AHW12: Manage woodland edges on arable land

What you must do to get paid for this action and advice on how to do it.

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Rural Payments Agency
Published
21 May 2024
Land types:
Arable
Areas of interest:
Crops, Trees
Payment types:
Revenue

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

£428 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 (up to 6m) 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 an uncultivated, naturally regenerated strip of scrub and grass mosaic developing between arable land and woodland.

The purpose of this is to provide woodland edge habitat for birds, invertebrates, small mammals and other wildlife.

Where you can do this action

You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that’s:

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 Ineligible – you must not enter any area that contains an historic or archaeological feature into this action

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 allow a naturally regenerated scrub and grass mosaic strip to develop that’s:

  • on arable land, adjacent to the edge of an existing woodland
  • up to 6m wide (on average in each land parcel) – it can be more than 6m wide, but you’ll only be paid for the 6m width

You must maintain the strip in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You must not:

  • apply any fertilisers, manures or lime
  • apply pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, nettles or bracken
  • carry out supplementary feeding in a way that causes poaching on the woodland edge
  • cut or cultivate the strip in a way that means this action’s aim cannot reasonably be achieved

You can maintain an existing woodland 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 option WD3 (woodland edges on arable land)

When to do it

You must:

  • allow the woodland edge strip to develop within 12 months of this action’s start date
  • maintain the woodland edge 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 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 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, CIPM1, CNUM1, CSAM1
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
Published 21 May 2024
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