SOH4: Winter cover following maize crops

This action’s aim is that there’s a cover crop on land, which:

• is not at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff
• follows the early harvest of a maize crop
• is well-established during the winter months

The purpose of this is to:

• reduce the risk of soil erosion and surface runoff
• slow water runoff and allow soil to settle out, to reduce losses of sediment, nutrients and chemicals carried in the surface water
• help take up nutrients and reduce nitrate leaching through the soil profile

What you must do

After harvesting a maize crop, you must establish a winter cover crop which will not be harvested as a cash crop.

You must do this by either:

• establishing a quick growing cover crop as soon as possible after harvesting the maize crop, in time to establish before winter (this will usually be no later than around mid-October)
• maintaining a cover crop that was established by under-sowing the maize crop earlier in the year that remains after the maize crop is harvested

A ‘cash crop’ means a crop grown to be harvested for commercial use.

You must maintain the cover crop in a way, and for a period of time, that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

For the purposes of this action’s aim, the cover crop will be well-established if there’s:

• leafy vegetation that’s sufficiently well grown to protect the soil surface during the winter months (usually from early December until late February)
• minimal bare soil

You can graze the cover crop with livestock, but it must still be well-established over the winter months.

Once the maize crop has been harvested, you must not apply fertilisers or manures to the winter cover crop during the autumn or winter months.

If you’re establishing an early-sown spring crop, you may destroy the winter cover crop before the end of the winter months. You must not do this more than 6 weeks before you establish the early-sown spring crop.

When you destroy the cover crop, you should try to minimise risks such as compaction, poaching, soil runoff or erosion.

If something happens which means you cannot complete this action, you must tell the Rural Payments Agency about this in writing as soon as possible. For example, if there’s prolonged adverse weather. Read section 13.2: ‘What you must do if you cannot comply with your agreement’ in the SFI scheme information to find out how to do this.

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 the end of the winter months or this action’s end date, whichever is earlier.

Evidence to keep

You must keep written evidence that land entered into this action is not at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff. You can use the soil management plan produced for CSAM1 or SAM1 to identify this.

You must also 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

OFC3, OFM4, AGF1, AGF2, PRF1, PRF2, PRF3, PRF4, SFI 2024 actions SOH1, SOH2, CIPM1, CIPM4, CNUM1, CSAM1

SFI 2023 actions IPM1, IPM4, NUM1, SAM1

CS options 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