CAHL2: Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land

The following changes have been made to this action for SFI26 (compared with the SFI24 version):

• you can now put all or part of a parcel's available area into this action – this only applies to SFI26 agreements, not existing SFI23 and SFI24 agreements
• the payment rate has been reduced – this only applies to SFI26 agreements, not existing SFI23 or SFI24 agreements
• minor updates to standard wording which appears in all area-based SFI actions

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 months
• 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

You must establish a winter bird food mix as a block or strip on land entered into this action.

You must use a seed mix which includes at least 6 small seed-bearing crops, which are suitable for smaller farmland bird species. The mix must not include:

• artichokes
• reed canary grass
• giant and intermediate sorghum
• maize
• miscanthus
• sweet clover
• tic beans

If you sow an annual mix, it can include a range of cereals, brassicas or other small-seeded crops. If you sow a 2-year mix, it can also include biennial crops such as kale, stubble turnip or teasel.

Once the winter bird food mix block or strip is established, you must maintain it. To do this, you must manage it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You must re-establish a 1-year mix annually and 2-year mixes every other year, so they continue to produce an extended supply of small seeds. This can be at the same location or a different location.

You must not use the winter bird food mix block or strip for regular vehicular access, turning or storage (for example, storing bales or machinery).

You can maintain an existing winter bird food mix block or strip to get paid for this action, if it:

• meets this action’s requirements
• is not already being paid for under another environmental land management scheme option, such as CS option AB9 (winter bird food)

When to do it

You must:

• establish the winter bird food mix block or strip in time for it to flower in the first summer after sowing (usually this means by the end of June)
• maintain the mix at the same location until late winter (usually around the end of February) in the year after it was sown (for 1-year mixes) or the following year (for 2-year mixes)

If this action’s start date means it’s too late to establish the winter bird food mix, you must establish it within 12 months of your action’s start date.

If you establish the winter bird food mix block or strip after the end of June, you must maintain it at the same location for 2 consecutive winters in order to achieve this action’s aim.

In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do this action either until late winter, or this action’s end date, whichever is earlier.

Where you can do it

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

• an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1.1 ‘Eligible land types’ in the SFI26 scheme information)
• registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
• declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover

Rotational or static

This action is rotational or static. This means you can either:

• move its location for the second and third years of this action’s duration
• do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration

It counts toward the 25% limit

This is a ‘limited area’ action. The total eligible area you enter into any combination of one or more of the ‘limited area’ actions must not be more than 25% of the total agricultural area of your farm.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action, such as:

• field operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices, including details of the seed mix used
• photographs or other documentation

If it’s not clear that you’ve 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.