CAHL2: Winter bird food on arable and horticultural land
What you must do to get paid for this action and advice on how to do it.
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
£853 per hectare (ha) per year
Action’s aim
This action’s aim is that there’s an established winter bird food mix growing in blocks or strips, with plants that:
- grow and flower during the spring and summer months
- set seed to produce a supply of small seeds from late autumn until late winter
The purpose of this is to:
- provide food resources for smaller farmland birds, especially in late autumn and winter
- encourage flowering plants in the summer, which will benefit insects including bumblebees, solitary bees, butterflies and hoverflies
- 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:
- an eligible land type (read section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’)
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover
This is a ‘limited area’ action. The total eligible area you enter into any combination of one of more of the ‘limited area’ actions must not be more than 25% of the total agricultural area of your farm. Read section 1.3 ‘SFI actions with a limited area’ for more information.
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 |
| Permanent crops – horticultural | Permanent crops | TC01 |
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 | Eligible – you must get a HEFER before you do this action (read section 5.6 ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’) |
Available area you can enter into this action
Part of the available area in a land parcel.
Rotational or static action
This action is rotational or static. This means that after the first year of this action’s duration you can either:
- move its location around the land entered into the relevant base action for subsequent years of this action’s duration
- do it at the same location each year
What to do
You must establish a winter bird food mix as a block or strip on land entered into this action.
You must use a seed mix which includes at least 6 small seed-bearing crops, which are suitable for smaller farmland bird species. The mix must not include:
- artichokes
- reed canary grass
- giant and intermediate sorghum
- maize
- miscanthus
- sweet clover
- tic beans
If you sow an annual mix, it can include a range of cereals, brassicas or other small-seeded crops. If you sow a 2-year mix, it can also include biennial crops such as kale, stubble turnip or teasel.
Once the winter bird food mix block or strip is established, you must maintain it. To do this, you must manage it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.
You must re-establish a 1-year mix annually and 2-year mixes every other year, so they continue to produce an extended supply of small seeds. This can be at the same location or a different location.
You must not use the winter bird food mix block or strip for regular vehicular access, turning or storage.
You can maintain an existing winter bird food mix block or 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 (CS) option AB9 (winter bird food)
When to do it
You must:
- establish the winter bird food mix block or strip in time for it to flower in the first summer after sowing (usually this means by the end of June)
- maintain the mix at the same location until late winter (usually around the end of February) in the year after it was sown (for 1-year mixes) or the following year (for 2-year mixes)
If this action’s start date means it’s too late to establish the winter bird food mix, you must establish it within 12 months of your action’s start date.
If you establish the winter bird food mix block or strip after the end of June, you must maintain it at the same location for 2 consecutive winters in order to achieve this action’s aim.
In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do this action either until late winter, 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:
- 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, including details of the seed mix used
- 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, OFC5, OFM4, OFM5, OFM6, AGF1, AGF2, PRF1, PRF2, PRF4, SOH1, SOH2, SOH3, CIPM1, CIPM3, CIPM4, CNUM1, CSAM1 |
| SFI 2023 actions | SAM1, IPM1, IPM3, IPM4, NUM1 |
| CS options | HS3, HS9, OR3, OR4, OR5, OT3, OT4, OT5 |
| 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