CSAM1: Assess soil, produce a soil management plan and test soil organic matter

This action’s aim is that you:

• understand the condition of your soil
• effectively plan how to increase the long-term health, productivity, and resilience of your soil

What you must do

You must:

• assess the soil for all the land parcels entered into this action and produce a written soil management plan which covers that land
• test the soil organic matter (SOM) on all the land parcels entered into this action within the last 5 years

You can use the following to get paid for this action:

• an existing soil management plan that was written in the last 12 months, informed by a soil assessment
• existing SOM test results that are not more than 5 years old

To test the SOM for small land parcels, you can combine them into a single sample area if the soil type and past management is similar. This means you can take soil from each land parcel and combine it into a single sample to test the SOM.

If you need to take soil samples on areas within a land parcel containing historic or archaeological features, including scheduled monuments, you must follow the requirements explained in section 5.6: ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’ in the SFI scheme information.

To help improve national data on the condition of England’s soils, DEFRA or the RPA may ask you to provide some information about your soil assessment and SOM testing results during this action’s 3-year duration.

This data is one of the public goods that this action is paying for and part of wider government measures in relation to our soils policy and strategy. We’ll publish guidance on GOV.UK about what information is needed and how to supply it.

How to do this action

It’s up to you how you do this action, as long as you:

• follow this action’s requirements – these are identified by a ‘must’
• do the action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim

You may find it helpful to read the ‘advice to help you do this action’, but it’s not part of this action’s requirements.

When to do it

For the soil assessment and soil management plan, you must:

• complete the soil assessment and produce the written soil management plan within 12 months of this action’s start date
• review the soil management plan in each subsequent year of this action’s 3- year duration, adding any new soil analyses

For the SOM testing, each year of this action’s 3-year duration you must:

• make sure you’ve tested the SOM on all the land parcels entered into this action within the last 5 years
• retest that land if your existing SOM test results reach 5 years old

If the timing meets the requirements above, you can do the SOM testing at the same time as your other routine soil testing required in the farming rules for water.

If you enter land into this action which has not been tested for SOM within the last 5 years, you should try to do the SOM testing on that land during the first 12 months of your SFI agreement.

If the laboratory that tests your soil samples does not have capacity to do the tests during the first 12 months of this action’s duration, you must:

• get the tests done as soon as possible
• make sure you’ve tested the SOM on all of these land parcels within the last 5 years by the end of your SFI agreement
• keep evidence of why it was not possible to complete the tests in the first 12 months, so you can provide it to us if we ask for it

Evidence to keep

You must keep:

• the written record of your soil management plan, including your soil assessment
• the SOM test results

You must supply this evidence when we ask for it.

Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action You can do the following actions or options on the same area in a land parcel as this action.

Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they’re done at a different time of year to this action. For example, winter cover followed by a summer companion crop. Read ‘What to do’ and ‘When to do it’ to find out when this action must be done.

Scheme Action or option codes CSAM2, CSAM3, SOH1, SOH2, SOH3, SOH4, CAHL1, CAHL2, CAHL3, AHW1, AHW3, AHW4, AHW5, AHW6, AHW7, AHW8, AHW9, AHW10, AHW11, AHW12, CIGL1, CIGL2, CIGL3, GRH1, GRH6, HEF5, HEF6, CAHL4, CLIG3, BFS1, SFI 2024 actions BFS2, BFS3, BFS4, BFS5, BFS6, OFC1, OFC2, OFC3, OFC4, OFC5, OFM1, OFM2, OFM4, OFM5, OFM6, OFA1, OFA6, WBD3, WBD4, WBD5, WBD6, WBD7, WBD8, AGF1, AGF2, PRF1, PRF2, PRF3, PRF4, CIPM1, CIPM2, CIPM3, CIPM4, CNUM1, CNUM2, CNUM3, SCR1, SCR2 AHL1, AHL2, AHL3, AHL4, IGL1, IGL2, IGL3, IPM1, IPM2, SFI 2023 actions IPM3, IPM4, LIG1, LIG2, NUM1, NUM2, NUM3, SAM2, SAM3

AB1, AB2, AB3, AB5, AB6, AB7, AB8, AB9, AB10, AB11, AB13, AB14, AB15, AB16, BE1, BE2, BE4, BE5, GS1, GS2, GS3, GS4, GS5, GS6, GS7, GS8, GS9, GS10, GS11, GS12, GS13, GS14, HS3, HS4, HS7, HS9, CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4, CT5, CT7, CS options LH1, LH2, LH3, WT6, WT7, WT8, WT9, WT10, OP1, OP2, OP4, OP5, OR1, OR2, OR3, OR4, OR5, OT1, OT2, OT3, OT4, OT5, SW1, SW2, SW3, SW4, SW5, SW6, SW7, SW8, SW9, SW10, SW12, SW13, SW15, SW16, SW17, SW18, WT1, WT2, UP2 (if located below the moorland line)

ES options All ES revenue options

SFI pilot arable and horticultural land standard – all levels SFI pilot improved grassland standard SFI pilot standards SFI pilot low and no input grassland standard – all levels SFI pilot water body buffering standard – all levels

If an action or option cannot be located on the same area, you may be able to do it on a different area in the same land parcel. Read section 6 ‘Eligible land in other funding schemes’ in the SFI scheme information for more details.

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:

• SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2 and WBD2
• SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
• CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
• all levels of the SFI pilot hedgerows standard