UP2: Management of rough grazing for birds

Find out about eligibility and requirements for the management of rough grazing for birds option.

From:
Rural Payments Agency and Natural England
Published
2 April 2015
Last updated
8 February 2022 — See all updates
Grant type:
Option
Land use:
Biodiversity, Priority habitats, Uplands
Tiers or standalone items:
Higher Tier, Mid Tier, Offer: Upland
Funding (per unit per year):
£101 to £200

How much will be paid

£121 per hectare (ha).

Where to use this option

Available for Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier, Higher Tier and Upland Offer.

Whole or part parcel

Only on permanent grassland parcels of at least 2 hectares (ha) and less than 25ha in areas that are within a Less Favoured Area (LFA). This includes allotments, intakes, newtakes, and semi-improved in-bye that already support (or have the potential to support) breeding waders.

You must also meet at least one of the following conditions to use this option.

  • Follow a recommended fertiliser management system to plan nutrient inputs across the farm
  • Adopt a recommended fertiliser management system within 18 months of the start of the agreement
  • Qualify as a low intensity farmer

In Mid Tier and the Upland Offer you can only use this option on land that meets one of the following:

  • The land is mapped as Upland breeding bird areas for Countryside Stewardship on the MAGIC website. This should not be confused with other areas mapped in MAGIC for ‘Priority Species for CS Targeting’.
  • The land is adjacent to a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), as mapped on the MAGIC website
  • The land is adjacent to or includes a watercourse, as mapped on the MAGIC website
  • The land is mapped as Flood Risk Management Priorities (England) High or Medium Priority, as mapped on the MAGIC website
  • The parcel is part of the Nature for Climate: Peat Capital Grant, and evidence from the relevant Peat Partnership can be provided if required.

You must also fill in the UP2 checklist: Countryside Stewardship to confirm your eligibility. You do not need to submit this with your application but must keep it and supply it on request.

Features that can be included in this option

The following features can be included if they are part of the land, even if they are ineligible for the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS).

  • Ditches, dykes, drains, rivers, streams that are less than 4 metres (m) wide for the majority of their length in the parcel
  • Temporary water
  • Natural unsurfaced roads, tracks, paths and bridleways, as long as the requirements can still be met
  • Bracken
  • Areas of scree, rock outcrops and boulders – each area can cover up to 0.1ha
  • Permanent water up to 0.1ha
  • Grazed woodland and scrub that allows livestock access and has grass underneath

The following options and supplements can be located on the same area as this option.

How this option will benefit the environment

It’s for restoring or maintaining upland bird populations (normally breeding waders such as Lapwing, Snipe, Redshank, Curlew and Golden Plover but may also include Yellow wagtail, Black Grouse or other priority species). The option brings about appropriate water level management and provides the required grassland habitat and sward structure for feeding and nesting.

Aims

If you’re selected for a site visit, we will check that delivery of the aims is being met and the prohibited activities have not been carried out. This will ensure the environmental benefits are being delivered.

During the spring and summer, grazing in accordance with the stocking calendar will ensure a diverse sward height with about half the sward being very short.

By autumn, grazing will have removed the year’s grass growth so that the appropriate sward conditions can be achieved the following spring.

During the autumn and winter, there will be areas of surface water and wet features.

Waders will nest undisturbed.

Management will ensure that cover of soft and hard rush is no more than 20% and cover of scrub, and bracken is low or contained.

Prohibited activities

To achieve the aims and deliver the environmental benefits, do not carry out any of the following activities.

  • Grazing that does not follow the stocking calendar
  • Operate machinery or carry out other activities during the bird breeding season that may disturb breeding birds or damage nests
  • Use pesticides, except for herbicides to spot-treat or weed-wipe for the control of injurious weeds, invasive non-natives, soft and hard rush nettles, and bracken
  • Supplementary feed except for providing mineral blocks (non-energy based)
  • Carry out any drainage works, including modifying existing drainage, unless the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) has given written permission before work takes place

On your annual claim you will be asked to declare that you have not carried out any prohibited activities.

To assist you in achieving the aims and deliver the environmental benefits for this option, we recommend that you use best practice.

We recommend that you:

  • manage the sward by grazing and/or cutting to maintain a varied sward to benefit upland waders by achieving a sward height of less than 5 centimetres (cm) over 50% of the parcel area by 15 March
  • manage scrub to achieve cover of between 1% and 5% of the parcel manage bracken and make sure bracken litter doesn’t cover more than 25% cover across any area of bracken
  • manage dense rush so that stands of soft or hard rush do not cover more than 20% of the parcel and the rush height is less than 20cm by 30 September
  • check for breeding birds before operating machinery or carrying out other activities which may disturb breeding birds or damage their nests. The breeding season tends to run from mid-March until late July. It can start earlier and finish later, depending on the species and the weather
  • manage wet features to provide muddy areas for waders to feed

Keeping records

Where there is uncertainty about whether the aims of the options have been delivered, we will take into account any records or evidence you may have kept demonstrating delivery of the aims of the option. This will include any steps you’ve taken to follow the recommended management set out above. It’s your responsibility to keep such records if you want to rely on these to support your claim.

  • A stocking calendar
  • Evidence that a recommended fertiliser management system is used or evidence to support low intensity farmer claim
  • A count of breeding birds in year 5 of the agreement
  • Photographs of the extent of bracken on the option area before works start
  • Field operations at the parcel level, including associated invoices
  • Stock records to show grazing activity on parcels
  • The eligibility checklist (for Mid Tier and Upland Offer applicants)

Additional guidance and advice

The following advice is helpful, but they are not requirements for this item.

Pick the right location

Choose sites that:

  • are open, with any surrounding hedges less than about 2m high
  • experience minimal disturbance (from footpaths or public rights of way)
  • have no overhead pylons or power lines
  • have no in-field trees
  • are not next to woodland
  • have either an existing high water table or surface water attributes (flushes, ditches, foot drains), or where they could be created

Sites to avoid

Avoid sites that are:

  • steep (above 14:1 or 8 degrees)
  • less than 2ha and bounded by tall (over 2m) hedgerows, scrub or trees

Vegetation management

Tailor vegetation management to the target species. Usually a range of vegetation heights is preferred.

Management of wet features (drains, grips, scrapes)

Provide surface wet features from 1 March to 1 June (such as scrapes, flushes, foot drains or surface standing water). At least 50% of the wet features’ edges should have exposed mud at the water’s edge to promote invertebrate activity and allow chicks access to feed.

Consider the need to re-profile man-made wet features annually and maintain as required.

Any mechanical operations should be scheduled for the driest period of the year (or after mid-August if breeding snipe are present).

Manage soft and hard rushes so that they cover no more than 20% of the option land.

Grazing

Use quiet stock on these sites to avoid unnecessary trampling of nests and chicks. Adequate grazing and appropriate mechanical operations after the breeding season (August to March) are vital to create the desired vegetation mosaic for the following spring.

It’s important that there is enough grazing available, which is not in breeding bird options, to manage the breeding bird areas flexibly and correctly during the breeding season.

Biodiversity

This option has been identified as being beneficial for biodiversity. All Countryside Stewardship habitat creation, restoration and management options are of great significance for biodiversity recovery, as are the wide range of arable options in the scheme. Capital items and supplements can support this habitat work depending on the holding’s situation and potential.

The connectivity of habitats is also very important and habitat options should be linked wherever possible. Better connectivity will allow wildlife to move/colonise freely to access water, food, shelter and breeding habitat, and will allow natural communities of both animals and plants to adapt in response to environmental and climate change.

Further information

Read Countryside Stewardship: get funding to protect and improve the land you manage to find out more information about Mid Tier and Higher Tier including how to apply.

Published 2 April 2015
Last updated 8 February 2022 + show all updates

  1. New payment rate from 1 January 2022.

  2. Where to use this option - additional information added to one of the bullet points to explain this should not be confused with other areas mapped in MAGIC for ‘Priority Species for CS Targeting’

  3. Updated to include UP2 checklist used to confirm eligibility.

  4. UP2 option updated

  5. The Keeping records section of this page has been updated

  6. Updated keeping records section for evidence required with claim.

  7. Stocking calendar added - linked from Requirements section.

  8. Updated for 2017 applications.

  9. Updated information for applications in 2016.

  10. First published.

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