AHW10: Low input harvested cereal crop
Defra — Sustainable Farming Incentive
Award
£354 per hectare (ha) per year
Deadline
Rolling — apply any time
Where
England
Summary
What you must do to get paid for this SFI26 action and advice on how to do it.
Full details
This is a Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26) action. Read the SFI26 scheme information to understand what you’re required to do under an SFI26 agreement and how to apply. Select ‘See all updates’ at the start of this page to find out how this action has changed for SFI26 compared with SFI24. For SFI24 actions, read the SFI24 agreement holder’s information. Duration 3 years How much you’ll be paid £354 per hectare (ha) per year Action’s aim This action’s aim is that there’s a low input, open-structured cereal crop growing: • in strips or plots • during the spring and summer months until it’s harvested The purpose of this is to: • enable wildflower species to grow within the crop • provide summer foraging sites for declining and localised farmland birds, such as yellowhammer and reed bunting • provide habitat for skylarks, farmland wildlife and pollinator species Where you can do this action • an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1.1 ‘Eligible land types’ in the SFI26 scheme information) • registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps • declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover Eligible land Eligible land type Eligible land cover Compatible land use code Arable land used to grow crops (not maize) Arable land Land use codes for arable crops or leguminous and nitrogen-fixing crops Temporary grassland Arable land TG01 Arable land lying fallow Arable land FA01 Eligibility of protected land Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs): Eligible – you must: • give notice to Natural England to get SSSI consent before the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) offer you an SFI26 agreement • have received SSSI consent from Natural England before you do this action (read section 10.1 ‘SSSI consent’ in the SFI26 scheme information for more details) Historic and archaeological features: Eligible – you must get an SFI HEFER before you do this action (read section 5.3 ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’ in the SFI26 scheme information to find out how to do this). Available area you can enter into this action Total or part of the available area in a land parcel. It’s your responsibility to check that the area you enter is eligible for this action. You must do this action on the area entered into your SFI26 agreement. If something happens which means you cannot complete this action on some or all of the area, you must tell the RPA in writing as soon as possible. Read section 12.2 ‘What to do if you cannot comply with your agreement’ in the SFI26 scheme information to find out how to do this. Rotational or static action This is a rotational or static action – this means you can either: • move its location for the second and third years of this action’s duration • do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration What to do You must establish an autumn or spring cereal crop (not maize): • in strips or plots • at a seed rate that’s reduced to a level that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim As long as this action’s aim can reasonably be expected to be achieved, you can: • undersow a seed mix into the spring cereal crop • use a blend or mix of cereals Once the cereal crop is established, you must manage it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim until it’s harvested. You must not: • harvest the crop before it can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim (usually not before around mid-July) • apply insecticides after around mid-March, until the crop is harvested You must not apply herbicides, apart from those containing the following permitted active ingredients: • amidosulfuron • clodinafop-propargyl • fenoxaprop-P-ethyl • pinoxaden • tri-allate It may not be possible for you to use these permitted active ingredients on all crops. It’s your responsibility to confirm whether herbicides are approved for use on the affected crop. You can use an existing cereal crop to get paid for this action if it: • meets this action’s requirements • is not already being paid for under another environmental land management scheme action or option, such as CS option AB14 (harvested low input cereal) When to do it You must do this action each year of its 3-year duration. If this action’s start date means it’s too late to establish the cereal crop, you must establish it within 12 months of this action’s start date. In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do this action until the crop is harvested or this action’s end date, whichever is earlier. How to do it It’s up to you how you do this action, as long as you: • follow this action’s requirements – these are identified by a ‘must’ • do the action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim You may find it helpful to read the ‘advice to help you do this action’, but it’s not part of this action’s requirements. Evidence to keep 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. Other actions or options you can do on the same area as this action You can do the following actions or options on the same area in a land parcel as this action. Scheme Action or option codes SFI 2026 actions AGF1, AGF2, AHW6, CSAM2, OFC3, OFM4, PRF1, PRF2, PRF4, SOH1 SFI 2024 actions AGF1, AGF2, AHW6, CIPM1, CNUM1, CSAM1, CSAM2, OFA1, OFC3, OFM4, PRF1, PRF2, PRF3, PRF4, SOH1 SFI 2023 actions IPM1, NUM1, SAM1, SAM2 CSHT actions from 2025 CAB2, CAB5, CAGF1, CAGF2, CAGF3, CAGF4, CHS3, CHS9, CSP13, CSP14, CSP15, CSP20, CSP21, CSP9, CSW17, CSW19, CWS1, CWS3 CS options AB2, AB5, AB6, AB9, HS3, HS9, OP1, OR3, OT3, SW6 ES options No ES revenue options If an action or option cannot be located on the same area, you may be able to do it on a different area in the same land parcel. Read section 5.6 ‘Land that’s already in other funding schemes or grants’ in the SFI26 scheme information for more details. You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action: • SFI 2026 actions: CHRW2, BND1, BND2 and WBD2 • SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2 and WBD2 • SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3 • CSHT actions: CHRW4 • CS options: BE3 (management of hedgerows) Advice to help you do this action The following advice may help you to do this action, but it’s not part of this action’s requirements. Choosing a cereal crop It’s up to you which cereal crop (not maize) to use for this action. If you’re undersowing a seed mix into the spring cereal crop, you can sow it either: • at the same time as the spring cereal crop, using a mix of cereal and companion crops (including pulse crops, such as field beans, lupins and combining peas) • as a separate pass into the spring cereal crop Undersowing the spring cereal crop with a flowering companion crop mix can provide flower and insect-rich foraging habitat for farmland birds and pollinator species. If you’re using a blend or mix of cereals, it can include crops such as: • barley • oats • red millet • rye • triticale • wheat • white millet Choosing the right location When you establish the autumn or spring cereal crop, by law you cannot cultivate or apply fertilisers or pesticides to land within 2 metres (m) of the centre of a hedgerow. Read the guidance on Hedgerow management rules; buffer strips to understand how these rules apply to you. The best sites are those with low levels of pernicious weeds such as: • blackgrass • couch • brome • ryegrass • wild oats How to sow the crop To help you achieve this action’s aim, you can sow your cereal crop strips or plots at a seed rate that’s either: • around 50% to 60% of the normal seed rate • to a maximum of around 100 kilograms (kg) per hectare (ha) – for barley, oats, rye, triticale and wheat it’s usually between 70kg and 100kg per ha; for red and white millet crops it’s usually between 10kg and 15kg per ha It may also help if you sow your crop with wider spacing (for example, between 20cm and 25cm) between the rows. To minimise damage to plants and wildlife you can: • avoid carrying out in-crop mechanical activities between May and harvest • sow your crop by the end of April, where possible