AHW7: Enhanced overwinter stubble (updated for SFI26)
What you must do to get paid for this SFI26 action and advice on how to do it.
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
£589 per hectare (ha) per year
Action’s aim
This action’s aim is that there’s a post-harvest stubble remaining during the autumn, winter, spring and summer months.
The purpose of this is to provide:
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a winter food source for seed-eating farmland birds
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spring and summer foraging and nesting habitats for other farmland birds, and habitats for other farmland wildlife
Where you can do this action
You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that’s:
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identified by you as not being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff – you must keep evidence of this
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an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1.1 ‘Eligible land types’ in the SFI26 scheme information)
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registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
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declared with a land use code which compatible with the eligible land cover
Eligible land
| Eligible land type | Eligible land cover | Compatible land use code |
|---|---|---|
| Arable land used to grow cereals (not maize or sorghum), oilseed rape or linseed | Arable land | Land use codes for arable crops |
25% limited area action
This is a ‘limited area’ action. The total eligible area you enter into any combination of one or more of the ‘limited area’ actions must not be more than 25% of the total agricultural area of your farm. Read section 4.5 ‘Limited area SFI actions’ in the SFI26 scheme information for more details (including a list of ‘limited area’ actions).
Eligibility of protected land
Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs): Eligible – you must:
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give notice to Natural England to get SSSI consent before the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) offer you an SFI26 agreement
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have received SSSI consent from Natural England before you do this action (read section 10.1 ‘SSSI consent’ in the SFI26 scheme information for more details)
Historic and archaeological features: Eligible – you must get an SFI HEFER before you do this action (read section 5.3 ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’ in the SFI26 scheme information to find out how to do this).
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 is a rotational action – this means you must move its location within your crop rotation for the second and third years of this action’s duration.
What to do
After harvest, you must leave the stubble from a cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed until around mid-summer in the following year.
You must not apply pre-harvest desiccants to the cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed.
You must not do the following on the stubble area:
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top or graze it
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apply any pesticides, except herbicides to control grass weeds by spraying the affected area from around mid-May
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apply any fertilisers, manures or lime
When to do it
You must do this action each year of its 3-year duration.
If this action’s start date means it’s too late for you to do this action, you must start doing it within 12 months of the action’s start date.
In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do the action until around mid-summer or this action’s end date, whichever is earlier.
How to do it
It’s up to you how you do this action, as long as you:
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follow this action’s requirements – these are identified by a ‘must’
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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 written evidence that land entered into this action is not at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff. You can use the soil management plan you’ve already produced for SFI24 action CSAM1 or SFI23 action SAM1 to identify this.
You must also keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action, such as:
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field operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices
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photographs and 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, AHW5, CIPM4, OFC3, OFM4, PRF1, PRF2, PRF4, SOH1 |
| SFI 2024 actions | AGF1, AGF2, AHW5, CIPM1, CIPM4, CNUM1, CSAM1, OFC3, OFM4, PRF1, PRF2, PRF3, PRF4, SOH1 |
| SFI 2023 actions | IPM1, NUM1, SAM1 |
| CSHT actions from 2025 | CAB5, CAGF1, CAGF2, CAGF3, CAGF4, CSP13, CSP14, CSP15, CSP20, CSP21, CSP9, CWS1, CWS3 |
| CS options | AB11, AB14, AB15, AB5, HS3, OR3, OT3 |
| 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
When you establish the cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed, by law you cannot cultivate or apply fertilisers or pesticides to land within 2 metres (m) of the centre of a hedgerow. Read the guidance on Hedgerow management rules; buffer strips to understand how these rules apply to you.
Enhanced overwinter stubbles are suitable for most soil types. On heavier soils, you can use this action to help control moderate to high populations of grass weeds (such as black-grass).
The best stubbles are usually produced by:
- spring sown crops (especially barley)
- crops managed with less inorganic nitrogen fertiliser and fewer herbicides
You can leave the unmanaged stubbles across a whole field or a strip, if the land has been identified by you as not being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff.
You can have several areas of stubbles spread across your farm to link non-crop habitats (such as hedgerows, ponds and field margins). This can help wildlife to move between these habitats, especially in large fields (for example, over 20 hectares (ha)).
It will help if you locate the overwinter stubbles in fields which have:
- low levels of black-grass and thistles
- arable plants in the soil seedbank, for natural insect-rich habitats for foraging farmland birds
- known nesting lapwing populations
- nearby areas of scrub which can provide foraging habitat for turtle doves
It’s usually best to locate strips of overwinter stubbles along south-facing boundaries. This will allow more beneficial weeds to grow, so more seeds are produced for birds to eat.
You can cultivate the stubbles area in March to help:
- create bare ground nesting plots for farmland birds
- encourage spring germinating rare arable flora
How to increase environmental benefits from the stubbles
To help to increase the environmental benefits provided by the overwinter stubbles, you can establish them:
- near to high-value habitats, such as hedgerows, scrub and woodland
- close to other seed-rich habitat
- in fields used by nesting lapwing or skylark
- close to areas of scrub which are suitable for nesting turtle dove
- on warm, sunny, south-facing headlands which support rare arable plants
- as larger blocks, so they feed larger flocks of seed-eating farmland birds for longer in the coldest months
You can sow a diverse mix of fast-growing crops into your stubbles before you harvest the crop (by undersowing a companion crop) or after harvest (to establish a cover crop).
This can help to provide:
- late season pollen and nectar for wild pollinators
- food and shelter for farmland birds over winter
- soil health and water quality benefits by reducing the risk of erosion and run-off
The crop mix could include:
- buckwheat
- crimson clover
- fodder radish
- mustard
- phacelia
To secure the right balance between outcomes for soil health, water quality and wildlife, it’s best to:
- establish the crop mix on no more than around half of the stubble area in each field
- not sow mixes on areas known to support rare arable plants
In fields known to support nesting farmland birds such as lapwing, it’s best to:
- only establish a cover crop on headlands
- leave an area unsown in the middle of the field – for example, around at least 2ha
Other ways to enhance stubbles for farm wildlife include:
- carrying out winter supplementary feeding for farmland birds next to areas of winter bird food
- managing your preceding crop with less inorganic nitrogen fertiliser and fewer herbicides
- varying the height of the stubble by raising and lowering the combine header at harvest
Updates to this page
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Added 'Advice to help you do this action' section.
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The following changes have been made to this action for SFI26 (compared with the SFI24 version): • this action is now a 25% ‘limited area’ action – this only applies to this action in SFI26 agreements, but the 25% limit applies across all your SFI 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’
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Added detail to explain how Hedgerow Regulations may affect how a farmer does an action, and signpost to detailed guidance on the Management of Hedgerows Regulations.
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AHW10 and AHW11 removed from SFI 2024 actions.
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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. What to do - you must not apply pre-harvest dessicants to the cereal crop, oilseed rape or linseed. The other prohibited activities apply to the stubble area. Published voluntary advice to help you do this action, but it's not part of this action’s requirements.
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First published.