SOH1: No-till farming

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

• you enter the parcel's whole available area, and that area is measured as it stands when you apply
• you can now use this action for the sowing of all seeds
• minor updates to standard wording which appears in all area-based SFI actions

This action’s aim is that no-tillage (‘no-till’) farming techniques are used, so soil disturbance is minimised.

The purpose of this is to:

• improve soil health, fertility, structure, soil water storage and reduce soil runoff
• help to keep organic matter and nutrients in the soil
• provide benefits for carbon, water quality and biodiversity
• help protect historic and archaeological features

What you must do

You must sow all seeds on land entered into this action using a ‘no-till’ direct drill. This can include tine drills, disc drills and precision seed drills, or broadcasting equipment. Any following harrow tines must be rearward facing.

You must not use conventional or shallow min-till cultivation machinery (except for a stubble rake or straw harrow with rearward facing tines):

• to prepare the land for sowing crops
• between harvesting (or destroying cover crops) and sowing crops

Where necessary, you can carry out the following on land that does not contain historic or archaeological features:

• low disturbance subsoiling to reduce soil compaction during the crop rotation – for example, if there’s bad weather when you harvest the crop
• mole draining to help natural drainage

You must keep evidence if you do subsoiling or mole draining.

You must not carry out subsoiling or mole draining on land with historic or archaeological features. This includes scheduled monuments (which would require scheduled monument consent). Read section 10.2 ‘Scheduled monument consent’ in the SFI26 scheme information for further details.

When to do it

You must do this action:

• from its start date, unless you have a crop in place when this action starts which does not meet this action’s requirements
• throughout each year of this action’s duration

If there’s a crop in place when this action starts which does not meet this action’s requirements, you must do this action:

• as soon as possible after the crop is harvested or destroyed
• within 12 months of this action’s start date

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

You cannot do this action on land where you’re tilling narrow strips of soil to plant crops, leaving the areas between the rows untilled. This is known as ‘strip tillage’.

Rotational or static

This action is static. This means you must 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 (including if you’ve had to carry out low disturbance subsoiling to reduce compaction or mole draining) and associated invoices
• photographs and 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.