CSW8: Manage intensive grassland adjacent to a watercourse

This action is part of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT). You must read the CSHT guidance before you apply.

Duration

5 years

How much you’ll be paid

£311 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is to maintain or create a diverse grass sward, as well as to manage the sward with reduced fertiliser inputs and reducing stocking densities.

The purpose is to reduce:

• soil compaction
• surface run-off and the risk of diffuse pollution to the watercourse
• the risk of flooding

Where you can do this action

You can do this action on eligible:

• land located below the moorland line
• sloping land which drains directly into a watercourse (stream, river, or lake)
• land typically receiving more than 200 kilograms (kg) per hectare of nitrogen per year
• land at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff, or has been identified as important for buffering sensitive habitat

For the purposes of this action, ‘sensitive habitats’ include:

• watercourses and waterbodies (streams, rivers, ponds or lakes)
• sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) at risk of diffuse water pollution – you can find these on the MAGIC website
• priority habitats – you can find these on Natural England’s priority habitat inventory map or the MAGIC website

Eligibility

You can do this action on land that’s:

• an eligible land type
• registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
• declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover

Available area you can enter into this action

Total or part of the available area in the 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

Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.

To get paid for this action, you must:

• manage the land so there’s a diverse grass sward throughout the year
• exclude livestock from the sward during the autumn and winter or as agreed with your adviser
• keep a monthly record of stock numbers grazing the land parcels
• manage the sward by grazing or cutting, with cuttings removed
• minimise the cover of bare ground, as agreed with your Natural England adviser

The advice you’re given from Natural England is specific to your land which means (where relevant) you may also need to establish a grass sward using a seed mix agreed with your adviser.

You must not:

• apply any livestock manures with more than 100 kilograms (kg) of total nitrogen per ha per year (where you do not use livestock manures, you can use nitrogen fertiliser to supply no more than 50kg of total nitrogen per ha per year)
• apply pesticides – you may be able to use herbicides to spot-treat or weed-wipe for the control of injurious weeds, invasive non-native plant species, nettles or other plants if this has been agreed with your Natural England adviser
• apply any manure or fertiliser between late summer and around the end of January to reduce the risk of runoff
• supplementary feed except for mineral blocks (non-energy based)

When to do it

You must carry out the management activities for the duration of your agreement.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence.

You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including:

• field operations at a land parcel level
• relevant invoices including seed invoices
• photographs and other documentation

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.

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:

• CSHT actions: CWT3, CHRW4
• SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2, WBD10
• SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
• CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)

Consents, permissions and licensing requirements

To apply for this action, you’ll need:

• Scheduled Monument Consent from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
• consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI)

You may also need to get:

• advice from your Natural England adviser if you have other archaeological or historic features on your agreement land
• a wildlife licence from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat

All archaeological and historic features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).

If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.

Capital grants to support this action

You can also apply for capital items to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.

Advice to help you do this action

The following optional advice may help you to do this action. Your agreement document will set out all the activities you must do.

Choosing a site

This action is not suitable:

• if it will have a damaging effect on sites of archaeological interest
• on sites with pests (for example, rabbits, mink, thistles and ragwort) that are not under control, and that prevent land management or threaten the established vegetative cover

Establishing and managing the sward

Where you need to reseed, remove any subsoil compaction, except on archaeological features.

Sow the seed mix that was agreed with your Natural England adviser. This may include grass species such as timothy, cocksfoot, crested dogstail, red fescue and smooth stalked meadow grass. It may also include wildflowers such as ox-eye daisy, black knapweed, bird’s-foot-trefoil and common sorrel.

Control weeds and cut regularly in the first 12 to 24 months of establishment to encourage grasses to tiller.

Avoid cutting when the soil is wet to prevent compaction.

Before you cut the sward, check it for signs of nesting birds. Birds, nests and eggs are protected by law, so if you see signs of nesting birds, delay cutting until the birds have fledged. [CSHT]: Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier  [ha]: hectare  [SSSIs]: Sites of Special Scientific Interest  [MAGIC]: Multi-Agency Geographic Information for the Countryside  [RPA]: Rural Payments Agency  [SFI]: Sustainable Farming Incentive  [CS]: Countryside Stewardship  [ES]: Environmental Stewardship  [SSSI]: Site of Special Scientific Interest  [HEFER]: Historic Environment Farm Environment Record