https://defrafarming.blog.gov.uk/sustainable-farming-incentive-pilot-summary-of-advice/
Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot: summary of advice
The guidance on this page is for SFI pilot participants only. Please visit GOV.UK for the official Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme guidance.
An introduction to the advice available for farmers doing the actions from the standards.
Applications for the pilot have now closed. The Sustainable Farming Incentive 2023 offer is due to launch from summer 2023. To find out more about the SFI 2023 offer, read the SFI Handbook for the SFI 2023 offer.
This advice is for farmers piloting the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
How to use this advice
Each standard contains actions you must complete to be paid under the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot. See all the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot guidance.
The advice on this page can help you complete the actions and get better environmental and business benefits, but how you complete the actions is up to you. You do not have to follow this advice to get paid.
Arable and horticultural land
The following advice is helpful for doing the actions in the arable and horticultural land standard, but is not required.
Resources for farm wildlife
The arable and horticultural land standard aims to provide year-round resources for farm wildlife.
You can use the following to provide the winter seed food resource. For some of these you will need to provide a larger area, as they do not provide as much seed as a sown mix. You can do a combination of the following actions.
2% of sown winter seed food is equivalent to:
- 2% unharvested cereal headlands
- 2% ryegrass seed set
- 5% enhanced over winter stubble retained until 31 July in the following year
- 5% brassica fodder crops
- 10% basic over winter stubble
- 10% whole crop cereal retained as over winter stubble
Stubbles should not follow maize. Seed availability in stubbles may be limited, so you should ideally provide at least 1% of the winter seed food resource through a sown mix.
Sown winter seed food mixes should not include the following structural components:
- artichokes
- canary grass
- giant and intermediate sorghum
- maize
- miscanthus
- sweet clover
- tic beans
You should employ a range of actions and distribute these around the farm, in suitable locations and suitable plot sizes.
You can use these actions to buffer existing semi-natural habitats, such as woodland. But be aware that certain actions will not do well in shady areas, this includes legume and wildflower-rich habitats, bare ground habitats, ryegrass seed set and sown winter bird food plots.
Many actions can be rotated, which allows for weed control in years when the land is going back into a crop.
Basic overwintered stubbles and enhanced overwintered stubbles should not be located where there is a high risk of soil erosion.
If the land is also entered into the arable soils standard, stubble should not be left over winter where it will conflict with the requirements of that standard.
You can establish a cover crop on up to 50% of your stubbles, by under or oversowing, but not on the edges of fields which support rare arable plants (leave a strip of at least 12m unsown).
A proportion of in-field trees over 30cm DBH should be buffered. The 10m buffer should be measured from the edge of the trunk. Buffers around in-field trees should not be cut or used for the storage of machinery or materials.
Hedges also provide year-round resources for wildlife but should be managed through the hedgerow standard. Hedgerow buffer strips that are included in the hedgerows standard cannot count in the percentage of land actively managed to provide resources for farmland birds or other wildlife within the arable and horticultural land standard.
You can read this advice for help to
Intermediate and advanced levels
These levels provide a greater area of year-round resources (8% in intermediate level and 10% in advanced level). They include additional specific actions for species such as:
- nesting lapwing
- feeding grey partridge and turtle dove
- rare arable plants
- insect predators of crop pests
You should employ a range of actions and distribute these around the farm, in suitable locations and suitable plot sizes.
Legume and flower-rich mixes, and other actions which provide a dense ground cover with no annual cultivation, should not be sown in areas which support rare arable plants.
You can read this advice for help to
- maintain in-field trees
- maintain dead wood to benefit wildlife
- create nesting plots for lapwing and stone curlew
- create cultivated margins and plots for arable plants
- create and maintain herbal leys
- create and maintain beetle banks
- create 2 year sown legume fallow
Supplementary winter bird feeding gives farmland birds food through the late winter period when seed is in short supply (known as the hungry gap).
If you choose this option it must be in addition to the requirement for winter seed food provided through a sown winter bird food mix. Use the following ratio to calculate the area which contributes to the 0.5ha or 0.5% requirement - 1ha of sown winter bird food allows 500kg of supplementary feeding.
You can read this advice for help to provide supplementary winter food for birds.
It is acceptable, and indeed beneficial, to select more than one of the additional actions to make up the 0.5ha or 0.5% requirement. For example, a 400ha farm requires 2ha of additional actions. They could provide 1ha of cultivated margins for arable plants and 500kg of supplementary winter bird feeding.
Less frequent ditch management will help to provide additional habitat for farm wildlife, including aquatic plants and invertebrates, fish and amphibians, water voles and flowering plants for pollinating insects. Ditches include temporarily dry watercourses.
This requirement only applies where the applicant has control over the management of the ditch.
Ditches managed by the Environment Agency or an Internal Drainage Board are exempt.
You can read this advice for help to create and manage ditches for wildlife.
Advanced level
To benefit from predatory insects feeding on crop pests, actions which provide a tussocky or flower-rich cover should be located next to and/or within the cropped area.
These include beetle banks, tussocky grass buffers, strips of legumes and wildflowers, tall stubbles, cover crops, legume fallows, and cultivated strips which are left to grow broad-leaved weeds and rare arable plants.
These actions can count towards the 10% of your farmed area.
You can read this advice for help to:
- create and maintain beetle banks
- create cultivated margins and plots for arable plants
- create and maintain herbal leys
- create 2 year sown legume fallow
- create nesting plots for lapwing and stone curlew
Ensure there is a range of habitats to provide year-round resources for invertebrates:
- create and maintain pollen and nectar plots
- create and maintain wildlife plots
- create and maintain flower-rich margins and plots
- create areas of bare ground for invertebrates
- create and maintain grass strips
In addition to the sown and managed resources, this level aims to provide unmanaged areas with taller vegetation and scrub, and wet features, such as ponds. This can include existing scrub, rough vegetation and wet features within the farmed area, for example scrubby field corners, as long as these are not being paid for under another standard.
Tall vegetation means:
- scrub
- bracken
- fen communities, especially in wet areas, including deciduous shrubs, reeds, brown mosses, and graminoids such as grasses, rushes and sedges
- tall or long tussocky grasses, including on ungrazed steep slopes, banks where livestock do not seem to graze and areas where the soil quality is poorer, such as field corners
Small wooded areas are excluded as they do not provide shelter from predators when nesting or feeding.
New areas of tall vegetation and scrub should ideally be created by natural regeneration, although native shrub species typical of the local area can be planted.
These areas should be distributed around the farmed area, and will be particularly beneficial for wildlife if they are located next to semi-natural habitats, such as woodland, and water bodies, such as ponds.
Scrub should not be allowed to develop on historic sites.
You can read this advice for help to:
- create scrub and scrub mosaics
- create and maintain field corners
- create ponds and lakes
- maintain and enhance ponds and lakes
Nutrient Management
The whole farm nutrient budget should cover all your land parcels and can therefore be used for both the arable and grassland standards
You can read this advice for help to use a whole farm nutrient budget.
Arable and horticultural soils
The following advice is helpful for doing the actions in the arable and horticultural soils standard, but is not required.
Soil assessment
The soil assessment aims to identify areas of the farm to apply soil management practices to deliver objectives such as improved water quality, reduced flooding, climate change mitigation and biodiversity.
The assessment will help to identify priority fields or areas and target the individual soil standards so that they deliver:
- improved water quality through reduced erosion and run-off of pollutants such as nutrients, sediment, agrochemicals and organic manures
- improved organic matter management and soil carbon storage
- reduced flooding
- improved soil biodiversity
- improved soil structure
- more sustainable food production
The soil assessment should include the following criteria:
- soil cover and cropping
- soil texture
- soil structure
- organic matter content
- slope and topography
- location and connectivity to watercourses, drains, roads, sensitive habitats
- flooding frequency
- occurrence of wind erosion
- past and present signs of run-off or erosion
Land that regularly floods refers to land that floods at least one year in three years.
You can read this advice for help to complete a runoff and soil erosion risk assessment.
Soil organic matter
Soil organic matter (SOM) analysis and biological assessments aim to identify where soil organic matter levels or biological activity are low and help make decisions on management practices.
SOM should be measured by sending samples to a laboratory for analysis. SOM can be tested alongside the standard nutrient and pH analysis that is required as part of the Farming Rules for Water.
Soil biology
Soil biology can be assessed through digging a soil pit and counting earthworm numbers.
You can read this advice for help to:
Soil structure assessment
The soil structure assessment aims to identify areas of soil compaction to help decide what management is required to deliver the range of environmental outcomes.
There are many methods for assessing soil structure such as Visual Soil Assessment (VSA), but it should include looking at the soil surface and vegetation to identify potentially damaged areas followed by using a spade to dig a hole.
You can read this advice for help to:
Avoid soil compaction
Trafficking or cultivating wet soils with machinery increases the likelihood of compaction, which reduces water infiltration leading to run-off and flooding and reduces root growth, crop yields and soil biology. This makes it important to prevent damage to soil wherever possible and supply adequate organic matter to the soil. Trafficking and cultivation of soil should be minimised as much as possible. Soils are best trafficked and cultivated when they are friable. As soils get wetter they can be moulded and more easily deformed.
Soil can be considered too wet when it reaches a plastic state and soil wetter than the plastic limit is highly sensitive to compaction by machinery traffic and cultivation. The simplest way to assess the plastic limit and whether the soil is suitable for traveling on is to roll a handful of soil between the palms of your hand. If the soil can be rolled into a sausage that gives a moist smooth surface, it is too wet and should not be trafficked on or cultivated.
Growing spring crops as an alternative to establishing a winter crop in wet conditions can help avoid causing soil compaction. In addition, the use of low ground pressure tyres and lowering tyre pressure in the field can help reduce compaction and grants may be available for equipment and technology.
Reducing the area of the field trafficked by machinery can maintain and improve soil structure and grass productivity.
You can do this using a controlled traffic system, controlled tramline system or simply focussing traffic to the smallest possible area and not using the most direct route to the gate.
You can read this advice for help to use controlled traffic farming.
Soil compaction can be concentrated in gateways and resurfacing a gateway with hard-core can reduce erosion and run-off.
Alleviating soil compaction
As a result of the soil structure assessment, for example Visual Soil Assessment (VSA), alleviate soil compaction through a range of techniques. Options include:
- mechanical alleviation
- adding organic matter
- allowing soil structure to naturally recover by resting the field for a period with no cultivation, trafficking or livestock for example, vegetated fallow plots in arable rotations
Sub-soiling or deep cultivation should not be carried out on archaeological features.
You can read this advice for help to remove soil compaction.
Minimum winter soil cover
The requirement to maintain minimum winter soil cover applies to all cultivated land. Cover should be provided by cereal stubbles as a minimum and should not include maize stubbles or root crop residues.
Where it is not possible to provide minimum winter soil cover, such as late harvested root and vegetable crops, take action to prevent run-off and erosion and meet cross compliance and Farming Rules for Water.
You can read this advice for help to:
Establish green cover
Establishment of autumn drilled combinable crops or cover crops will add organic matter, maintain soil structure, enable the crop to take up nitrate over the winter and provide good cover and roots to hold soils together, leading to reduced erosion and losses of phosphate and sediment.
Green cover and roots will also encourage soil organisms such as earthworms and beneficial microbes.
Avoid establishing a cover crop in areas known to support rare arable plants such as cornflower, pheasant’s eye and shepherd’s needle.
You can read this advice for help to use cover crops or green manure.
Green cover
Green cover can be achieved by a range of management options including:
- sowing an autumn sown crop by the date set out in the standard to achieve 30% ground cover across the whole field by early winter
- establishing a quick-growing cover crop (by the date set out in the standard) that will provide at least 60% ground cover across the whole field
Where maize is grown, use early maturing varieties and other techniques to enable harvest and the establishment of a quick growing cover crop by the dates set out in the standard that will provide at least 60% cover by early winter. This could include under or over-sowing maize with grass.
High risk crops such as maize, potatoes and field vegetables should not be grown on very high erosion and run-off risk areas and soils with poor drainage.
This action must not be used to deliver mandatory requirements under cross compliance and Farming Rules for Water (FRfW). If there are visible signs of soil erosion occurring as outlined under cross compliance or FRfW then this action should not be used.
You can read this advice for help to manage maize to reduce runoff and erosion.
The intermediate and advanced levels aim to provide green cover to larger areas of land and a range of situations.
In addition to the introductory level, the intermediate standard includes land at risk of erosion and run-off and sandy soil due to the increased risk of nitrate leaching over the winter.
In addition to the introductory and intermediate levels, the advanced standard includes shallow soils due to the increased risk of nitrate leaching over the winter.
Land at risk of erosion includes land at very high, high and moderate risk of erosion.
You can read this advice for help to use cover crops or green manure.
Lower risk crops such as whole crop cereals or cereal legume mixes can be used to enable earlier harvesting and establishment of a following crop when soil conditions are more favourable. Whole crop can also be undersown with grass and legumes to provide winter cover.
You can read this advice for help to:
Minimum inputs of organic matter
Organic matter inputs drive biological functioning of soils, improves stability and resilience. Organic matter contributes to good soil structure, better moisture holding, increased water infiltration, nutrient cycling, carbon storage and supports biological activity.
Minimum inputs of organic matter can be achieved in a number of ways such as:
- returning of straw or other crop residues
- growing cover crops or green manures
- adding organic manures and certified composts
- incorporating grass or herbal leys into the arable rotation
You can read this advice for help to:
- increase soil organic matter content
- use organic fertiliser
- use cover crops or green manure
- increase soil organic matter
- create and maintain herbal leys
- use min-till or no-till farming
Cultivate and drill across the slope
Cultivating and drilling across the slope aims to reduce the risk of developing surface run-off and erosion.
You can read this advice for help to cultivate and drill across slopes.
Minimum tillage or no tillage
Reduced or no-till cultivations (rather than ploughing) can help maintain soil organic matter (SOM) levels, improve soil structure, water infiltration rates and the reduction in run-off of phosphate and sediment.
You can read this advice for help to use min-till or no-till farming.
Soil management plan
Create a soil management plan to improve soil structure, soil biology and soil chemistry and identify where soil management should be focused. A soil management plan will help to identify soil risks and opportunities such as enhancing soil organic matter and ensuring that appropriate land management practices and land use are adopted in the right places.
You can read this advice for help to create and use a soil management plan.
Farm woodland
The following advice is helpful for doing the actions in the farm woodland standard, but is not required.
Maintain newly planted woodland
Applies to woodland planted within the last 15 years only, which is not getting other funding.
You should:
- replace any trees that die to ensure stocking density is maintained or to ensure canopy closure will be obtained by year 20 after planting.
- ensure all planted trees are kept free from competing vegetation, grazing animals or poultry
- maintain tree protection (fencing, shelters, spiral guards) and planned temporary open space
- remove and dispose of tree guards in an appropriate manner, for example recycling, when no longer required and by year 15
Read more advice for help to maintain new tree planting.
Small scale woodland expansion through tree planting
Only one application for tree planting is permitted per agreement.
Plant trees directly adjacent to (but not under the canopy of) existing blocks of established woodland and only if the adjacent land use is arable or improved grassland and does not contain areas of peat soils (greater than 20% soil organic matter to a depth of 40cm or more).
Plant a minimum area of 0.1 ha, a maximum area of 0.5 ha and with a minimum width of 20m. This is to keep the planting extent below that which requires regulation.
Plant trees directly adjacent to existing blocks of woodland greater than 15 years in age.
Plant with a tree stocking density equivalent or between 1,100 to 2,400 trees per ha.
Plant woodland on arable or improved grassland but not on areas of peat soils (greater than 20% soil organic matter to a depth of 40cm or more).
Do not plant trees on historic sites and not on or next to SSSI, non-woodland priority habitat or land which supports breeding waders.
Plant tree species that reflect that of the adjacent woodland as follows:
If adjacent to native woodland, ancient semi-natural woodland or Planted Ancient Woodland sites (PAWs), tree species must be native or naturalised species only. There should be no introduction of novel or invasive tree species. If existing woodland is not native you must plant native or naturalised species, or species in the same species group as in the adjacent wood or a mix of the two.
You can read this advice for help to expand woodland through tree planting.
Hedgerows
The following advice is helpful for doing the actions in the hedgerows standard, but is not required.
Hedge cutting
The hedgerow standard specifies limits on hedge cutting. At all levels of this standard it is acceptable to cut hedges less frequently than specified or not at all.
Hedgerows in the introductory level can be cut every other year, with no more than 50% cut in any one year. This is because flowers and fruit generally form on second-year growth.
Hedgerows in the intermediate and advanced levels can be cut one year in three, with no more than a third cut in any one year, to increase the availability of berries.
3 year growth may need to be cut with a heavier duty flail or circular saw, particularly for fast growing species, such as ash or willow.
Alternatively, incremental cutting, where the hedge is cut every other year but the cutting height is raised each time, will provide more berries compared to cutting back to the same height.
When the hedge reaches the maximum desired size you can maintain it at that size by switching to rotational cutting. Alternatively, sections can be laid or coppiced using the capital items.
When working out when to cut hedges it is acceptable to treat the 2 sides separately, cutting one side in one year and the other in another year. Whatever regime you adopt, cutting should ideally be delayed until late winter, so that birds can feed on the berry crop.
The hedgerow standard gives you the option to practise different cutting regimes around your farm as long as, overall, you stick within the cutting limits specified for the level you’ve chosen. There are environmental advantages in maintaining a variety of cutting regimes.
You can read this advice for help to plant and manage hedgerows.
Hedgerow trees
Hedgerow trees provide important wildlife habitat. Dead and dying trees can be as important for wildlife as healthy ones and you can include them when counting how many trees there are in a length of hedgerow.
You can increase the number of hedgerow trees by:
- planting new ones (either in the line of the hedge or next to it)
- tagging existing native saplings and allowing them to grow on uncut
Take care to use only stock certified as disease free when you plant trees.
Hedgerow trees do not have to be distributed evenly across the hedge network. There may be some sections of hedge which benefit from having no trees, such as those next to fields which support ground nesting birds.
Take care to ensure that any trees planted are appropriate to the area and the local conditions.
You can read this advice for help to:
- establish trees along field boundaries
- maintain trees along field boundaries
- maintain dead wood to benefit wildlife
Grass buffers
A tussocky grass buffer will help protect the hedges from field operations and provide habitat for insects and birds. The 4m should be measured from the centre of the hedge and can include adjacent ditches.
Any adjacent water course buffer should be in addition to the hedgerow buffer.
Hedgerow buffer strips in grassland do not need to be fenced off and can be grazed with the rest of the field but must not be cut.
You can read this advice for help to create and maintain grass strips.
Hedgerow planting
Hedgerow planting and gapping up is optional, but will help improve habitat connectivity.
Use native shrubs that already occur in hedgerows in the local area.
You can read this advice for help to plant and manage hedgerows.
Improved grassland
The following advice is helpful for doing the actions in the improved grassland standard, but is not required.
Assessing the number of plant species per square metre
Follow these steps to assess the frequency of plant species on your land.
- Walk in a W or similar shape across the field.
- Stop at 5 to 10 randomly selected points along the way.
- At each stop, look at the grassland within a square metre in front of you and count how many different plant species there are.
Avoid areas that are significantly different to the majority of the field, like gateways and margins.
Your grassland only has to meet 2 out of the 3 eligibility criteria, so you may not need to do this for all your grassland.
You do not need to identify plant species, just count how many species there are.
Grazing
The minimum average sward height of 5cm is at the lower end of height ranges as recommended in industry guidance for set stocking and post-grazing in rotational systems, so is compatible with good agronomic management.
Taller sward at least 8cm average height will provide greater biodiversity outcomes, especially if the sward is tussocky rather than of uniform height.
Cattle at appropriate stocking rates will create a more varied sward than sheep grazing.
Taller swards promote root development which aids water infiltration and improves soil organic matter and carbon storage.
You can read this advice for help to:
Cutting
Uncut margins can be aftermath grazed with the rest of the field. These areas retain some structure for longer, to allow more insects to complete their life cycle, and provide food for birds. They could be targeted at more flower-rich areas, if present, and particularly where there are late-flowering species, and adjacent to or linking other habitat areas.
You can read this advice for help to:
Fields where there is evidence of breeding birds should be included in the area subject to the requirement to delay either the first or second cut in silage fields. Cutting should be delayed until young birds have fledged.
Improved grasslands are generally species-poor, but where there are more flower-rich fields or areas within fields these would benefit from being left uncut for longer.
Raising the cut height to at least 8cm, if equipment allows, is also beneficial.
Advanced level
After an early summer cut, leave at least 2% of ryegrass swards undisturbed until the following March (in addition to the ungrazed areas described below) to provide winter seed food for small birds.
You can read this advice for help to provide ryegrass seed-set for birds over winter.
Habitat provision
Field corners should be fenced to exclude grazing. Areas already removed from management can be included in the 2% introductory or 5% intermediate level.
You can read this advice for help to:
Edges and transitions are important, so a few areas distributed around the farm are better than one or two large areas.
Weed species such as thistle, docks, ragwort and nettles can be a feature of unmanaged areas and are important for insects. They may however need selective control where they become too dense or are spreading on to adjacent grassland.
Invasive non-native species should also be controlled.
Reducing artificial fertiliser inputs
The aim of retaining or introducing clover is predominantly to add one or more legume species to replace the application of a proportion of artificial nitrogen. Clover can be introduced into existing grass swards by over-sowing or direct drilling to reduce disturbance. Aim for a cover of around 30% legume in the sward.
Species should be selected based on management requirements – whether the sward is cut or grazed – and other considerations such as persistence.
You can read this advice for help to grow legumes in grassland to replace nutrient inputs.
Ensure legumes and herbs are allowed to flower by grazing extensively, or resting flower-rich sward from grazing and cutting for a period of at least 5 weeks. Cattle grazing and mixed grazing with sheep and cattle will produce a more structurally diverse sward than heavy sheep grazing.
At the advanced level a small number of additional legumes and readily established herbs should be added to increase diversity. This will benefit insects and improve soil structure.
These swards should ideally be spread around the grassland area rather than form one large block. Do not use deep-rooting species such as sainfoin or lucerne where there are historic environment features.
You can read this advice for help to create and maintain herbal leys.
At the advanced level, a cap on nutrient inputs is targeted at land adjacent to watercourses and sensitive habitats, to reduce nutrient run-off and leaching, and emissions of ammonia and greenhouse gases.
You can read this advice for help to:
- use less fertiliser, manure and lime
- reduce grassland management intensity next to watercourses
- use precision application of fertiliser, manure and other inputs
- complete a runoff and soil erosion risk assessment
Nutrient planning
The whole farm nutrient budget should cover all your land parcels and can therefore be used for both the arable and grassland standards. Soil testing for macro nutrients and pH will inform nutrient budgeting.
The required frequency of testing each field once every five years, either together or on a rolling programme, meets the requirements of Farming Rules for Water.
You can read this advice for help to:
Ditch management
Less frequent ditch management will help to provide additional habitat for farm wildlife, including aquatic plants and invertebrates, fish and amphibians, water voles and flowering plants for pollinating insects.
Ditches include temporarily dry watercourses.
This requirement only applies where the applicant has control over the management of the ditch.
Ditches managed by the EA or an Internal Drainage Board are exempt.
You can read this advice for help to create and manage ditches for wildlife.
In-field trees
All in-field trees over 30cm DBH should be buffered. Buffers around in-field trees should not be cut or used for the storage of machinery or materials.
You can read this advice for help to:
Veteran trees - of interest biologically, culturally or aesthetically because of their age, size or condition (and likely to have a diameter at breast height of at least 1m) – should have a protection zone with a radius at least 15 times the tree diameter, or 5m beyond the edge of the canopy, whichever is greater.
Improved grassland soils
The following advice is helpful for doing the actions in the improved grassland soils standard, but is not required.
Assessing the number of plant species per square metre
Follow these steps to assess the frequency of plant species on your land.
- Walk in a W or similar shape across the field.
- Stop at 5 to 10 randomly selected points along the way.
- At each stop, look at the grassland within a square metre in front of you and count how many different plant species there are.
Avoid areas that are significantly different to the majority of the field, like gateways and margins.
Your grassland only has to meet 2 out of the 3 eligibility criteria, so you may not need to do this for all your grassland.
You do not need to identify plant species, just count how many species there are.
Soil assessment
The soil risk assessment aims to identify areas of the farm to apply soil management practices to deliver objectives such as improved water quality, reduced flooding, climate change mitigation and biodiversity.
The risk assessment will help identify priority fields or areas and target the individual soil standards so that they deliver:
- improved water quality through reduced erosion and run-off of pollutants such as nutrients, sediment, agrochemicals and organic manures
- improved organic matter management and soil carbon storage
- reduced flooding
- improved soil biodiversity
- improved soil structure
The risk assessment should include the following criteria:
- soil cover
- soil texture
- slope/topography
- flooding frequency
- occurrence of wind erosion
- past and present signs of run-off or erosion
- location and connectivity to watercourses, drains, roads, sensitive habitats
- soil structure
- organic matter content
Land that regularly floods refers to land that floods at least one year in three years.
You can read this advice for help to complete a runoff and soil erosion risk assessment.
Soil organic matter
Soil organic matter (SOM) analysis and biological assessments aim to identify where soil organic matter levels or biological activity are low and help make decisions on management practices. SOM should be measured by sending samples to a laboratory for analysis.
Soil biology can be assessed through digging a soil pit and counting earthworm numbers.
You can read this advice for help to:
The soil structure assessment
The soil structure assessment aims to identify areas of soil compaction to help decide what management is required to deliver the range of environmental outcomes. There are many methods for assessing soil structure such as Visual Soil Assessment (VSA), but it should include looking at the soil surface and vegetation to identify potentially damaged areas followed by using a spade to dig a hole.
You can read this advice for help to:
Options include mechanical alleviation, adding organic matter.
Maintaining good soil structure and avoiding soil compaction
Trafficking or cultivating wet soils with machinery increases the likelihood of compaction and damage to soil structure, which reduces water infiltration leading to run-off and flooding and reduces root growth, soil biology and crop yields. It is therefore important to prevent damage to soil wherever possible. Soils are best trafficked and cultivated when they are friable. As soils get wetter they can be moulded and more easily deformed.
Soil can be considered too wet when it reaches a plastic state and soil wetter than the plastic limit is highly sensitive to compaction by livestock, traffic and cultivation. The plastic limit of a soil depends on the amount of clay in the soil. The simplest way to assess the plastic limit and whether the soil is suitable for traveling on is to roll a handful of soil between the palms of your hand. If the soil can be rolled into a sausage that gives a moist smooth surface, it is too wet and should not be trafficked on or cultivated.
Soil compaction can be concentrated in gateways and resurfacing a gateway with hard-core can reduce erosion and run-off.
Alleviating soil compaction
As a result of the soil structure assessment (Visual Soil Assessment (VSA), alleviate soil compaction through a range of techniques, including:
- mechanical alleviation
- adding organic matter
- resting the field for a period with no or reduced stocking or trafficking
Sub-soiling or deep cultivation should not be carried out on archaeological features.
- remove soil compaction
- reduce grassland management intensity next to watercourses
- reduce livestock numbers to protect sensitive areas and water
Establishing grass (temporary grassland)
Newly sown grass can be highly vulnerable to soil erosion and leaching of nitrate. Problems are most likely to arise where the grass is sown too late (mid September or after) to achieve sufficient ground cover before winter.
On land which is susceptible to erosion, the need for re-seeding should be carefully evaluated and the timing of operations planned to enable establishment of adequate ground cover before winter. Where possible, sow grass in the spring.
Alternatively, drill grass early enough in the summer or early autumn to achieve a sward density of at least 30% across the whole field by 1 December.
Where appropriate, cultivations and drilling should be carried out across the slope to reduce soil erosion.
You can read this advice for help to cultivate and drill across slopes.
Minimise poaching by livestock
Livestock management practices can have a significant impact on soils, particularly in relation to soil structure, water infiltration and run-off risk. Grazing wet fields or overgrazing can lead to poaching and soil compaction, which can lead to poor root and grass growth, reduced sward density and run-off of sediment and nutrients.
Practices such as increasing grazing rotations, reducing stocking densities and the siting and management of livestock feeders and drinkers can reduce soil compaction and pollution risks.
Reduce field stocking density or remove livestock to reduce risk of soil compaction
Reduced stocking rates or removal of livestock when the soil is too wet will reduce poaching and maintain good soil structure, which has multiple benefits such as reducing run-off, maintaining soil biodiversity and maintaining good root and grass growth.
You can read this advice for help to reduce livestock numbers to protect sensitive areas and water.
Soil compaction and run-off caused by livestock and machinery can also be reduced by managing existing and constructing new farm tracks.
Maintain permanent grassland and only re-seed by direct drilling or over-sowing
The maintenance of permanent grassland will help maintain and improve soil carbon as ploughing up of grassland stimulates the mineralisation of organic matter and can increase the amount of nitrate that is potentially available for leaching. Not cultivating grassland will therefore reduce nitrate leaching, minimise erosion of soil particles and loss of associated particulate phosphate in surface runoff and help reduce flooding.
The sward can be improved by slot seeding/direct drilling or over-sowing grass, legumes and herbs.
You can read this advice for help to use min-till or no-till farming.
Soil management plan
Create a soil management plan to improve soil structure, soil biology and soil chemistry and identify where soil management should be focused.
A soil management plan will help to identify soil risks and opportunities such as enhancing soil organic matter and ensuring that appropriate land management practices and land use are adopted in the right places.
You can read this advice for help to create and use a soil management plan.
Limit the area of the field that is travelled on
You can maintain and improve soil structure and grass productivity by reducing the area of the field trafficked by machinery. You can do this using a controlled traffic system or simply focussing traffic to the smallest possible area and not using the most direct route to the gate.
You can read this advice for help to use controlled traffic farming.
Low and no input grassland
The following advice is helpful for doing the actions in the low and no input grassland standard, but is not required.
To qualify as low or no input grassland, the sward composition across a land parcel should include at least 2 of the following:
- less than 30% cover of rye-grasses and white clover
- 9 or more species per square metre, including grasses
- at least 10% cover of wildflowers and sedges, excluding white clover, creeping buttercup, docks, thistles and ragwort
If you have access to previous ecological surveys, these may help you to decide if your land is eligible for this standard.
Assessing the number of plant species per square metre
Follow these steps to assess the frequency of plant species on your land.
- Walk in a W or similar shape across the field.
- Stop at 5 to 10 randomly selected points along the way.
- At each stop, look at the grassland within a square metre in front of you and count how many different plant species there are.
Avoid areas that are significantly different to the majority of the field, like gateways and margins.
Your grassland only has to meet 2 out of the 3 eligibility criteria, so you may not need to do this for all your grassland.
You do not need to identify plant species, just count how many species there are.
Grazing and cutting
The minimum average sward height of 5cm in the Introductory level is at the lower end of height ranges as recommended in industry guidance for set stocking and post-grazing in rotational systems, so is compatible with good agronomic management.
The taller sward of at least 8cm average height will provide greater biodiversity outcomes, especially if the sward is tussocky rather than of uniform height.
Cattle grazing and mixed grazing with sheep and cattle will produce a more structurally diverse sward than heavy sheep grazing. This will benefit invertebrates and wildflowers.
There may be insect species present with particular structural or food plant requirements that can inform grazing. Taller swards also promote root development which aids water infiltration and improves soil organic matter and carbon storage.
Evidence shows grazing beyond mid-May before a forage cut can be detrimental to botanical diversity, especially for annual species, hence the requirement in the intermediate and advanced levels to close a proportion of forage fields by mid-May for at least 6 weeks prior to a hay cut.
Exact cutting dates are less important than allowing time for flowering and seeding, and seed return via field drying and turning. Uncut margins can be aftermath grazed with the rest of the field. These areas retain some structure for longer, to allow more insects to complete their life cycle, and provide food for birds. It could be targeted at more flower-rich areas, if present, and particularly where there are late-flowering species, and adjacent to or linking other habitat areas.
All SSSI hay meadows should be managed in this way, and may be subject to additional conditions or management requirements.
Although making haylage is permissible on non-SSSI land, the process should include some wilting time to allow some seed to shed. Where ground-nesting birds are present, cutting should be delayed until the end of their breeding season.
You can read this advice for help to:
- maintain species-rich grassland
- make field-dried hay or haylage
- maintain permanent grassland with very low inputs
- use rotational grazing on permanent grassland
Weed control
Weed control is restricted to cutting, grazing, spot spraying and weed wiping. ‘Weeds’ includes injurious weeds and nettles. ‘Invasive/competitive species’ may include tussock-forming non-jointed rushes such as Soft and Hard Rush, and invasive non-native species such as Himalayan Balsam and Japanese Knotweed.
Chemical control may not be permitted on SSSI fields.
You can read this advice for help to:
Manure applications
In the Intermediate level, nutrient applications are restricted to farmyard manure applications in fields which are cut for forage only. Evidence shows that low levels of FYM are compatible with maintaining botanical diversity, where meadows have typically received inputs, and organic manure has been shown to be beneficial to soil carbon sequestration. It may however be better to only apply every second or third year.
In hay meadows, liming on neutral swards to retain pH around 6 should be encouraged, with a soil test.
Lime should not be applied to acid grasslands.
You can read this advice for help to:
Supplementary feeding
Supplementary feeding should be limited to mineral blocks or scattered hay or haylage, or if energy blocks and concentrates are used the location should be regularly moved.
Ring feeders can encourage localised poaching and erosion and should not be used, unless on very free draining soil and located according to the Farming Rules for Water.
Supplementary feeding should ideally be restricted to home-produced forage to reduce import of nutrients and non-local species. It should not be used to maintain a higher stocking rate than would otherwise be supported by the pasture. Where used routinely it can lead to increased nest trampling, as well as disturbance from vehicles.
You can read this advice for help to:
- graze with livestock to maintain and improve habitats
- manage historic features in grassland
- maintain in-field trees
Habitat management
Rush cover (intermediate level) is important for some breeding wader species, though different species have different structural requirements. Tussock-forming, non-jointed rushes include species such as soft and hard Rush. These should be controlled at less than 30% of the area of each field, retaining small scattered areas where cover is less than this.
Jointed rushes, such as Jointed, Blunt-flowered and Sharp-flowered rush, are important components of wet, species-rich grassland and rush pastures and can cover more than 30% of each field. These rushes do not form tussocks and are more palatable to livestock so are less likely to need chemical control. It is easy to identify jointed rushes by pinching a leaf firmly between your fingers and pulling it through – they feel noticeably bumpy due to the air pockets inside.
You can read this advice for help to manage rushes in grassland.
For the intermediate level, tall vegetation means:
- scrub
- bracken
- fen communities, especially in wet areas, including deciduous shrubs, reeds, brown mosses, and graminoids such as grasses, rushes and sedges
- tall or long tussocky grasses, including on ungrazed steep slopes, banks where livestock do not seem to graze and areas where the soil quality is poorer, such as field corners
Small wooded areas are excluded as they do not provide shelter from predators when nesting or feeding.
There are benefits to numerous species from retaining or providing scrub as shelter, nesting and food resources, especially if the scrub includes a mix of species and is of varied age and cover.
On SSSIs there may be specific targets set, which should be followed, and specific guidance for key species, where present, should be consulted.
You can read this advice for help to:
- create scrub and scrub mosaics
- manage scrub and scrub mosaics
- remove tree and scrub cover from sensitive features
- maintain species-rich grassland
- create ponds and lakes
- maintain and enhance ponds and lakes
In-field trees
All in-field trees over 30cm DBH should be buffered. Buffers around in-field trees should not be cut or used for the storage of machinery or materials.
You can read this advice for help to:
Veteran trees - of interests biologically, culturally or aesthetically because of their age, size or condition (and likely to have a diameter at breast height of at least 1m) – should have a protection zone with a radius at least 15 times the tree diameter, or 5m beyond the edge of the canopy, whichever is greater.
Ditch management
Less frequent ditch management will help to provide additional habitat for farm wildlife, including aquatic plants and invertebrates, fish and amphibians, water voles and flowering plants for pollinating insects.
Ditches include temporarily dry watercourses.
This requirement only applies where the applicant has control over the management of the ditch.
Ditches managed by the Environment Agency or an Internal Drainage Board are exempt.
You can read this advice for help to create and manage ditches for wildlife.
Enhancing semi-improved grassland (advanced level)
The option to block drains is aimed at creating or expanding small wetlands and wet grassland areas, which will benefit insects and foraging birds as well as botanical diversity. It can also help slow the flow of water into streams and rivers, contributing to natural flood management.
Land where you have previously blocked drains can be used for this standard, but if there are additional areas which have not yet had their drains blocked then you should extend this as part of the standard.
You can read this advice for help to block drains in grassland.
Wet areas on floodplain grassland can be important for botanical diversity, but also for wintering waders and wildfowl. By allowing these areas to retain water into spring and dry out gradually, they will provide invertebrate chick food for breeding waders and other birds.
You can read this advice for help to manage lowland wet grassland for birds.
Water body buffering
The following advice is helpful for doing the actions in the water body buffering standard, but is not required.
How water body buffers work
Water body buffers are used to improve water quality by creating a physical barrier that slows the flow of surface runoff and increases infiltration into the soil, thereby trapping and retaining pollutants before they reach the water body.
Water body buffers function in 2 ways
- firstly, they set back agricultural activities (cultivation, spraying, fertiliser application and livestock grazing) from the waterbody
- secondly, they provide a physical barrier to intercept and retain upslope pollutant loads
Positioning effective water body buffers on-farm:
- first requires consideration to be given to in-field risk
- second to selecting the most appropriate buffer design for the location
Runoff and soil erosion risk assessment.
Factors such as slope, topography, soil type, crop and nature of cultivation will influence the likelihood of soil erosion and runoff occurring.
Consider the in-field risks as identified in the risk assessment and use these to decide where to position water body buffers on the farm.
You can read this advice for help to complete a runoff and soil erosion risk assessment.
6m grass water body buffer strips
Establish 6 m grass buffers alongside water bodies to slow and filter surface runoff, set-back cultivations and applications of fertiliser and agro-chemicals and in some situations exclude livestock. Position them in fields where there is a low to moderate risk of soil erosion and runoff.
Do not rely on 6m buffers in high risk locations.
In-field management practices you carry out must comply with the Farming Rules for Water.
You can read this advice for help to create and maintain grass strips.
10m grass water body buffer strips
Create 10 m buffer strips next to water bodies in high risk locations, where there is greater upslope pollution pressure to intercept and where a wider buffer is needed to slow runoff water before it builds to a damaging flow.
These actions can be used on buffer strips that are already established, unless they’re required or being paid for through another scheme.
You can read this advice for help to create and maintain grass strips.
In-field grass strips or blocks
Grass strips or blocks will help to reduce the quantity of sediment, nutrients and pesticides transported through surface runoff water, both within fields and from field to field.
Grass strips can be created on:
- natural drainage pathways, for example the bottom of a valley, to stop runoff water from creating rills and gullies
- long, sloping fields, with the strip placed parallel to the slope and alternated with wide, cultivated strips to slow runoff water and trap sediment and organic material
To create an enhanced in-field grass strip incorporate a more diverse mix of tussocky grasses, legumes and wildflowers.
You can read this advice for help to:
Flower rich water body buffers and enhanced in-field strips or blocks
In addition to grass buffers there is the opportunity to plant wildflowers and herbs to:
- improve habitat quality
- provide pollen and nectar rich species
- encourage insects and birds
This could include promoting nutrient ‘mining’ through the inclusion of deeper rooting plant species.
Avoid planting in shaded locations, such as under overhanging trees or on the northern side of tall hedges.
Wildflower establishment is more likely to be successful in areas which don’t already have a high burden of competitive weeds and grasses, such as docks, thistles and Cocksfoot.
Correct sowing depth and ongoing management is essential to successfully establish wildflower seed.
You can read this advice for help to create and maintain flower-rich margins and plots.
Prohibited activities
Do not carry out any of the following activities:
- apply any fertilisers or manures
- use pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, nettles or bracken
- allow livestock access to the strip
- drive on margins or use margins as tracks or access routes - access for essential maintenance should be planned to cause minimal disturbance to the margin
You can read this advice for help to use precision pesticide application systems.
Invasive non-native species
It’s recommended that you use best practice and control all invasive non-native species, such as Japanese knotweed, giant hogweed or Himalayan balsam.
Further information
See all the Sustainable Farming Incentive pilot guidance.
