AHW6: Basic overwinter stubble

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

£58 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s a post-harvest stubble remaining 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

Where you can do this action

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

• identified by you as not being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff – you must keep evidence of this
• 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

Eligibility of protected land

Available area you can enter into this action

Total or part of the available area in a land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This action is rotational or static. This means it can either:

• move location within your crop rotation for the second and third years of this action’s duration
• remain at the same location each year of this action’s duration

What to do

You must not apply pre-harvest desiccants to the cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed.

After harvest, you must leave the stubble from a cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed until around mid-February.

You must not do the following on the stubble area:

• top or graze it
• apply post-harvest herbicides
• apply any fertilisers, manures or lime

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 the action until around mid-February or this action’s end date, whichever is earlier.

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 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.

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

When you establish the cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed, by law you cannot cultivate or apply fertilisers or pesticides to land within 2m of the centre of a hedgerow. Read the guidance on Hedgerow management rules; buffer strips to understand how these rules apply to you.

Overwinter stubbles are suitable for most soil types. Spring-sown crops (especially barley) can produce the best overwinter stubbles.

You can leave unmanaged overwinter stubbles across a whole field or a strip, if the land has been identified by you as not being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff. You can do CSAM1 (assess soil, produce a soil management plan and test soil organic matter) to help you identify this.

You can have several areas of stubbles spread across your farm to link non-crop habitats (such as hedgerows, ponds and field margins). This can help wildlife to move between these habitats, especially in large fields (for example, over 20 hectares (ha)).

As this action requires you not to use post-harvest herbicides, try to locate the overwinter stubbles in fields which do not have a history of hard to control weeds. For example:

• black-grass
• couch
• docks
• sterile brome
• thistles
• wild oats

It’s usually best to locate strips of overwinter stubbles along south-facing boundaries. This will allow more beneficial weeds to grow, so more seeds are produced for birds to eat.

How to increase environmental benefits from the stubbles

To help to increase the environmental benefits provided by the overwinter stubbles, you can establish them:

• near to high-value habitats, such as hedgerows, scrub and woodland
• close to other seed-rich habitat
• in fields used by nesting lapwing or skylark
• close to areas of scrub which are suitable for nesting turtle dove
• on warm, sunny, south-facing headlands which support rare arable plants

You can provide the greatest range of habitat for wildlife by having different stubble heights across your farm. You can do this by lowering and raising the combine header.

Skylark and yellowhammer prefer shorter stubble, while other species like grey partridge shelter in taller vegetation.

After you harvest your crop, you can broadcast beneficial seed and nectar-producing plants (such as mustard and fodder radish) into the stubble.

Other ways to enhance stubbles for farm wildlife include:

• carrying out winter supplementary feeding for farmland birds next to areas of winter bird food
• managing your preceding crop with less inorganic nitrogen fertiliser and fewer herbicides

[SFI]: Sustainable Farming Incentive [SSSIs]: sites of special scientific interest [SSSI]: site of special scientific interest [HEFER]: Historic Environment Farm Environment Record [CS]: Countryside Stewardship [ES]: Environmental Stewardship