AHW7

After harvest, leave stubble from a cereal, oilseed rape, or linseed crop until mid-summer of the following year. You must not use pre-harvest desiccants, top, graze, or apply fertilisers, manures, lime, or pesticides (with an exception for herbicides on grass weeds from mid-May).

This action must be performed annually for 3 years. If starting late, you have up to 12 months to begin. In the final year, the action must be maintained until mid-summer or the agreement's end date.

You must follow the action's requirements to achieve its aim, but the specific method is flexible.

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.

Advice includes selecting suitable locations on heavier soils, linking habitats, and enhancing benefits by locating stubbles near other valuable habitats or using diverse crop mixes to support wildlife.