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AHW3: Beetle banks (updated for SFI26)

What you must do to get paid for this SFI26 action and advice on how to do it.

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and Rural Payments Agency
Published
21 May 2024
Last updated
17 June 2026 — See all updates
Grant type:
Sustainable Farming Incentive
Land type:
Arable
Areas of interest:
Integrated pest management, Pollinators and Wildlife

This is a Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 (SFI26) action. Read the SFI26 scheme information to understand what you’re required to do under an SFI26 agreement and how to apply.

Select ‘See all updates’ at the start of this page to find out how this action has changed for SFI26 compared with SFI24.

For SFI24 actions, read the SFI24 agreement holder’s information.

Duration

3 years

How much you’ll be paid

£764 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s an in-field raised grassy bank, with tussocky grass allowed to develop.

The purpose of this is to:

  • provide nesting and foraging habitats for ground-nesting birds, small mammals and insects

  • help slow down or stop soil erosion

  • 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:

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

Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs): Eligible – you must: 

Historic and archaeological features: Ineligible – you must not enter any area that contains an historic or archaeological feature into this action. This only affects the area where the feature is located in a land parcel. You can apply for this action on the remaining area in the land parcel if it’s eligible.

Available area you can enter into this action

Total or part of the available area in a land parcel. It’s your responsibility to check that the area you enter is eligible for this action.

You must do this action on the area entered into your SFI26 agreement. If something happens which means you cannot complete this action on some or all of the area, you must tell the RPA in writing as soon as possible. Read section 12.2 ‘What to do if you cannot comply with your agreement’ in the SFI26 scheme information to find out how to do this.

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 an in-field beetle bank by:

  • creating a raised earth ridge

  • sowing a mixture of fine-leaved grasses, such as red fescue, together with some tussock forming varieties like tall fescue, timothy and cocksfoot

You can leave gaps of up to around 40m at each end of the beetle bank to allow machinery access.

Once the grassy mix on the beetle bank is established, you must maintain it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You must not apply:

You can maintain an existing beetle bank 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 AB3 (beetle banks)

When to do it

You must:

  • establish the beetle bank within 12 months of this action’s start date

  • maintain the beetle bank 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

You may find it helpful to read the ‘advice to help you do this action’, but it’s not 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.

Scheme Action or option codes
SFI 2026 actions AGF1, AGF2, OFC3, OFC4, OFM4, OFM5, PRF2
SFI 2024 actions AGF1, AGF2, CIPM1, CNUM1, CSAM1, OFC3, OFC4, OFM4, OFM5, PRF2
SFI 2023 actions IPM1, NUM1, SAM1
CSHT actions from 2025 CAGF1, CAGF2, CAGF3, CAGF4, CSP13, CSP14, CSP15, CSP20, CSP21, CSP9, CWS1, CWS3
CS options OR3, OR4, OT3, OT4
ES options No ES revenue options

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 5.6 ‘Land that’s already in other funding schemes or grants’ in the SFI26 scheme information for more details.

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:  

  • SFI 2026 actions: CHRW2, BND1, BND2 and WBD2
  • SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2 and WBD2 
  • SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3   
  • CSHT actions: CHRW4
  • CS options: BE3 (management of hedgerows)   

Advice to help you do this action

The following advice may help you to do this action, but it’s not part of this action’s requirements.

Choosing the right location

This action:

  • is suitable for most soil types, but especially where it is possible to form a free-draining raised bank (this will leave the upper bank area dry for insects to hibernate securely)
  • works best on larger fields, as it’s designed to provide the most benefit in more open landscapes
  • can help to slow down or stop soil erosion

You can spread beetle banks across your farm to help connect farmland wildlife with other farm habitats.

Establishing the beetle bank

To establish the beetle bank, you can create or maintain a raised earth ridge that’s:

  • around 3 metres (m) to 5m wide
  • at least around 0.4m high

To create a raised earth ridge, you can:

  • plough up and down your field around 2 to 3 times (4 to 6 passes in total)
  • complete a final, shallow cultivation of the bank to produce a firm and fine seedbed

You can sow the grassy seed mixture by broadcasting it on to the seed bed. To keep moisture in the soil, you can roll it after sowing using an all-terrain vehicle.

To minimise the risk of the beetle bank slumping you can avoid:

  • overworking the bank
  • using a heavy set of tractor-trailed Cambridge or flat rolls

You may find it helpful to read the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) guidance on beetle banks.

Maintaining the grassy mix during establishment

To help the grassy mix to establish, you can cut it several times during the first spring and summer after sowing. To reduce the risk of soil compacting, try to avoid cutting when the bank is wet.

Maintaining the established grassy mix

From the second spring and summer after sowing, you can cut:

  • where woody species or invasive perennial weeds (such as creeping or spear thistle) are growing
  • from August, to protect any nesting invertebrates and beneficial insects

Enhancing banks for wildlife

To enhance the benefits for wildlife, you can sow flower species in your seed mix such as:

  • common knapweed
  • field scabious
  • oxeye daisy
  • wild carrot
  • yarrow

If you plant woody shrubs and low growing trees around every 20 m to 30m, this can provide:

  • important flower-rich foraging habitat for wild pollinators in the spring
  • berries and fruits for farmland birds and other wildlife to feed on in the autumn and winter months
  • important song posts for farmland birds (such as the corn bunting during the breeding season)

Updates to this page

Published 21 May 2024
Last updated 17 June 2026 Show all updates

  1. Added 'Advice to help you do this action' section.

  2. The following changes have been made to this action for SFI26 (compared with the SFI24 version): • you can now enter total or part of the available area in a land parcel into this action – this only applies to SFI26 agreements, not existing SFI23 and SFI24 agreements • minor updates to standard wording which appears in all area-based SFI actions – see ‘Eligibility of protected land’ and ‘Available area you can enter into this action’

  3. Where you can do this action - an eligible land type is defined in section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’ in the SFI scheme information. Eligibility of protected land - updated link to section 10.3 ‘SSSI consent’ in the SFI scheme information. You can apply for this action on the area in a land parcel that does not contain an historic or archaeological feature. Published voluntary advice to help you do this action, but it's not part of this action’s requirements.

  4. First published.

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