Conditionality refers to the basic requirements that farmers' payments are conditional upon. Conditionality requirements are the baseline level for which you do not receive a separate payment. Aid is only granted for activities that go beyond the conditionality requirements. Conditionality consists of GAEC, statutory management requirements and social conditionality. Statutory management requirements relate to environmental issues, public health, i.e. food and feed safety, plant health and animal health and welfare. All conditionality requirements are described in this guide. When you apply for farmer payments, you agree to comply with the conditionality requirements. A landscape feature can be a tree, group of trees, transplanted block or other similar natural feature that is protected for its beauty, rarity, landscape significance, scientific value or other similar reason. Qualifying landscape features are sites protected under Article 95 of the Nature Conservation Act (9/2023) and located within a base parcel, on the periphery of a base parcel or in the area between adjacent base parcels. Protected sites must always be preserved and must not be damaged or removed. If a protected landscape feature is located on an area of 0,2 ha or less, it may be included in the area of the base parcel. If you wish to include a protected site in the eligible area, please declare the sites on the Food Agency's form 442 when applying for arable aid. The area of a landscape feature will only become part of the eligible area of the base parcel in the year following the submission of the declaration. Who makes conservation decisions on sites? If the site to be protected is located on private land, the decision to protect the site is taken by the municipality's environmental protection authority. The municipality is also responsible for marking the site on the land. On private land, protection is only granted on application or with the consent of the landowner. On application by the owner or on a proposal from the ELY Centre, the municipality may terminate the protection of a landscape feature if there are no longer grounds for protecting it or if the protection prevents the implementation of a project or plan of public interest. The application must be accompanied by the opinion of the ELY Centre. If the matter has been initiated on the basis of a proposal from the ELY Centre, the owner of the site must be given the opportunity to be heard. For more information: https://www.ruokavirasto.fi/tuet/maatalous/perusehdot/ehdollisuus/ehdollisuuden-opas/ehdollisuuden-opas-2025/

IACS test

Field parcel register The field parcel register is an annual file containing the reference parcels covered by the annual aid application. A reference parcel is a geographically homogeneous area of land cultivated and owned or managed by an individual applicant (excluding commonly used land) and bounded by a municipal boundary, a property boundary, a subsidy or contract area boundary, a watercourse, a district or river, a road, a forest or other similar boundary. A homogeneous area in terms of geography, eligibility and type of land use owned by an aid applicant is a single reference parcel, even if it is made up of several separate registered parcels owned by the applicant. The aim of the definition of valuable data (EU) 2023/138 has been to ensure that the most socially potential public data are re-available. The Food Authority is concerned with the theme of spatial data: reference parcels and agricultural parcels From 2023 onwards, the Food Authority will add attributes to the published data as follows: Field parcel register - Organic production - Slope, ha (Sloping areas in base parcels with a slope of more than 15% in mainland Finland and more than 10% in Åland). - Groundwater area, ha - Natura area, ha - Buffer stripping requirement (metres), m The following new fields are included in the data: LUOMUVILJELY = Organic production: 1=absent or 0=no KALTEVA_ALA = SLOPE_AREA: Sloping areas in the base parcel. Slope in mainland Finland over 15 % and in Åland over 10 %, ha POHJAVESI_ALA = SHOREWATER_AREA: ha NATURA_ALA = NATURA_AREA: ha SUOJAKAISTA_M: Bufferstrip requirement (on parcel) , m. More information at: https://www.ruokavirasto.fi/globalassets/tuet/maatalous/oppaat/hakuoppaat/peltotukiopas/peltotukien-hakuopas-2024.pdf

Agricultural land is the area of arable land (AL), permanent grassland (PG) and permanent crops (PC). Arable land is land cultivated for crop production or fallow land available for cultivation. Permanent grassland Permanent grassland is the area used to grow grasses or other herbaceous forage crops that have been on the same site for more than 5 years, either by self-regulation or by sowing. Permanent grassland may be arable land or natural pasture and meadow. Permanent grassland may not contain more than 50 trees per hectare in a scattered pattern. Trees are considered to be single- or multi-trunked trees and woody shrubs of at least four metres in height. Shrubs of all sizes are also considered as trees. Trees in windbreaks are not counted in the tree count. Deciduous bushes suitable for feeding farm animals and deciduous tree seedlings may be grown on the area if they cover less than half of the area of the eligible plot. More than half (50 %) of the area of the plot must be grass and forage. This requirement also applies to parcels of permanent grassland with trees or deciduous shrubs or both. Permanent crops Permanent crops are crops which are not part of the crop rotation, which are grown for at least 5 years and which produce a repeated harvest. These include fruit trees, berry bushes and ornamental plants. More information: https://www.ruokavirasto.fi/globalassets/tuet/maatalous/oppaat/hakuoppaat/peltotukiopas/maatalousmaa-2024.pdf