Duration

3 years

How much you’ll be paid

£590 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s a grassy field corner or block with:

• an intact grass sward throughout the year, without tracks, compacted areas or poaching
• tussocky grass allowed to develop

The purpose of this is to:

• provide year-round habitat for a range of wildlife
• support 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 of 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 static. This means you must do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration.

What to do

You must establish and maintain grassy field corners or blocks on arable and horticultural land entered into this action.

To establish the grassy field corners or blocks you must either sow them or allow the areas to naturally regenerate.

During the first 12 months after sowing them, or allowing them to naturally regenerate, you can regularly cut or graze them to:

• control annual weeds
• encourage new grass shoots to develop

The grassy field corners or blocks will usually be established around 12 months after they’re sown or allowed to regenerate naturally.

Once established, you must maintain the grassy field corners or blocks. To do this, you must manage them in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You must not do the following on the grassy field corners or blocks once they’re established:

• graze them with livestock in a way that means this action’s aim cannot reasonably be achieved
• cut them, except for localised cutting to control injurious weeds or invasive non-natives, soft and hard rush, or nettles
• use them for regular vehicular access, turning or storage (for example, storing bales or machinery)
• carry out activities that may disturb breeding birds or damage nests, as birds, nests and eggs are protected by law
• apply any fertilisers, manures or lime
• use pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, or nettles

You can maintain existing grassy field corners or blocks to get paid for this action, if they meet this action’s requirements.

When to do it

You must:

• establish the grassy field corners or blocks within 12 months of this action’s start date
• maintain the same area of grassy field corners or blocks in each subsequent year of this action’s 3-year duration

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 with 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.

Where to locate the field corners or blocks

When you establish the grassy field corners or blocks, 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.

You can choose to locate the field corners or blocks on areas:

• which are less productive or difficult to reach with machinery to square up cultivated areas – this could help to speed up farm operations
• close to existing nectar and pollen sources to benefit insects, or existing winter bird food sources to benefit farmland birds
• close to cropped areas to help with an integrated pest management (IPM) approach – for example, once tussocky grass develops it can provide habitat for ladybirds which eat aphids
• close to existing habitat (such as woodland, hedgerows, waterbodies, heathland, fallow land, wildflower-rich grassland) to help farmland wildlife to move across your land

To create a network of habitats, you can have a number of smaller areas (for example, between 0.5 hectares (ha) and 1ha) spaced as evenly as possible across your land. For example, you could space 5 blocks of 0.5ha evenly across 100ha to allow pollinators, flying insects and birds to move between the areas.

Sowing a seed mix

Sowing a seed mix can establish the area more quickly than using natural regeneration. This can reduce the risk of soil erosion.

You can choose a seed mix that contains native grass species, such as:

• timothy
• cocksfoot
• crested dog’s tail
• red fescue
• smooth-stalked meadow grass

It can help the seeds to germinate if they’re sown into a seedbed that’s:

• firm, consolidated, fine, level and weed free
• moist, which will usually be the case in the autumn – you can sow in the spring, but you may need to increase the sowing rate, depending on weather and soil type

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 may struggle to germinate when sown deeper than 1cm

If the soil is dry enough, rolling after you have sown the seeds can:

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

Your seed supplier can:

• help you choose a seed mix that’s the best match for your land and local conditions
• advise you on an overall sowing rate for the seed mix you choose

Establishing grassy field corners and blocks through natural regeneration

Natural regeneration is likely to be most successful on light, free-draining alkaline soils without many weeds. It can take longer (usually around 1 year) to establish the grassy field corners and blocks, but it may cost less.

To encourage the seeds that are already in the soil to germinate, you can cultivate the soil between spring and late summer.

Maintaining established grassy field corners or blocks

Once the grassy field corner or block is established, you can manage it by cutting or grazing it with livestock providing it:

• meets this action’s requirements
• is done in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve the aim of this action

You may need to control weeds when they appear. To control injurious weeds or invasive non-natives, soft and hard rush, or nettles, you can:

• carry out localised cutting
• use herbicides to spot-treat or weed wipe

You can also control weeds by hand roguing (removing entire plants by hand) before they have finished flowering.