What the action involves
This action’s aim is that there’s an established winter bird food mix growing in blocks or strips, with plants that:
- grow and flower during the spring and summer
- set seed to produce a supply of small seeds from late autumn until late winter
The purpose of this is to:
- provide food resources for smaller farmland birds especially in late autumn and winter
- encourage flowering plants in the summer, which will benefit insects including bumblebees, solitary bees, butterflies and hoverflies
- support an integrated pest management approach if located close to cropped areas
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:
- establish and maintain an agreed area of winter bird food blocks or strips, using a seed mix agreed with your Natural England adviser
- re-establish one-year mixes annually and 2 year mixes every other year to maintain seed production
- keep winter bird food plots for a specific time agreed with your Natural England adviser – normally around the middle of February
- establish blocks or strips of winter bird food using an agreed seed mix at a time agreed with your adviser
You must not sow the following crops: artichokes, canary grass, giant and intermediate sorghum, maize, miscanthus, sweet clover, tic beans in your seed mixes.
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: ‘Limited area actions’ in the CSHT scheme guidance 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.
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.
