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Sow winter bird food plots in spring
The guidance on this page is for SFI pilot participants only. Please visit GOV.UK for the official Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme guidance.
Find out how land managers can feed farmland birds in winter by establishing spring-sown bird food plots on arable land.
If you’re completing this action as part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot, how you do it is up to you.
The advice on this page can help you get better environmental and business benefits, but you do not have to follow it to get paid.
Winter bird food plots
Winter bird food plots are areas of sown seed-bearing crops that are left unharvested over winter. They provide:
- a reliable food source for seed-eating farmland birds in winter
- shelter for birds, insects and mammals all year round
- invertebrate food (like worms and snails) in spring and summer for birds like thrushes
- a place for annual arable wildflowers to grow, flower and set seed
At least half of the total area of winter bird food plots on your land needs to be spring-sown. Spring-sown plots provide seed food every winter, unlike autumn-sown plots.
You can sow plots in the autumn if spring-sown crops are difficult to establish due to:
- regular spring droughts and higher soil moisture in late summer than in spring
- heavy soil, so you cannot create a suitable seedbed until late spring
To maintain or increase bird populations, you also need to provide birds with year-round food sources alongside winter bird food plots.
Choose your location
The best locations are fertile and:
- sunny and south or south-west facing, as shady sites can lead to poor establishment and yield
- weed-free, as a high weed burden will affect crop establishment
- near to nesting, roosting and other feeding habitats, where possible
Put your plots near to hedges or scrub to provide birds with shelter from predators.
Avoid sites:
- which are difficult to get to and manage, like remote field corners
- next to public highways or public rights of way, as regular disturbance stops birds from feeding
- within 5 metres of watercourses if you plan to use insecticides
You can move plots to fit your rotation and reduce the build-up of weeds, pests and diseases.
What to sow
You must use organic seed if you farm organically or are converting to organic farming. You’ll need approval from your organic certification body to use non-organic seed.
You can sow either a 1 year seed mix or a 2 year seed mix. Both will provide food for a range of farmland birds.
Example of a 1 year seed mix
Sow this seed mix every year at 60kg per hectare (kg/ha).
| Crop species | Seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Spring wheat | 20 |
| Spring oats | 10 |
| Spring triticale | 10 |
| Red millet | 2 |
| White millet | 4 |
| Linseed | 5 |
| Gold of pleasure | 3 |
| Quinoa | 3 |
| Mustard | 2 |
| Fodder radish | 1 |
Cereal-based 1 year mixes are most suited to grey partridge, buntings and sparrows.
Example 2 year seed mix
Sow this seed mix every 2 years at 60kg/ha
| Crop species | Seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Spring wheat | 20 |
| Spring oats | 10 |
| Spring triticale | 10 |
| Red millet | 2 |
| White millet | 4 |
| Linseed | 5 |
| Gold of pleasure | 3 |
| Kale | 3 |
| Quinoa | 3 |
Two year mixes that include more oil-rich crops are best for finches, like linnets. Two year mixes can also provide cover and invertebrate food for birds during the second spring.
Create your own seed mix
You can adapt the example seed mixes. Your seed supplier can help you create a seed mix to best match your land and local conditions.
You need to sow at least 6 different crops from at least 2 different crop groups, to provide food for a range of birds. The crop groups are cereals, brassicas and oilseeds.
Suitable cereal crops for spring-sown plots are:
- spring barley
- spring oats, or naked oats if they are available
- spring triticale
- spring wheat
Suitable oilseed and brassica crops for spring-sown plots are:
- red millet
- white millet
- quinoa
- linseed
- gold of pleasure
- dwarf sunflowers
- buckwheat
- fodder radish
- mustard
- kale
Companion flower species
You can add flower species to your seed mix to provide a source of pollen and nectar.
Keep the seed rate of flowers low to stop them competing with your seed producing crops.
| Crop species | Maximum seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Common vetch | 5 |
| Crimson clover | 1 |
| Black medick | 0.5 |
| Phacelia | 0.5 |
| Red clover | 0.5 |
| Lucerne | 0.3 |
| Chicory | 0.2 |
Structural crops
You can add structural crops to your seed mix to provide cover and support for weaker-stemmed crops.
Keep the seed rate of structural crops low to stop them outcompeting your seed producing crops.
Halve the maximum seed rate if you use 2 or more structural crops.
| Crop species | Maximum seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Dwarf sorghum | 6 |
| Japanese reed millet | 1 |
| Sweet fennel | 0.5 |
| Chicory | 0.2 |
Seed mixes for target species
You can adapt your seed mix to meet the specific needs of individual species.
Cirl bunting seed mix
Sow this seed mix every year at 60kg/ha
| Crop species | Seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Spring barley | 42 |
| Spring wheat or spring oats or both | 6 |
| White millet | 4 |
| Quinoa | 3 |
| Fodder radish | 2 |
| Red millet | 2 |
| Mustard | 1 |
Cirl buntings prefer a more open plot so they can feed on seeds on the ground. Cut a 6 to 10 metre wide strip in the plot next to a hedge or scrub to open the plot up. Do this in October or November and again in January or February.
Keep plots until the end of March to make sure there is enough food in early spring.
Corn bunting seed mix
Sow this seed mix every year at 60kg/ha.
| Crop species | Seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Spring barley | 24 |
| Spring wheat | 12 |
| Spring oats | 12 |
| Red millet | 2 |
| White millet | 4 |
| Quinoa | 3 |
| White mustard | 2 |
| Red clover | 0.5 |
| Phacelia | 0.5 |
Increase the seed rate on weedier and less-fertile sites to 70 kg/ha by adding 10 kg/ha of barley, oats or wheat. You can add dwarf sorghum at 3kg/ha to support the crop if lodging is a problem.
Sow on a 4 to 5 inch row spacing as corn buntings prefer a denser plot. Sow in large, wide blocks at least 0.4ha and 48m wide.
Grey partridge seed mix
Grey partridges prefer plots in more open areas, away from woodland. You can sow either a 1 year seed mix or a 2 year seed mix.
Sow this seed mix every year at 60kg/ha.
| Crop species | Seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Spring wheat | 30 |
| Spring triticale | 12 |
| Linseed | 6 |
| White millet | 4 |
| Gold of pleasure | 3 |
| Mustard | 2 |
| Red millet | 2 |
| Fodder radish | 1 |
Sow this seed mix every 2 years at 60kg/ha.
| Crop species | Seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Spring wheat | 30 |
| Spring triticale | 10 |
| Linseed | 6 |
| White millet | 4 |
| Gold of pleasure | 3 |
| Kale | 3 |
| Mustard | 2 |
| Red millet | 2 |
Tree sparrow seed mix
You can sow either a 1 year seed mix or a 2 year seed mix.
Sow this seed mix every year at 60kg/ha.
| Crop species | Seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Spring wheat | 26 |
| Spring triticale | 10 |
| Spring oats | 10 |
| Gold of pleasure | 3 |
| Quinoa | 3 |
| Red millet | 3 |
| White millet | 3 |
| Mustard | 2 |
Sow this seed mix every 2 years at 60kg/ha.
| Crop species | Seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Spring wheat | 24 |
| Spring triticale | 10 |
| Spring oats | 10 |
| Gold of pleasure | 3 |
| Kale | 3 |
| Quinoa | 3 |
| Red millet | 3 |
| White millet | 3 |
| Mustard | 1 |
How to establish your plots in spring
Create your seedbed
Create a well-consolidated, firm, fine, level and weed-free seedbed before you sow, to improve germination. This is the most effective weed and slug control method.
You can roll seedbeds before sowing, if they are uneven after secondary cultivations.
When to sow
Sow when the weather and soil moisture are best for the crops in your seed mix. This is usually:
- March or April for cereals, to give plants enough time to flower and set seed before winter
- from May to the end of June for buckwheat, dwarf sunflower, red millet and white millet
- from May into June for linseed, quinoa and brassica crops; you can sow from March but frost can affect the yield
How to sow
You can sow:
- all the crops together in the plot as one mix
- individual crops next to each other in different strips or blocks
- crop groups next to each other in different strips or blocks, for example sow cereals and brassicas separately
Mix the seed in the hopper immediately before sowing a seed mix to stop an uneven spread of crops in your plot.
You can shallow drill or broadcast (scatter) your seed mix.
Sow in either one or 2 passes. Sowing in 2 passes allows you to sow all crops at the best depth and at the best time of year.
Drill larger seeds (like cereals and dwarf sunflowers) 2.5cm deep, from April to the end of May. Then drill smaller seeds 1cm deep or broadcast them, from May to mid-June.
Sow at 1cm deep when sowing in one pass, so that smaller seeds are not sown too deep.
Sow crops on a 4 to 5 inch row spacing. When sowing in 2 passes, you can sow cereals on a 10 to15 inch row spacing. This lets the later sown crops grow bigger and produce more seed.
Roll after drilling or broadcasting to keep in moisture, ensure good seed-to-soil contact and reduce slug damage. Do not roll waterlogged soils or where there is a risk of ‘capping’ (running rainwater causing the surface to form an impenetrable cap).
Crop nutrition
Apply fertiliser so the crops in your plots produce enough seed.
Nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium fertilisers are important, particularly where plots are grown on light soils or in the same place for several years. Testing the soil in your plots can help you decide what fertiliser to use and how much to apply.
How long to keep plots
You need to keep your plots until mid-February to provide seeds and cover for farmland birds throughout the winter.
You can keep plots into March on lighter soils. You’ll still have time to create a seedbed for spring sowing.
Weed control
Your plots do not need to be completely weed-free. Seeds from weeds like black bindweed, chickweed, fat hen and knotgrass are a food source for farmland birds.
You’ll need to control weeds where a high weed burden will cause poor:
- establishment of a plot
- seed production of sown crops
Move plots to new, weed-free sites every 3 years to prevent the build-up of weeds.
Herbicides
It’s more difficult to control weeds in existing plots, as you risk damaging your sown crops.
To control weeds with herbicide you can:
- spot-treat or use an overall application to control injurious and broad-leaved weeds
- use graminicides to control grass weeds, like barnyard grass and yellow foxtail
Do not use graminicides if grass weeds have resisted them in the past.
Manual weed control
You can remove weeds by hand before they finish flowering to stop their seeds spreading.
You should only top weeds as a last resort as it will remove seed heads and can harm wildlife. Top no lower than 30cm above the ground and no more than 5% of the plot to reduce the risk of harming wildlife.
Pest control
Plots established on fertile soil in good growing conditions grow faster and can withstand damage from pests better.
Flea beetle
Brassicas like kale and oilseed crops like linseed attract flea beetles. Damage is worst when crops are young and adult beetles can eat seedlings as they emerge.
You can use a contact-acting insecticide if damage is likely to cause crop failure.
Slugs
Slugs can be a problem on heavier soils and where plots are kept in the same place every year.
Only use slug pellets as a last resort to reduce the risk of harm to other wildlife. If you plan to use slug pellets:
- use test baiting to monitor the slug population
- only consider using pellets if there are 4 or more slugs per trap
- consider ferric phosphate-based pellets, which are less toxic to other wildlife
Other species that may cause damage
Plots can attract a range of other pests like rabbits, corvids like crows and ravens, pigeons and deer. You can use non-lethal control if you need to discourage constant grazing.
What a good winter bird food plot looks like
In autumn you should see a continuous cover of at least 5 different sown crops with seed heads.
Look out for finches, buntings, sparrows and partridges feeding in your plots.
What to do with failed spring-sown plots
Assess germination within 4 weeks of sowing. If germination is poor or patchy, you can re-sow part or the entire plot.
You can use a rescue seed mix between mid-June and mid-July. This contains fast-growing crops that can provide ripe seeds within 15 weeks of sowing.
Sow the rescue seed mix at 18kg/ha.
| Crop species | Seed rate, kg/ha |
|---|---|
| Buckwheat | 9 |
| Fodder radish | 3 |
| Gold of pleasure | 3 |
| White mustard | 2 |
| Brown mustard | 1 |
If you use herbicides on a plot, it could affect future growth. Many herbicides have some residual activity and low levels may still be present in the soil.
Sown after mid-July, the rescue seed mix is unlikely to produce many ripe seeds in time for winter. After mid-July, consider spreading seed.
