Farm Business Innovation Show 2015 – 11th & 12th November

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FBI Banner

Pear Technology are thrilled to announce that they will be exhibiting at the Farm Business & Innovation show on the 11th./12th. November at the NEC  in Birmingham.

The Farm Business & Innovation shows is a large event that keeps Farmers, Land Managers, Glampers, Campers, Estate Owners and all sorts of other people up to date with the latest software, products and services that are available to help them manage their land and assets. It really is a great opportunity to explore avenues that you may have never thought of before and the whole show is an extremely well organised event. An added bonus is the number of useful and interesting seminars which are held throughout the two days which are short, punchy and topical.

Pear will be exhibiting on Stand 442 promoting our mapping software, new available datasets and various types of GPS equipment. We are excited to say that we have a specialist from Leica exhibiting with us who will be demonstrating a new range of devices that Pear will soon be selling. Pear will be introducing a new service which is our very own online ‘MapShop’ which allows customers to purchase OS MasterMap and OS VML data for a user defined area, 24 hours a day.

The show is also a great opportunity to meet some members of the Pear team.  Freddie Ryan, who is managing the Farms and Estate Sector will be attending on both days along with a new colleague, Charlie Farrington, who is based down in the South West and has a strong background in the farming sector. In addition, the managing director Chris Makin, will be in attendance and is looking forward to  meeting all existing and new customers.

We look forward to seeing you at the show.

Admission tickets, which are free, can be obtained by following the link below:-

http://www.eventdata.co.uk/Forms/Default.aspx?FormRef=FBIB5Visitor

Public Rights of Way data now available for the majority of the UK

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Public Rights of Way data has recently become much more widely available and Pear Technology are pleased to offer the service of adding this information to your digital map.

Available on various Ordnance Survey raster tiles, Public Rights of Way information previously had to be purchased then painstakingly traced leaving some degree of inaccuracy. It can now be added to your digital map on its own layer, making it much easier to display and edit on your map. In PT-Mapper Pro, one click can tell you how long the footpath is and another can show you the route in Google Earth’s aerial view.

 

Subject to the data availability, we can provide you with a layer for each classification of the Public Rights of Way. These are:

  1. Footpaths – for walking, running or mobility vehicles.
  2. Bridleways – for walking, horse riding, cycling or mobility vehicles.
  3. Restricted Byways – for any transport without a motor and mobility vehicles.
  4. Byways Open to All Traffic (BOAT) – for any kind of transport, including cars but mainly used by walkers, cyclists and horse riders.

 

Landowners have responsibilities for the Rights of Way which fall on their land. Knowing where these routes are is the first step in ensuring compliance with environmental law!

 

Did you know?

  • You are not allowed to grow crops on Public Rights of Way, although grass can be grown for hay and silage.
  • Footpaths and Bridleways may not be ploughed unless they cross fields. Landowners must then supply an access route 1m – 2m wide respectively within 14 days of ploughing.
  • You cannot put up gates or stiles without the local authorities permission.

 

 

 

 

If you would like Public Rights of Way information added to your map simply email info@peartechnology.co.uk or call us on 02392 499689 and we can check availability and provide a quote for the work.

Pear at the CLA Game Fair

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Lizzy CLA

RPA – Basic Payments Scheme Deadline

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2016 Update: Please note RPA boundaries in a shapefile format are no longer available. 

 

The Current Situation

With the announcement of the Basic Payment Scheme’s (BPS) withdrawal of their online mapping system, farmers are having to resort back to paper maps. Claim submission deadlines have been extended to the 15th June, 2015. However, the RPA have advised farmers to get their claims in as soon as possible  to make sure guidance can be given where needed.

The RPA have been issuing more details on how farmers can claim for the BPS 2015 and have been distributing pre-populated BP5 claim forms to all registered cutomers of the Rural Payments online system.

 

How Pear Can helpLaundry Cottage RPA

Paper maps are fine and a lot of farmers will resort back to this traditional method but it is far too easy to create inaccuracies when using a felt tip on a paper map. PT-Mapper in comparison allows you to accurately update your farm to the nearest cm if needs be giving you realistic and reliable readings for your claims.

The RPA analyse Ordnance Survey MasterMap data, the most up to date and detailed data avaialble from the OS,  to identify boundary amendments. The great benefit of our software is you can purchase the very same MasterMap data to check, identify and adjust your field boundaries to the appropriate position.

In addition to this, you can request your RPA field boundaries directly from the RPA in a ‘shapefile format’, for free.  These files can then be easily imported straight into PT-Mapper showing you your field boundaries as well as any permanent ineligible features (PIF’s). From here you can edit the boundaries to follow the MasterMap data, measure distances yourself for the boundary to follow, use a handheld GPS device to plot points to map to, or link your fields to Google Earth and follow the aerial imagery.

To go one step further you can use our easy-to-use editing tools to create accurate buffer strips around your fields to calculate the exact area being farmed as well as Game Cover and grass margins.

It is time to get your field boundaries up to date and PT-Mapper is the perfect, simple and intuitive replacement to the BPS’ withdrawn system.

 

How to get started

  1. Download a trial of PT-Mapper to see how you like the system. Once you are happy, get in contact with us to purchase a full licence.
  2. Request your RPA shapefiles from the RPA
  3. Send us a plan of your farm so we can provide you with a quote for the Ordnance Survey MasterMap data required.
  4. Use our software to edit your field boundaries and gain precise hectarage for your farm
  5. Print the updated maps and fill in your BP5 form with your accurate, up to date figures and make your claim

 

Related Products

PT Mapper

PT-Mapper is the core application to help manage land and assets through the power of maps. It provides much more than free online mapping services as well as all the key functions of more expensive geographic information systems. PT-Mapper brings together your own data with that of other agencies to allow for more effective and efficient decision making.

Find out more

Data sets available at Pear Technology

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​For more information on the Data Sets at Pear please see the links below:

 PT Info- RPA Maps

​​ PT Info- Land Registry

​​ PT Info- Open Land Registry

​​ PT Info- Data Sets

​​ PT Guide- OS data F&E

DOWNLOAD NOW PT-Mapper

Data Sets Prezi

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​For more information on the Data Sets at Pear please see the links below:

 PT Info- RPA Maps

​​ PT Info- Land Registry

​​ PT Info- Open Land Registry

​​ PT Info- Data Sets

​​ PT Guide- OS data F&E

​

Farm Business Innovation and Country house Innovation Show

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The Farm Business Innovation show is growing into its second year, Pear Technology will be exhibiting to share what we have been working on and what is happening in the world of mapping for rural market.

With last year’s success, the two days are expanding to incorporate the Country House Innovation show to host in one place everything innovative in the rural sector. As well as the exhibitors, there are going to be a diversity of speakers sharing the best ideas of rural development from the “Future of Diversification” to “How to grow your brand”. It promises to be a fascinating two days and best of all it is free for all to attend.

When:

Thursday 27th November 10am – 6pm

Friday 28th November 10am – 5pm

Where:

Olympia London, Hammersmith Road, London, W148UX

Maps were disabled by the visitor on this site. Click to open the map in a new window.

 

 

What Pear is doing at the show

Exhibiting

We will be showing how our software and services assist rural innovation and that as well as the latest Ordnance Survey large-scale maps, there is an increasing supply of freely available Governmental map data available to take advantage of. Access to this data from Land Registry, the Environment Agency, Forestry Commission, Natural England, RPA is a key part of rural business management, and our products and services are designed to make this as useful as possible to you.

Seminars

We have been asked to present two seminars describing how the world of mapping and GIS is evolving for farms and estates, and the opportunities that are now at your fingertips.

Pear Technology’s Farm Business Innovation Seminar. Find out more.

Pear Technology’s  Country House Innovation Seminar. Find out more.

 

Take a day or two out in London to experience the latest innovations taking place in the rural sector. It is going to be a great couple of days uncovering the latest ideas and opportunities available to you and your business. We look forward to seeing you there.

Getting free tickets

To get your free ticket for the show follow this link.

Links

Farm Business Innovation Show- http://www.thefarmingshow.co.uk/

FBI Seminars- http://www.thefarmingshow.co.uk/seminars/

FBI Free Tickets- https://tickets.prysmgroup.co.uk/farming/119/

Country House Innovation Show- http://www.countryhouseinnovation.co.uk/

CHI seminars- http://www.countryhouseinnovation.co.uk/speakers/

CHI Order Free Tickets- https://tickets.prysmgroup.co.uk/ctry/127/

Free Rural Payment Agency maps for digital mapping

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Please note this article was written in 2014. You can find the latest way to download your RPA field boundaries by clicking on our new post here.

 

See note above. Click here for latest info. 

 

 

Having Rural Payment Agency maps in digital format has many benefits to the landowner. Here’s how to get hold of them.

There are many advantages of having your RPA maps in digital map format within PT-Mapper compared to a simple PDF. In PT-Mapper you can select any map features to get measurements of area or length. It is also possible to make additional edits such as adding buffer strips, or splitting fields. By working with the data sourced from the RPA you can work with the certainty that you are operating with the approved data for your land. PT-Mapper will display the RPA field boundaries onto your existing maps with the  field numbers and areas as specified by the RPA. You will then be able to treat them as you can anything else in PT-Mapper. Follow the steps outlined below to import them into the latest version of PT-Mapper.

How to obtain your maps

By Email

  • Have ready your Business name and SBI number
  • Email: csc@rpa.gsi.gov.uk and ask for the ‘shapefile’ of the RPA field boundaries for your Business name and SBI number. Request for the shapefile to be returned to your email address.

By Phone

  • Have ready your SBI number & Business name to give to the operator
  • Call: 03456 037777
  • Choose the 5th option ‘Land and Mapping’
  • Go through any security chekcs
  • Asked to be emailed the ‘shapefiles’ RPA field boundaries, give the email address held on the RPA system for them to return the data to.

Importing the digital Map file into PTM

  • Save the file returned from the RPA to an appropriate place on your computer, and ‘unzip’ the folder
  • Within PT Mapper click – File> Import> Import RPA file
  • Find the RPA file you have unzipped and click Open
  • Your RPA Map should now be imported onto PT Mapper.  If not, please contact us.

The introduction of the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS)

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The new CAP Reform for farmers will be replacing the Single Payment Scheme in 2015 with the introduction of the Basic Payment Scheme.  Get prepared by organising your maps quickly and easily with Pear Technology.

Pear’s rural land management mapping software, PT-Mapper, allows you to cover all the forthcoming requirements, including:

Greening

As a farmer, you will need to comply with three “greening measures”. These three measures will affect up to 30% of the BPS payment, so it is important to ensure you are compliant with the requirements. Additional EFA options may be added in time, but initially the three areas are:

Ecological Focus Areas

Buffer strips and hedges count as high importance EFAs and are weighted highly. However, farmers deciding to use hedgerows as part of their EFA could face a significant delay to their payment because of the mapping requirements. It is therefore important to submit suitably mapped claims as soon as possible.

Crop diversification

Environmentally beneficial crops, such as nitrogen fixing, catch crops and cover crops are included. There will be no restrictions on inputs (pesticides and fertilisers).  The list of crops counting towards this requirement is to be published shortly.

Maintenance of permanent grassland

This relates to land lying fallow where you have sown with environmental seed mixes such as wild bird seed mix and pollen and nectar mixes.

Weightings and coefficients

These weightings will affect how much each option will count for on the ground:

 Features Conversion factor Weighting factor Ecological focus area
Buffer strips 6 1.5 9m²
Hedges 5 2 10m²
Catch crops/green cover n.a 0.3 0.3m²
Nitrogen fixing crops n.a 0.7 0.7m²
Land lying fallow n.a 1 1m²

For example hedgerows 100m will be multiplied by a conversion factor of 5, and the weighting factor of 2 Result= 100 x 5 x 2= 1000m2   Please see additional documentation on information relating to double funding and decisions regarding GAEC standards.

*Document referenced from the CLA documentation

For more information, please visit:

Gov.uk- Countryside gets set to claim £15billion under CAP reform
NFU- Basic Payment Scheme – BPS
CLA- BASIC PAYMENT SCHEME
Robinson and Hall- CAP Reform 2015 – The New Basic Payment Scheme

 

DOWNLOAD NOW PT-Mapper

See the video on how to map your BPS options and calculate the Ecological Focus Areas here