Maximum and minimum stocking levels have already been established and published for all commonages. However, in the context of drawing up the Commonage Management Plans required under GLAS, it is accepted that the GLAS advisor acting for the shareholders concerned may form a different impression of what the commonage can or should carry, in the best interests of its environmental health. In such cases, I have specifically provided that the Advisor may recommend a different stocking level to the one which has been published, to ensure the commonage is adequately grazed and that habitats are protected. If the basis for doing so is sound, that new stocking-level will be accepted and can be used for drawing up the required Commonage Management Plan. For commonages in excess of 10 hectares, the stocking figures adopted for the Commonage Management Plan are based on what is required to maintain the commonage and requires the active participation of all GLAS farmers who have signed up to the Plan. However, where there are also farmers grazing the commonage under AEOS contracts, the GLAS Advisor drawing up the new Commonage Management Plan may include the grazing effort of these AEOS farmers in his calculations. This has been fully explained to advisors.
In addition, I have also provided for further flexibility in situations where a very small number of shareholders sign up to a Commonage Management Plan and the scale of the grazing requirement is clearly unattainable by that group. These cases will be reviewed by the Commonage Implementation Committee who may recommend that a lower total minimum grazing requirement apply.
Finally, where some shareholders signing up to the Commonage Management Plan are already grazing in excess of their individual maximum stocking level, I have also provided that this can be accommodated within the Plan if the other shareholders agree. In such cases, the other shareholders can reduce their own grazing effort by up to 50% to rebalance the Plan overall.
