AHW4

Create and maintain at least 2 fallow plots per hectare within a winter cereal crop. The plots must be around 16 square metres and retained until harvest. They cannot be located in tramlines, boundaries, or margins.

This action must be performed every year for the 3-year duration. If starting late, plots must be established within the first 12 months. In the final year, maintain plots until harvest or the action's end date.

The method is flexible, as long as the mandatory requirements are met and the action is performed in a way that is likely to achieve its aim.

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 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.

Advice suggests locating plots in large, open fields away from predators, establishing them by either not sowing or by spraying, and avoiding mechanical weeding between April and harvest to protect nests.