GRH8: Haymaking supplement (late cut)

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

£187 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This supplemental action’s aim is that a crop of herb-rich hay is made, with wildflowers and grasses allowed to flower and set seed.

The purpose of this is to:

• support later flowering plant species
• allow wading birds, such as curlew, to nest successfully
• help to conserve plants seen in traditionally managed hay meadows
• provide pollen and nectar for bees and other insects
• improve water quality
• maintain traditional landscape character

Where you can do this action

You can only do this supplemental action on eligible land that’s entered into the following base action:

• CLIG3: Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs (or LIG1 and LIG2 in the SFI 2023 offer)
• GRH6: Manage priority habitat species-rich grassland

You cannot do this action on land that’s already entered into the following equivalent base actions in a Countryside Stewardship agreement:

• GS2 (permanent grassland with very low inputs – outside SDAs)
• GS5 (permanent grassland with very low inputs – SDAs) in a Countryside Stewardship (CS) agreement

Eligibility of protected land

Available area you can enter into this action

Same or less than your selected base action.

Rotational or static action

This action is rotational or static. This means that after the first year of this action’s duration you can either:

• move its location around the land entered into the relevant base action for subsequent years of this action’s duration
• do it at the same location each year

What to do

You must not graze or cut the sward for at least 9 weeks during the spring and summer months before you harvest the hay crop. This is to allow the sward to develop flowering grasses and wildflowers.

For land entered into this supplemental action, the minimum 9-week period replaces the:

• minimum 7-week period required by base action CLIG3
• minimum 8-week period required by base action GRH6

You must allow the flowers and grasses to set seed. This will usually mean harvesting the hay crop no earlier than mid-July.

You must:

• in each land parcel, leave an uncut margin around at least half of the edge of the area entered into this action when you harvest the crop to provide shelter for invertebrates and small mammals
• leave the cut hay crop to field dry, turning it at least once
• remove the hay crop once it is field dry – it can be unwrapped or wrapped

After you’ve removed the hay crop, you must manage the sward in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve the relevant base action’s aim. This will usually be by aftermath grazing or taking a second cut.

When to do it

You must do this action each year of its 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
• a grazing activity record if livestock are grazed on the area
• photographs and other documentation to show management undertaken

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.

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.

How to make field-dried hay

Check your field for signs of nesting birds before you harvest the hay crop. Birds, nests and eggs are protected by law, so if you see signs of nesting birds, delay cutting until the birds fledge.

If the weather is wet, you can harvest the hay crop later.

When you leave the cut hay crop to field dry, try to let the swath wilt (which may take around 48 hours, depending on the weather) and then turn it over. This will allow some wildflower seeds to return to the meadow.

Managing hay meadows

If you manage the grassland by only cutting it, there will be a consistent sward height and structure. Grazing with cattle can help maintain a range of vegetation heights.

You can use aftermath grazing (from late summer until autumn) to add variety to the sward and improve hay meadow biodiversity. This will usually start around 6 weeks after you’ve cut the hay crop, but this timing will depend on the:

• growing season
• ground conditions

You can also graze during the following spring, unless your meadow has early flowering plants (such as cowslips and bluebells).

To help prevent damage from poaching, you can remove the livestock when the:

• average sward height becomes very short (below around 5 centimetres)
• ground is too wet

[SFI]: Sustainable Farming Incentive [SDAs]: severely disadvantaged areas [CS]: Countryside Stewardship [SSSIs]: sites of special scientific interest *[ES]: Environmental Stewardship