188体育

Duration

3 years

How much you鈥檒l be paid

拢589 per hectare (ha) per year

Action鈥檚 aim

This action鈥檚 aim is that there鈥檚 a post-harvest stubble remaining during the autumn, winter, spring and summer months.

The purpose of this is to provide:

• a winter food source for seed-eating farmland birds
• spring and summer foraging and nesting habitats for other farmland birds, and habitats for other farmland wildlife

Where you can do this action

You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that鈥檚:

• identified by you as not being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff 鈥� you must keep evidence of this
• an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1 鈥楨ligible land types for SFI鈥� in the SFI scheme information)
• registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
• declared with a land use code which compatible with the eligible land cover

Eligible land

Eligible land type	Eligible land cover	Compatible land use code
Arable land used to grow cereals (not maize or sorghum), oilseed rape or linseed	Arable land	Land use codes for arable crops

Eligibility of protected land

Protected land	Eligibility
Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs)	Eligible 鈥� you must get SSSI consent before you do this action (read section 10.3 鈥�SSSI 肠辞苍蝉别苍迟鈥� in the SFI scheme information to find out how to do this)
Historic and archaeological features	Eligible 鈥� you must get a SFI HEFER before you do this action (read section 5.6聽鈥楲and with historic or archaeological features鈥� in the SFI scheme information to find out how to do this)

Available area you can enter into this action

Total or part of the available area in a land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This is a rotational action. This means you must move its location within your crop rotation for the second and third years of this action鈥檚 duration.

What to do

After harvest, you must leave the stubble from a cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed until around mid-summer in the following year.

You must not apply pre-harvest desiccants to the cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed.

You must not do the following on the stubble area:

• top or graze it
• apply any pesticides, except herbicides to control grass weeds by spraying the affected area from around mid-May
• apply any fertilisers, manures or lime

When to do it

You must do this action each year of its 3-year duration.

If this action鈥檚 start date means it鈥檚 too late for you to do this action, you must start doing it within 12 months of the action鈥檚 start date.

In the final year of this action鈥檚 duration, you must do the action until around mid-summer or this action鈥檚 end date, whichever is earlier.

How to do it

It鈥檚 up to you how you do this action, as long as you:

• follow this action鈥檚 requirements 鈥� these are identified by a 鈥榤ust鈥�
• do the action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action鈥檚 aim

You may find it helpful to read the 鈥榓dvice to help you do this action鈥�, but it鈥檚 not part of this action鈥檚 requirements.

Evidence to keep

You must keep written evidence that land entered into this action is not at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff. You can use the soil management plan produced for CSAM1 or SAM1 to identify this.

You must also keep evidence to show what you鈥檝e done to complete this action, such as:

• field operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices
• photographs and other documentation

If it鈥檚 not clear that you鈥檝e done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, we may ask for this evidence. You must supply the evidence if we ask for it.

Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action

You can do the following actions or options on the same area in a land parcel as this action.

Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they鈥檙e done at a different time of year to this action. For example, winter cover followed by a summer companion crop. Read 鈥榃hat to do鈥� and 鈥榃hen to do it鈥� to find out when this action must be done.

Scheme	Action or option codes
SFI 2024 actions	AHW5, OFC3, OFM4, AGF1, AGF2, PRF1, PRF2, PRF3, PRF4, SOH1, CIPM1, CIPM4, CNUM1, CSAM1
SFI 2023 actions	IPM1, NUM1, SAM1
CS options	AB5, AB11, AB14, AB15, HS3, OR3, OT3
ES options	No ES revenue options
SFI pilot standards	No area-based SFI pilot standards

If an action or option cannot be located on the same area, you may be able to do it on a different area in the same land parcel. Read section 6 鈥楨ligible land in other funding schemes鈥� in the SFI scheme information for more details.

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:

• SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2 and WBD2
• SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
• CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
• the introductory level of the SFI pilot hedgerows standard

Advice to help you do this action

The following advice may help you to do this action, but it鈥檚 not part of this action鈥檚 requirements.

Choosing the right location

When you establish the cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed, by law you cannot cultivate or apply fertilisers or pesticides to land within 2m of the centre of a hedgerow. Read the guidance on Hedgerow management rules; buffer strips to understand how these rules apply to you.

Enhanced overwinter stubbles are suitable for most soil types. On heavier soils, you can use this action to help control moderate to high populations of grass weeds (such as black-grass).

The best stubbles are usually produced by:

• spring sown crops (especially barley)
• crops managed with less inorganic nitrogen fertiliser and fewer herbicides

You can leave the unmanaged stubbles across a whole field or a strip, if the land has been identified by you as not being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff. You can do CSAM1 (assess soil, produce a soil management plan and test soil organic matter) to help you identify this.

You can have several areas of stubbles spread across your farm to link non-crop habitats (such as hedgerows, ponds and field margins). This can help wildlife to move between these habitats, especially in large fields (for example, over 20 hectares (ha)).

It will help if you locate the overwinter stubbles in fields which have:

• low levels of black-grass and thistles
• arable plants in the soil seedbank, for natural insect-rich habitats for foraging farmland birds
• known nesting lapwing populations
• nearby areas of scrub which can provide foraging habitat for turtle doves

It鈥檚 usually best to locate strips of overwinter stubbles along south-facing boundaries. This will allow more beneficial weeds to grow, so more seeds are produced for birds to eat.

You can cultivate the stubbles area in March to help:

• create bare ground nesting plots for farmland birds
• encourage spring germinating rare arable flora

How to increase environmental benefits from the stubbles

To help to increase the environmental benefits provided by the overwinter stubbles, you can establish them:

• near to high-value habitats, such as hedgerows, scrub and woodland
• close to other seed-rich habitat
• in fields used by nesting lapwing or skylark
• close to areas of scrub which are suitable for nesting turtle dove
• on warm, sunny, south-facing headlands which support rare arable plants
• as larger blocks, so they feed larger flocks of seed-eating farmland birds for longer in the coldest months

You can sow a diverse mix of fast-growing crops into your stubbles before you harvest the crop (by undersowing a companion crop) or after harvest (to establish a cover crop). This can help to provide:

• late season pollen and nectar for wild pollinators
• food and shelter for farmland birds鈥痮ver winter
• soil health and water quality benefits by reducing the risk of erosion and run-off

The crop mix could include:

• buckwheat
• crimson clover
• fodder radish
• mustard
• phacelia

To secure the right balance between outcomes for soil health, water quality and wildlife, it鈥檚 best to:

• establish the crop mix on no more than around half of the stubble area in each field
• not sow mixes on areas known to support rare arable plants

In fields known to support nesting farmland birds such as lapwing, it鈥檚 best to:

• only establish a cover crop on headlands
• leave an area unsown in the middle of the field 鈥� for example, around at least 2ha

Other ways to enhance stubbles for farm wildlife include:

• carrying out winter supplementary feeding for farmland birds next to areas of winter bird food
• managing your preceding crop with less inorganic nitrogen fertiliser and fewer herbicides
• varying the height of the stubble by raising and lowering the combine header at harvest