SP1: Difficult sites supplement
Find out about eligibility and requirements for the difficult sites supplement.
How much is paid
£93 per hectare (ha).
Where to use this supplement
Available for Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier
Only in combination with a land management option on whole parcels if either of these apply:
- where grazing management has been abandoned or is in danger of abandonment
- on parcels less than 1ha in area with stockproof traditional boundaries, including banks, hedges, walls or wet ditches (gateways must be less than 3.6m wide)
Where this supplement cannot be used
With UP3 - Management of moorland
The Isles of Scilly
In the Isles of Scilly it can be used in combination with a land management option on whole parcels if any of these apply:
- on arable land up to and including 0.4ha in area
- on arable fields up to and including 5ha in area that are sub-divided into small bulb fields no bigger than 0.4ha, and are bounded by granite walls or salt tolerant shrub hedges (‘fences’)
- on pastoral fields up to and including 2ha in area
How this supplement will benefit the environment
It supports the management of particularly difficult sites. It also retains small fields and their locally characteristic boundary pattern.
Requirements
Agreement holders are likely to need to keep boundaries and, where required, reintroduce grazing.
Keeping records
Agreement holders will need to keep the following records and supply them on request:
- stock records to show grazing activity on parcels
- confirmation that the eligibility requirements are met
Applicants will need to send the following with their application:
- map identifying access gateways - these can be marked on any map including the Farm Environment Record (FER)
The detailed requirements for this supplement will be tailored to the Higher Tier site. Applicants should discuss and agree these requirements with their adviser.
Related supplements
This supplement can be located on the same area as the following supplements:
- GS15 – Haymaking supplement
- GS16 – Rush infestation control supplement
- GS17 - Lenient grazing supplement
- SP2 - Raised water level supplement
- SP3 – Bracken control supplement
- SP4 – Control of invasive plant species supplement
- SP9 – Threatened species supplement
Advice and suggestions for how to carry out this supplement
The following section gives advice on carrying out this supplement successfully but does not form part of the requirements for this supplement
This supplement is available at the discretion of Natural England on sites that need an exceptionally high and sustained time and labour input.
Examples include sites:
- with very poor accessibility, remoteness or isolation, where it Is very difficult to walk livestock or to transport livestock to the site
- with hazards to personnel and livestock within or next to the site, such as:
- cliffs or extremely steep slopes or screes
- spate riverside land
- islands
- mineshafts
- landslips
- subsidence
- gullies
- with hazards to livestock, such as:
- poisonous vegetation from which stock cannot be excluded
- regular disturbance by dogs
- urban fringe locations
- where it is very difficult to locate stock within a site for welfare checks
Where this supplement cannot be used
The supplement is not intended for:
- mechanical vegetation control - supplements such as GS15 - Haymaking supplement or a capital item are more appropriate
- sites currently grazed to acceptable levels for nature conservation
- sites where grazing is not secured for the lifetime of the agreement
- small parcels which are not stockproof or are not managed individually
Further information
Read Countryside Stewardship: get funding to protect and improve the land you manage to find out more information about Higher Tier including how to apply.
Last updated 4 January 2024 + show all updates
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Update to How Much Is Paid
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New payment rate from 1 January 2022.
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Updated for 2017 applications.
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Information updated for applications in 2016.
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First published.