AHW3: Beetle banks - GOV.UK

Contents

1. Duration
2. How much you’ll be paid
3. Action’s aim
4. Where you can do this action
5. Eligible land
6. Eligibility of protected land
7. Available area you can enter into this action
8. Rotational or static action
9. What to do
10. When to do it
11. How to do it
12. Evidence to keep
13. Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action
14. Advice to help you do this action
15. Choosing the right location
16. Establishing the beetle bank
17. Maintaining the grassy mix during establishment
18. Maintaining the established grassy mix
19. Enhancing banks for wildlife

This is an action in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme: expanded offer for 2024. You must read the SFI scheme information to understand the scheme rules and how to apply.

Duration

3 years

How much you’ll be paid

£764 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s an in-field raised grassy bank, with tussocky grass allowed to develop.

The purpose of this is to:

• provide nesting and foraging habitats for ground-nesting birds, small mammals and insects
• help slow down or stop soil erosion
• support an integrated pest management approach if located close to cropped areas

Where you can do this action

You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that’s:

• an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’ in the SFI scheme information)
• registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
• declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover

Eligible land

• Eligible land type: Arable land used to grow crops
• Eligible land cover: Arable land
• Compatible land use code: Land use codes for arable crops or leguminous and nitrogen-fixing crops
• Eligible land type: Temporary grassland
• Eligible land cover: Arable land
• Compatible land use code: TG01
• Eligible land type: Arable land lying fallow
• Eligible land cover: Arable land
• Compatible land use code: FA01

Eligibility of protected land

• Protected land: Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs)
• Eligibility: Eligible – you must get SSSI consent before you do this action (read section 10.3 ‘SSSI consent’ in the SFI scheme information to find out how to do this)
• Protected land: Historic and archaeological features
• Eligibility: Ineligible – you must not enter any area that contains an historic or archaeological feature into this action. This only affects the area where the feature is located in a land parcel. You can apply for this action on the remaining area in the land parcel if it’s eligible.

Available area you can enter into this action

Part of the available area in a land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This action is static. This means you must do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration.

What to do

You must establish an in-field beetle bank by:

• creating a raised earth ridge
• sowing a mixture of fine-leaved grasses, such as red fescue, together with some tussock forming varieties like tall fescue, timothy and cocksfoot

You can leave gaps of up to around 40m at each end of the beetle bank to allow machinery access.

Once the grassy mix on the beetle bank is established, you must maintain it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You must not apply:

• any fertilisers, manures or lime
• apply pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, or nettles

You can maintain an existing beetle bank to get paid for this action if it:

• meets this action’s requirements
• is not already being paid for under another environmental land management scheme option, such as Countryside Stewardship option AB3 (beetle banks)

When to do it

You must:

• establish the beetle bank within 12 months of this action’s start date
• maintain the beetle bank throughout each subsequent year of this action’s duration

How to do it

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.

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 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.

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

Advice to help you do this action

The following advice may help you to do this action, but it’s not part of this action’s requirements.

Choosing the right location

This action:

• is suitable for most soil types, but especially where it is possible to form a free-draining raised bank (this will leave the upper bank area dry for insects to hibernate securely)
• works best on larger fields, as it’s designed to provide the most benefit in more open landscapes
• can help to slow down or stop soil erosion

You can spread beetle banks across your farm to help connect farmland wildlife with other farm habitats.

Establishing the beetle bank

To establish the beetle bank, you can create or maintain a raised earth ridge that’s:

• around 3 metres (m) to 5m wide
• at least around 0.4m high

To create a raised earth ridge, you can:

• plough up and down your field around 2 to 3 times (4 to 6 passes in total)
• complete a final, shallow cultivation of the bank to produce a firm and fine seedbed

You can sow the grassy seed mixture by broadcasting it on to the seed bed. To keep moisture in the soil, you can roll it after sowing using an all-terrain vehicle.

To minimise the risk of the beetle bank slumping you can avoid:

• overworking the bank
• using a heavy set of tractor-trailed Cambridge or flat rolls

You may find it helpful to read the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) guidance on beetle banks.

Maintaining the grassy mix during establishment

To help the grassy mix to establish, you can cut it several times during the first spring and summer after sowing. To reduce the risk of soil compacting, try to avoid cutting when the bank is wet.

Maintaining the established grassy mix

From the second spring and summer after sowing, you can cut:

• where woody species or invasive perennial weeds (such as creeping or spear thistle) are growing
• from August, to protect any nesting invertebrates and beneficial insects

Enhancing banks for wildlife

To enhance the benefits for wildlife, you can sow flower species in your seed mix such as:

• common knapweed
• field scabious
• oxeye daisy
• wild carrot
• yarrow

If you plant woody shrubs and low growing trees around every 20 metres (m) to 30m, this can provide:

• important flower-rich foraging habitat for wild pollinators in the spring
• berries and fruits for farmland birds and other wildlife to feed on in the autumn and winter months
• important song posts for farmland birds (such as the corn bunting during the breeding season)

Published 21 May 2024 Last updated 5 August 2024 + show all updates

1. 30 July 2024

Where you can do this action - an eligible land type is defined in section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’ in the SFI scheme information. Eligibility of protected land - updated link to section 10.3 ‘SSSI consent’ in the SFI scheme information. You can apply for this action on the area in a land parcel that does not contain an historic or archaeological feature. Published voluntary advice to help you do this action, but it's not part of this action’s requirements.

1. 21 May 2024

First published.