Duration

3 years

How much you’ll be paid

£739 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s an established pollen and nectar flower mix which:

• is growing in blocks or strips
• produces areas of flowering plants from late spring and during the summer months

The purpose of this is to:

• provide food for beneficial pollinators, such as bumble bees, solitary bees, butterflies and hoverflies
• encourage natural crop pest predators as part of an integrated pest management approach if located close to cropped areas

Where you can do this action

You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that’s:

• an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’ in the SFI 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

This is a ‘limited area’ action. The total eligible area you enter into any combination of one or more of the ‘limited area’ actions must not be more than 25% of the total agricultural area of your farm. Read section 1.3 ‘SFI actions with a limited area’ in the SFI scheme information for more details (including a list of ‘limited area’ actions).

Eligible land

Eligibility of protected land

Available area you can enter into this action

Part of the available area in a land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This action is rotational or static. 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 a nectar flower mix as a block or strip on land entered into this action.

You must use a grass-free seed mix which includes at least 6 flower species, with no individual species being more than 50% of the total mix by weight.

The seed mix must include at least 2 of the following flower species:

• common knapweed
• musk mallow
• oxeye daisy
• wild carrot
• yarrow

Once the pollen and nectar flower mix block or strip is established (usually from the second spring after sowing), you must maintain it. To do this, you must manage it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You must not do the following on the established pollen and nectar flower mix block or strip:

• cut or graze it with livestock in a way that means this action’s aim cannot reasonably be expected to be achieved
• use it for regular vehicular access, turning or storage (for example, storing bales or machinery)
• apply any fertilisers and manures
• apply pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, or nettles

You can maintain an existing pollen and nectar flower mix block or strip 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 option, such as Countryside Stewardship (CS) option AB1 (nectar flower mix)

When to do it

You must:

• establish the pollen and nectar flower mix block or strip between early spring and early autumn, within 12 months of this action’s start date
• maintain the mix at the same location for a period of time that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim – this will usually be until the end of the second summer after sowing
• after this period of time, re-establish the pollen and nectar flower mix block or strip between early spring and early autumn (either at the same location or a different location) and maintain it until this action’s end date

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, including details of the seed mix used
• 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.

Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they’re done at a different time of year to this action. For example, winter cover followed by a summer companion crop. Read ‘What to do’ and ‘When to do it’ to find out when this action must be done.

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 6 ‘Eligible land in other funding schemes’ in the SFI 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 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2 and WBD2
• SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
• CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
• the introductory level of the SFI pilot hedgerows standard

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 seed mix

This action explains the minimum requirement for flower species in the seed mix (under ‘What to do’).

To help you achieve this action’s aim, you can use a seed mix containing shorter-living legumes and longer-living wildflower species.

You can choose to sow a seed mix containing more flower species than this action requires. Using an enhanced mix can be beneficial as it retains more flower species for longer and is likely to mean less frequent re-sowing. It can also help to provide a more varied mix of flowers for beneficial insects.

A seed supplier can help you choose a seed mix that’s the best match for your land and local conditions.

Where to sow the seed mix

When you establish the pollen and nectar flower mix, by law you cannot cultivate or apply fertilisers or pesticides to land within 2m of the centre of a hedgerow. Read the guidance on Hedgerow management rules; buffer strips to understand how these rules apply to you.

It will usually help if you sow the pollen and nectar flower mix block or strips on sites that:

• receive plenty of sunlight, to help the plants establish
• are easy for you to access and manage
• are low in soil fertility, as grasses and weeds can dominate fertile areas
• do not have persistent weeds problems, as weeds will complete with the flowers
• do not contain rare arable wildflowers, such as cornflower, red hemp nettle and shepherd’s needle, as they need cultivation to thrive

You can choose to locate the pollen and nectar flower mix blocks or strips on areas:

• to square up cultivated areas which could help to speed up farm operations
• close to cropped areas to help with an integrated pest management (IPM) approach

To provide a buffer zone for beneficial insects when fields are being sprayed, you can use:

• blocks between around 0.25 hectares (ha) and 0.5ha
• strips which are at least around 6 metres (m) wide

To help beneficial insects (such as pollinators and crop pest predators) find food, you can have a number of blocks or strips spaced as evenly as possible across your land. For example, you could space 5 blocks or strips of 0.5ha evenly across 100ha.

How and when to sow the seed mix

Your seed supplier can advise you on an overall sowing rate for the seed mix you choose. This will usually be between 10kg (for light and medium soils, and land with limited fertility) and 20kg (for heavy soils and areas with a higher nutrient status).

You can help seeds germinate if you sow into a seedbed that’s:

• firm, consolidated, fine, level and weed free
• warm and moist, which will usually be between March and mid-September

If you sow in the autumn, try to sow before frosts and prolonged wet weather. You can get advice from the seed supplier on frost hardy annuals you could use in your seed mix.

Before you sow each block or strip, it will help if you mix the seed well. You can either:

• broadcast the seeds onto the surface of the seedbed to help germination
• shallow-drill the seeds up to a depth of 1 centimetre (cm) – small seeds usually struggle to germinate when sown deeper than 1cm

If your seed mix contains larger seeds (such as common vetch and sainfoin), you could sow these first to a depth of 2cm and then sow the rest of the mix later.

After you have sown the seed mix, you can roll the seeds (if the soil is dry enough) to improve:

• seed-to-soil contact
• retain moisture
• reduce the risk of slug damage

Managing the blocks or strips during establishment

During the first spring and summer after sowing, it’s advisable to check the block or strip regularly to monitor germination. If establishment is poor, you may need to re-sow all or part of it. Your seed supplier can help you if you’re unsure what to do.

During the first 12 months have sowing, you can cut emerging flowers and weeds. This can help to control weeds, so the sown plants can establish.

It’s advisable to cut at a height which removes the top growth of any weeds to avoid:

• dislodging the roots of seedlings
• harm to wildlife

If your mix includes early flowering annuals (such as black medick, common vetch, crimson clover or phacelia), it’s advisable to cut either:

• early, when the plants are less than around 30cm high and do not have flower buds
• late, after they have finished flowering

Maintaining established blocks or strips

Once the block or strip is established, this action requires you to maintain it by managing it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

To help you achieve this action’s aim, you can:

• cut or graze around half of the block or strip each year when the first flower buds start to form (usually late May to mid-June) – this will help to extend the flowering season
• alternate which half of the area you cut or graze each year, so nectar is available for pollinators for longer – the cut or grazed plants will take time to recover and will flower later than the uncut area
• remove any livestock before the sward is grazed to below a height which means the sown plants may be damaged (usually around 10cm) – this will also help to give plants time to recover and flower later in the season

Once the block or strip has finished flowering, you can choose to:

• cut or graze the whole area
• leave a proportion of the area (for example 20%) uncut or ungrazed over winter to provide over-wintering habitat for invertebrates – try to avoid leaving the same area uncut or ungrazed each year

Where you have left areas uncut or ungrazed over the winter months, you can cut or lightly graze them in the spring (usually March) before the flowers have started to grow. This can help to stop grass weeds from growing.

Cutting the block or strip

If you’re cutting the block or strip:

• check it for signs of nesting birds before you cut it – birds, nests and eggs are protected by law, so if you see signs of nesting birds, delay cutting until the birds fledge
• remove the cut vegetation (where possible) to limit weeds and reduce the risk of it smothering the flower species – if it’s impractical to do this, you can finely chop the vegetation to spread it as thinly as possible