What the action involves
This action’s aim is that there are fallow cultivated margins or plots with:
- a fine surface suitable for wild arable plants to establish from the soil seed bank when they’re cultivated in the spring or autumn
- natural vegetative cover throughout the growing season until the end of the summer
The purpose of this is to:
- allow scarce and declining wild arable plants to increase their populations over time
- provide areas of less densely vegetated ground for insects such as bumblebees, solitary bees and hoverflies
- provide summer foraging habitats for farmland birds such as grey partridge and turtle dove
What you must do
Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.
To get paid for this action, you must:
- create the fallow plots or margins either annually or once every 2 years (as agreed with your adviser)
- cultivate to create a fine soil surface in spring or autumn (or both)
You must not:
- apply fertilisers, manures or lime
- apply pesticides – you may be able to use herbicides to spot-treat or weed-wipe for the control of injurious weeds, invasive non-native plant species, nettles or other plants if this has been agreed with your Natural England adviser
- disturb any cultivated areas unless agreed with your Natural England adviser
- use the cultivated areas as regular access tracks for vehicles
In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do this action until the end of the agreement or action end date, whichever is earlier.
When to do it
You must do this action each year of its duration.
It counts toward the 25% limit
This action has a 25% limit on the amount of land that can be entered into a CSHT agreement. The limit will apply to the area of land with limited area actions in CSHT and SFI agreements added together. For example, if you have 10% of land in an SFI limited area action, you can only have 15% of land in a CSHT limited area action.
Read section 3.4: ‘Actions with a limited area’ in the CSHT applicant’s guide for more information.
Evidence to keep
You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence.
You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including:
- field operations at a land parcel level
- associated invoices
- photographs
The same action appears in the other schemes under a different code. The work is broadly the same; the rate and the length of the commitment are not.
- SFI26 — AHW11: £660 per hectare per year, over 3 years
- SFI26 pays the same rate and commits you for 3 years rather than 5.
Where you can do it
You can do this action on eligible land that’s located below the moorland line.
Eligible land
You can do this action on land that’s:
- an eligible land type
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover
Available area
Total or part of the available area in the land parcel.
Rotational or static
This action is rotational or static. This means you can either:
- move the action every year
- keep it at the same location each year
Consents and permissions
To apply for this action, you’ll need:
- Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI)
You may need to:
- agree an implementation plan or feasibility study with your Natural England adviser
- get advice from your Natural England adviser if you have other historic or archaeological features on your agreement land
- get a wildlife licence from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
All historic and archaeological features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).
If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.
Capital grants that support it
If you need to complete an implementation plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for capital grants plans funding.
You can also apply for capital items to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.
