AB6: Enhanced overwinter stubble

How much will be paid

£589 per hectare (ha).

Where to use this option

Available for Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Higher Tier

Whole or part parcel

• Rotational

• Only on stubble that follows the harvest of:

  • cereals (not maize)
  • oilseed rape
  • linseed

Where this option cannot be used

• On parcels at risk of soil erosion or runoff, as identified on the Farm Environment Record (FER)

Related Mid Tier options

The following options can be located on the same area as this option.

• OR3 – Organic conversion – rotational land
• OT3 – Organic land management – rotational land

How this option will benefit the environment

It provides important winter food sources for seed-eating birds, spring and summer foraging and nesting habitat for other farmland birds and undisturbed habitat for other farmland wildlife including many pollinators.

If successful there will be:

• naturally occurring arable plants providing seed and forage during winter, spring and summer
• farmland birds and pollinating insects using the winter stubble and spring fallow area
• only low populations of blackgrass plants in the late spring that need targeted spraying

Aims

If you’re selected for a site visit, we will check that delivery of the aims is being met and the prohibited activities have not been carried out. This will ensure the environmental benefits are being delivered.

After harvest, the stubble from the summer’s crop will be left until the 31 July of the following year providing important seed and forage for farmland birds during the autumn and winter.

Prohibited Activities

To achieve the aims and deliver the environmental benefits, do not carry out any of the following activities:

• use pre-harvest desiccants
• apply fertilisers, manures or lime to the stubble
• apply pesticides to the stubble, except herbicides to control problem grass weeds by spraying the affected area from 15 May
• top or graze

On your annual claim you will be asked to declare that you have not carried out any prohibited activities.

Recommended management

To assist you in achieving the aims and deliver the environmental benefits for this option, we recommend that you use best practice.

We recommend that you:

• retain the stubble and any subsequent regeneration until 31 July of the following year after harvest
• return the stubble to the farm rotation from 1 August each year

Keeping records

Where there is uncertainty about whether the aims of the options have been delivered, we will take into account any records or evidence you may have kept demonstrating delivery of the aims of the option. This will include any steps you’ve taken to follow the recommended management set out above. It’s your responsibility to keep such records if you want to rely on these to support your claim.

• Field operations at the parcel level, including associated invoices
• Location of option within your annual claim

Additional guidance and advice

The following advice is helpful, but they are not requirements for this item.

Pick the right location

This option can be used on most soil types but ideally choose a location with:

• low levels of blackgrass or without a thistle problem as this avoids the need to spray after 15 May and lets arable flora set seed in late spring to early summer
• arable plants in the soil seedbank, which provide natural insect-rich habitats for foraging farmland birds

Block sizes or plots

Spread enhanced stubble widely across the farm to help connect farmland wildlife with other farm habitats, and to provide some benefits for blackgrass control later in the season.

Make sure this option is planned into the farm rotation by selecting enough appropriately sized fields with a low blackgrass burden.

Rotational management

Remember that the stubble should be in place from harvest until at least 31 December in year 5 of the agreement, after which time it can be returned to the rotation.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

This option can form part of an IPM approach to prevent the establishment of pests, weeds and diseases. If successful, appropriate and within proximity of cropped areas, these may limit the need for the use of Plant Protection Products and enhance wildlife and biodiversity on your holding. Read information on IPM at AHDB (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board) Integrated Pest Management and LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming).

Biodiversity

This option has been identified as being beneficial for biodiversity. All Countryside Stewardship habitat creation, restoration and management options are of great significance for biodiversity recovery, as are the wide range of arable options in the scheme. Capital items and supplements can support this habitat work depending on the holding’s situation and potential.

The connectivity of habitats is also very important and habitat options should be linked wherever possible. Better connectivity will allow wildlife to move/colonise freely to access water, food, shelter and breeding habitat, and will allow natural communities of both animals and plants to adapt in response to environmental and climate change.

Further information

Read Countryside Stewardship: get funding to protect and improve the land you manage to find out more information about Mid Tier and Higher Tier including how to apply.