OP1: Overwintered stubble

How much will be paid

£264 per hectare (ha)

Where to use this option

It’s available for Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Higher Tier on whole or part parcels in rotation on:

• land registered as organic or ‘in conversion’ with a Defra-licensed organic control body
• land only on stubble that follows the harvest of:
  • land cereals (not maize)
  • oilseed rape
  • linseed

Where this option cannot be used

• Parcels at risk of soil erosion or runoff (as identified on the Farm Environment Record (FER)).

Related Mid Tier options

You can locate the following options 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 creates a winter food source for seed-eating birds, which feed on spilt grain and the seeds of broad-leaved weeds, and a foraging habitat for brown hare.

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 the harvest there will be stubble until mid-February. Within the stubble there will be a green overwinter cover crop between 10% and 50% of the option area.

Prohibited activities

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

• Apply any fertilisers, manures or lime to the stubble
• Top or graze the stubble
• Cultivate the stubble after harvest

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:

• bale, chop or spread straw after harvest
• keep the stubble from harvest until 15 February
• establish a green overwinter cover crop (such as mustard or fodder radish) on at least 10%, but not more than 50%, of the option area
• record the location of this option on your annual claim

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
• A valid organic certificate and schedule for all the parcels entered into this option at application and on your annual claim – RPA will not request this information if you have already supplied it for a Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) claim
• The location of the rotational option

Additional guidance and advice

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

Rotating this option

This is a rotational option, it can move between eligible parcels but maintain the same total area (hectarage) each year. Cover crops should be located (on up to 50% of the option area) where they will help to reduce any risk of soil erosion. To avoid destroying the stubble, the cover crop must be established using only shallow cultivation, and non-inversion techniques.

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.