OFA1: Overwinter stubble (organic land)

This action’s aim is that there’s a post-harvest stubble with some green cover over the autumn and winter months.

The purpose of this is to provide:

• a winter food source for seed-eating farmland birds
• foraging habitats for farmland wildlife

What you must do

After harvest, you must:

• leave the stubble
• in each land parcel, establish a green overwinter cover crop on the stubble area, such as mustard or fodder radish, so it covers between approximately 10% to 50% of the area entered into this action

You must maintain the stubble area (including the green overwinter cover crop) for a period of time that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim. This will usually be until around mid-February.

You must not do the following on the stubble area (including the green overwinter cover crop):

• top or graze it
• apply any fertilisers, manures or lime
• cultivate it after harvest

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 3-year duration.

If this action’s start date means it’s too late for you to do this action, you must start doing it within 12 months of the action’s start date.

In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do this action until around mid- February or this action’s end date, whichever is earlier.

Evidence to keep

For all the land entered into this action, you must keep:

• written evidence that it’s not at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff – you can use the soil management plan produced for CSAM1 or SAM1 to identify this
• a valid organic certificate and schedule for it – this must cover at least the full period of this action’s duration

You must also keep other 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.

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 AHW10, OFC3, OFM4, AGF1, AGF2, PRF1, PRF2, PRF3, SFI 2024 actions PRF4, SOH1, SOH2, SOH3, CIPM1, CIPM3, CIPM4, CNUM1, CSAM1 SFI 2023 actions IPM1, IPM3, IPM4, NUM1, SAM1|

CS options AB14, OR3, OT3

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 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