Enhanced Greening quick guide
If you have more than 15 hectares of arable land, you must manage Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs).
Please note: the amount of land you will need to use for EFA is increasing to 7% in 2027
What is Enhanced Greening?
In 2026, we introduced Enhanced Greening. This change meant more farmers and crofters were required to manage Ecological Focus Areas (EFAs).
This means that more land in Scotland is being farmed in a way that protects nature and is good for the climate.
What is an Ecological Focus Area (EFA)?
An EFA is an area of arable land managed for the benefit of the climate and the environment.
What you have to do
To manage EFA, you need to dedicate 7% of your land to practices that are good for the environment.
There are lots of ways you can do this. Many of them are things that you may already be doing – like green cover or hedges.
You can use one or a mix of several. It’s up to you to choose the options that are most suitable for your farm or croft.
How to meet your EFA requirement
There are 11 Ecological Focus Area (EFA) options. You can use a single option or combine several options to meet your requirement.
| EFA options | Option requirements |
|---|---|
| Fallow Land | To use this option, you must leave arable land uncropped. To qualify, you must have no production between 15 January and 15 July. The land cover must be diverse Temporary grassland mix or Wildflower Mix or a Wild Bird Seed mix or a Soil Conditioning crop. |
| Margins | To use this option, you must have margins around arable lands or create new ones. These margins must be between 3 and 20 metres wide. Types of margins can include conservation headlands, beetle banks, and watercourse margins in arable fields. |
| Catch Crops | To use this option, you must plant cereal, oilseed rape, maize, or beans. They must be under-sown with a species mix that will enhance soil and biodiversity. |
| Green Cover | These are temporary autumn crops that improve biodiversity, soil structure, and fertility. These can help prevent erosion and nutrient loss. You must use a mix of two or more crop species. You can graze this land once it is established. |
| Nitrogen-Fixing Crops | These are crops that enrich the soil with nitrogen compounds. You must use at least two crop types, and these must be surrounded by an EFA margin. |
| Hedges | To use this option, you must have hedges that are at least 20 metres. They should be on or next to arable land with gaps no wider than 5 metres. |
| Agro-Forestry | To use this option, you must plant trees as part of a Scottish Forestry agreement. This agreement must be compliant with FGS082-01, FGS082-02 or the small/farm woodland scheme (FGS081-009). |
| Herb and Legume-Rich Pastures | To use this option, you must seed or overseed grass swards using diverse species grass mix. |
| Unharvested Crop | To use this option, you must keep an unharvested crop until the end of the calendar year. This must be between 6 and 20 metres wide. It should be a single crop type, sown around arable fields. |
| Low Input Grassland | This should be permanent grassland (PGRS) that may be grazed or cut for fodder (3 metre margin uncut). You are not permitted to use inorganic fertilisers. |
| Low Density Trees | These are areas planted with native or fruit trees. There must be between 20–50 trees per hectare. |
What to do next
Check the Greening Guidance now to make sure you know what to do.
If you have questions, get in touch with your local area office.