GRH6: Manage priority habitat species-rich grassland (endorsed)

This action’s aim is that there’s priority habitat species-rich grassland with:

• a good cover of flowering grasses and wildflowers from late spring and during the summer months, including 4 frequently occurring and 2 occasionally occurring ‘indicator’ species typical of your type of priority habitat grassland
• a variety of plant heights appropriate for your type of priority habitat grassland by autumn
• enough flowering grasses and wildflowers left to go to seed to maintain or increase the presence and abundance of ‘indicator’ plant species typical of your type of priority habitat grassland
• scattered areas of scrub and rushes, as appropriate for your type of priority habitat grassland
• any historic or archaeological features left undamaged

The purpose of this is to:

• maintain and improve the biodiversity of priority habitat grassland
• increase the number and frequency of important plant species
• benefit priority species, such as bumblebees, butterflies, birds or bats
• protect historic or archaeological features, where present on the land

What you must do

You must manage the land entered into this action in a way that can reasonably be expected to maintain either:

• existing priority habitat species-rich grassland
• priority habitat species-rich grassland you’re restoring or creating

To do this, you must do the following on the area entered into this action:

• graze it with livestock or cut it, or a combination of both, in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim on your type of priority habitat species-rich grassland – read the ‘advice to help you do this action’ to find out which ‘indicator’ species and vegetation heights are typical for each type of priority habitat species-rich grassland
• make sure there’s an intact grass sward throughout the year, without compacted areas or poaching
• minimise bare ground, so the soil is covered by vegetation and is not directly exposed to the elements

• manage scrub and soft and hard rushes on the area in each land parcel entered into this action in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim on your type of priority habitat species-rich grassland – read the ‘advice to help you do this action’ to find out what’s appropriate for your type of species-rich grassland
• maintain a continuous sward on any historic and archaeological features, with minimal scrub, bracken and bare ground – if you cut the sward, you must avoid damaging the features

In years when you cut the area for hay or haylage, you must:

• not graze the area for a continuous period of at least 8 weeks during the spring and summer months before you harvest the hay or haylage crop – this is to allow flowering grasses and wildflowers to develop
• harvest the hay or haylage crop after enough flowering grasses and wildflowers have set seed to reasonably achieve this action’s aim – in the majority of cases, this will usually be mid to late July (but you must not cut it earlier than the end of June on land outside severely disadvantaged areas (SDAs) or mid-July on land in an SDA)
• in each land parcel, leave an uncut margin around the edge of the area entered into this action to provide shelter for invertebrates and small mammals
• apply no more than 6 tonnes per ha per year (or no more than 12 tonnes per ha every 2 years) of cattle, sheep or horse farmyard manure – you must not increase your application rate if it’s currently less than this

If, in a particular year, you believe that you have an exceptional case to cut earlier than the end of June or mid-July (as relevant), and the timing can still reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim, you must:

• notify the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) about this in writing before you cut the area – use ‘SFI GRH6 early cutting’ as the subject heading
• supply evidence with your written notification to show how the timing of the cutting can still reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim – the RPA may review this evidence if they check you’re complying with your SFI agreement

For such exceptional cases, you can cut the area for hay or haylage once you’ve notified the RPA and supplied the required evidence.

You must not do the following on the area entered into this action:

• plough, cultivate or reseed it, unless you’re restoring or creating priority habitat species-rich grassland (as confirmed in this action’s written endorsement)
• carry out supplementary feeding, except for mineral blocks
• carry out mechanical activities, including hay and haylage cutting, in a way that may disturb breeding birds or damage nests
• apply digestate or any other industrial by-product, including paper waste
• apply inorganic fertiliser or manures, apart from cattle, sheep or horse farmyard manure in years when the land is cut for hay or haylage

• apply pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, or nettles – unless the use of herbicides will affect wildflowers in the sward
• damage any archaeological or historic features
• carry out drainage works, including modifying existing drainage
• top more than half of the total area, except in patches to control injurious weeds, invasive species, bracken or areas dominated by rushes

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

You must do this action each year of its 5-year 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 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.

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

SFI 2024 actions CSAM1, CNUM1, CIPM1, OFC2, OFM2

SFI 2023 actions IPM1, NUM1, SAM1

CS options OR2, OT2

ES options No ES revenue options

SFI pilot No area-based SFI pilot standards standards

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 one of the following supplemental actions (unless indicated otherwise) on land entered into this base action:

• GRH7: Hay making supplement – you can also do GRH11 on the same area as GRH7
• GRH8: Hay making supplement (late cut) – you can also do GRH11 on the same area as GRH8
• GRH11: Cattle grazing supplement (non-moorland) – you can also do GRH7 or GRH8 on the same area as GRH11
• SPM2: Keep native breeds on grazed habitats supplement (50-80%)
• SPM3: Keep native breeds on grazed habitats supplement (more than 80%)

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)
• the introductory level of the SFI pilot hedgerows standard