period and EUR/ha/year).
To be on the safe side, I’ll summarize one more time what you need to know about our farm management practices and other information we have gathered on the subject:

• Each year, we follow a nutrient management plan prepared by our soil expert, which is based on soil tests. Last year, we had an extended soil test done on all our sites in an accredited laboratory.
• For many years, we have been producing on the farm with the active involvement of a crop and soil protection specialist.
• Soil loosening is carried out every 3 years (medium deep loosening is used).
• We do not have the possibility to buy stable manure, so we cannot calculate with its application.
• We use crop protection forecasting at the farm, we do not need to take into account the extra costs associated with it.
• The plant protection products used so far comply with the reduced list of active substances.
• We would like to include all 10 available fields in the tender. These fields are separate areas, which do not connect anywhere, so we need to plot 10 KETs (contiguous area covered by the commitment) with the surveyors. We do not want to split up fields above 5 ha due to cultivation reasons, so these areas will not be eligible for the additional subsidy for areas up to 5 ha.
• Preliminary quotes from surveyors suggest a price of EUR 85/field (KET). The cost per hectare of the seeds required for green manure can also be calculated at this price.
• In line with our farming practices, we remain committed to the use of sealed seeds.
• In accordance with our farming practices, straw is not collected from the fields but it is returned to the soil.

To complete the exercise, download our form fill in the tables and complete the sentences with the missing information and numbers.