BFS1: 12m to 24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated land
What you must do to get paid for this action and advice on how to do it.
This is an action in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme: expanded offer for 2024. You must read the SFI scheme information to understand the scheme rules and how to apply.
Duration
3 years
How much you’ll be paid
£707 per hectare (ha) per year – calculate the hectarage by:
- measuring the length of the buffer strip in metres (m)
- multiplying that length by the relevant width (12m to 24m) to give the area in m2
- dividing that area by 10,000 to convert it into ha
Action’s aim
This action’s aim is that there’s a grass buffer strip on land at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff, which:
- is alongside a watercourse or pond
- has an intact sward throughout the year, without tracks, compacted areas or poaching
The purpose of this is to:
- protect watercourses
- reduce the risk of potential pollutants, such as sediment, pesticides and nutrients, being transported to watercourses in surface water runoff
- provide habitats for wildlife and form links to other habitats
- 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:
- identified by you as being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff – you must keep written evidence of this
- alongside a watercourse (ditch, pond, river or stream)
- an eligible land type (read section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’)
- 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 | 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
| Protected land | Eligibility |
|---|---|
| Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) | Eligible – you must get SSSI consent before you do this action (read section 5.5 ‘Land that’s a site of special scientific interest (SSSI)) |
| Historic and archaeological features | Eligible – you must get a HEFER before you do this action (read section 5.6 ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’) |
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 a grass strip that’s:
- at least 12m wide and up to 24m wide (on average in each land parcel) – it can be more than 24m wide, but you’ll only be paid for the 24m width
- alongside a ditch, pond, river or stream, to create a buffer between the edge of the crop or fallow land and the watercourse
You must make sure the grass strip is in addition to any regulatory requirements relating to buffer strips.
Once the grass strip is established, you must manage it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.
During late summer, after the bird breeding season, you must cut part of the grass strip’s width next to the edge of the crop or fallow land. You must do this along as much of the strip’s length as possible. This is to provide some shorter vegetation and a range of habitat types.
You must not do the following on the established grass strip:
- allow livestock to access it
- use it for regular vehicular access, turning or storage
- apply fertilisers or manures
- apply pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, nettles or bracken
You can maintain an existing grass 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 SW4 (12m to 24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated land)
When to do it
You must:
- establish the grass buffer strip within the first 12 months of this action’s duration
- maintain the grass buffer strip throughout each subsequent year of this action’s 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
Advice to help you do this action will be published before applications are fully launched from summer 2024. It will not be part of this action’s requirements.
Evidence to keep
You must keep written evidence that land entered into this action is at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff. You can use the soil management plan produced for CSAM1 or SAM1 to identify this.
You must also 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 and 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.
| Scheme | Action or option codes |
|---|---|
| SFI 2024 actions | OFC3, OFC4, OFM4, OFM5, AGF1, AGF2, PRF2, CSAM1, CIPM1, CNUM1, |
| SFI 2023 actions | IPM1, NUM1, SAM1 |
| CS options | OR3, OR4, OT3, OT4 |
| ES options | No ES revenue options |
| SFI pilot standards | No area-based SFI pilot standards |
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’ for more information.
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