LIG2 - Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs (SDAs)

Payment

You’ll receive £151 per hectare per year

Aim

This action’s aim is that the grassland produces a sward with:

flowering grasses and wildflowers from late spring and during the summer months
a variety of plant heights by autumn, with some covering of flowering grasses and wildflowers left to go to seed and tussocky grass allowed to develop

The purpose of this is to:

provide nectar and shelter for invertebrates and a food supply for farmland birds
support an IPM approach if located close to cropped areas
minimise nutrients being carried in surface water runoff to watercourses

Where You Can Do This Action

You can do:

LIG2 on eligible agricultural land outside SDAs

The table below sets out what land is eligible for LIG2.

Table 40: Eligible land for LIG2

Eligible land type	Eligible land use code	Compatible land cover
Temporary grassland	TG01	Arable land
Permanent grassland – improved and low input	PG01	Permanent grassland

The glossary (annex C) explains what we mean by land types, land use codes and compatible land covers.

The SFI application service will automatically calculate what area may be eligible for LIG2 in each land parcel. This is called the ‘SFI available area’. You must check this area is an eligible land type. Find out how the SFI available area is calculated in the information on land that’s eligible for the SFI actions (section 4.1.2).

You can usually only apply for this action on the total SFI available area in each land parcel shown in your SFI application. The only exception is when LIG2 is located in the same land parcel as IGL1 (take grassland field corners or blocks out of management).

LIG is a static action. You must do this action on the same area of eligible land each year of your 3-year SFI agreement. You cannot move the area each year.

Other Land Management Actions or Options You Can Do on the Same Area as LIG2

The table below sets out which other SFI actions, CS management options, ES revenue options and SFI pilot standards can be located on the same eligible area within a land parcel as LIG2.

Table 41: Actions or options that can be located on the same area within a land parcel as LIG2

Scheme	Action or option codes that can be located on the same area as LIG2
SFI 2023	SAM1, IPM1, NUM1
CS	OR1, OR2, OT1, OT2, SW15, SW16, (and for LIG2 only – SW17, SW18)
ES	No ES revenue options
SFI pilot	No area-based SFI pilot standards

Use the CS grant finder to search for the CS option codes shown above.

The SFI actions for hedgerows (HRW1, HRW2 and HRW3), CS option BE3 and the introductory level of the SFI pilot hedgerows standard can be done on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into LIG2.

If an action or option cannot be located on the same area within a land parcel as LIG2, this is because it’s not an eligible land type, or the activities are incompatible, or you would be paid twice for doing the same activities on the same land. In this case, that area will be automatically removed from the affected land parcel’s SFI available area in your SFI application.

If this is the case, you may be able to do the action on a different area in the same land parcel if:

it’s an eligible land type for the action or option
it’s a part-parcel action or option
the area used for the action or option does not overlap with the area used for LIG2

Read the information about eligibility of land used for other schemes and funding sources (section 4.2) to find out more.

What To Do

You must minimise the use of nutrient inputs on the grassland entered into LIG2 by applying no more than either:

12 tonnes per ha of cattle farmyard manure
equivalent amounts of available nutrients as fertiliser or in other organic manures as an alternative to cattle farmyard manure

You must also do the following on the grassland entered into LIG2:

graze it with livestock or cut it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim
minimise bare ground, so the soil is covered by vegetation and is not directly exposed to the elements

There must be an intact grass sward throughout the year, without compacted areas or poaching. You can carry out supplementary feeding of livestock on the grassland, but you must make sure this does not cause poaching.

You must not do the following on the grassland:

apply digestate or any other industrial by-product, including paper waste
carry out mechanical activities, including hay and silage cutting, in a way that may disturb breeding birds or damage nests
carry out drainage works
plough, cultivate or re-seed it
use pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat for the control of injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, nettles or bracken
allow areas of scrub to develop on land with historic or archaeological features

If the grassland will be cut for conserved forage, you must:

not graze or cut it for a continuous period of at least 7 weeks during the spring and summer months before taking the forage cut, to allow the sward to develop flowering grasses and wildflowers
leave an uncut margin around the edge of the land parcel when it’s cut for conserved forage, to help provide shelter for invertebrates

After you’ve cut the area for conserved forage, you must manage it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

If you’re already managing grassland with very low nutrient inputs, you can use it to meet this action if it:

meets the requirements explained above
is not already being paid for under another environmental land management scheme option, such as CS option GS2 (permanent grassland with very low inputs (outside SDAs)) or GS5 (permanent grassland with very low inputs (SDAs))

When to Do It

You must do your chosen action each year of your 3-year SFI agreement.

How to Do It

It’s up to you how you complete LIG2, as long as you do it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You may find it helpful to read the voluntary guidance on how to manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs, but you do not have to follow it.

What Evidence to Keep

You should keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete the action. This will help if it’s not clear that you’ve completed the action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim. You must supply this evidence if we ask for it.

This evidence could include photographs and other documentation to show what you’ve done to complete this action. It could also include field operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices. If you choose to take photographs, read the guidance on how to take photographic evidence (annex A).

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: SFI Handbook for the SFI 2023 Offer