CNUM2: Legumes on improved grassland

No substantive changes have been made to this action for SFI26 (compared with the SFI24 version). There have only been minor updates to standard wording which appears in all area-based SFI actions.

This action’s aim is that there are legumes growing from spring until early autumn.

The purpose of this is to:

• manage nutrient efficiency
• protect the soil surface
• provide root growth that maintains soil structure, supports soil biology, and minimise nutrient leaching, soil erosion and runoff
• support an integrated pest management approach if located close to cropped areas

What you must do

You must establish and maintain legumes on improved grassland entered into this action.

You can use one or more type of legume, such as:

• red clover
• white clover
• alsike clover
• sainfoin
• lucerne
• bird’s foot trefoil

You can establish the legumes by:

• adding them to an existing grass sward
• sowing a mix of grass and legumes

Once established, you must maintain the legumes. To do this, you must manage them in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You can maintain existing areas of legumes on improved grassland to get paid this action if they:

• meet this action’s requirements
• are not already being for under another environmental land management scheme option, such as CS option GS4 (legume and herb-rich swards)

When to do it

If you’re doing this action on the same area of land for this action’s 3-year duration, you must:

• establish the legumes within 12 months of this action’s start date
• maintain the area of legumes in each subsequent year of this action’s duration

If you’re rotating this action around your farm, each year of your SFI agreement you must do it for a period of time that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

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

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
• 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.