GRH8: Haymaking supplement (late cut)
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
Same as base action
How much you’ll be paid
£187 per hectare (ha) per year
Action’s aim
This supplemental action’s aim is that a crop of herb-rich hay is made, with wildflowers and grasses allowed to flower and set seed.
The purpose of this is to:
- support later flowering plant species
- allow wading birds, such as curlew, to nest successfully
- help to conserve plants seen in traditionally managed hay meadows
- provide pollen and nectar for bees and other insects
- improve water quality
- maintain traditional landscape character
Where you can do this action
You can only do this supplemental action on eligible land located that’s entered into the following base action: CLIG3: Manage grassland with very low nutrient inputs.
Eligibility of protected land
| Protected land | Eligibility |
|---|---|
| Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) | Same as base action |
| Historic and archaeological features | Same as base action |
Available area you can enter into this action
Same or less than the base action.
Rotational or static action
This action is rotational or static. This means that after the first year of this action’s duration you can either:
- move its location around the land entered into the relevant base action for subsequent years of this action’s duration
- do it at the same location each year
What to do
You must not graze or cut the sward for at least 9 weeks during the spring and summer months before you harvest the hay crop. This is to allow the sward to develop flowering grasses and wildflowers.
You must allow the flowers and grasses to set seed. This will usually mean harvesting the hay crop no earlier than mid-July.
You must:
- in each land parcel, leave an uncut margin around at least half of the edge of the area entered into this action when you harvest the crop to provide shelter for invertebrates and small mammals
- leave the cut hay crop to field dry, turning it at least once
- remove the hay crop once it is field dry – it can be unwrapped or wrapped
After you’ve removed the hay crop, you must manage the aftermath sward by either:
- grazing it with livestock
- taking a second cut if grazing is not possible
When to do it
You must do this action each year of its 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 evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action, such as:
- field operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices
- a grazing activity record if livestock are grazed on the area
- photographs and other documentation to show management undertaken
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 actions | Same as base action |
| CS options | Same as base action |
| ES options | Same as base action |
| SFI pilot standards | Same as base action |
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.