As from April 1, farmers will be required to have the land used to support their SPS claims at their disposal on May 15, in each scheme year.

Defra has stated that it is the SPS applicant who is responsible for making sure that the new simplified cross compliance requirements are met for the whole calendar year.

From April 1, this applies even if the applicant is not in occupation of the land for the entire year.

The original ten month rule, being restrictive in its nature, in some instances led to farmers leasing grazing land for the entire ten month period, whilst only using it themselves for a considerably shorter time, reducing the availability of pasture land and increasing personal outlay.

Ben Johnson, associate partner at George F White, said: "This change in the Single Payment Scheme may bring about an effect on income tax for some farmers, depending on their accounting year end date. However, the full implications are not yet known, as further legislation is soon to be released. What this ruling does do is offer farmers greater flexibility to transfer land throughout the entire year, rather than being restricted by the original ten month rule."