OFA1: Overwinter stubble (organic 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
£264 per hectare (ha) per year
Action’s aim
This action’s aim is that there’s a post-harvest stubble with some green cover over the autumn and winter months.
The purpose of this is to provide:
- a winter food source for seed-eating farmland birds
- foraging habitats for farmland wildlife
Where you can do this action
You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that’s:
- identified by you as not being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff – you must keep evidence of this
- registered as ‘fully organic’ or ‘in conversion’ by a Defra-licensed organic control body
- 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
Eligible land
| Eligible land type | Eligible land cover | Compatible land use code |
|---|---|---|
| Arable land used to grow cereals (not maize), oilseed rape or linseed | Arable land | Land use codes for arable crops |
Eligibility of protected land
| Land or features with protection | 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
Total or part of the available area in a land parcel.
Rotational or static action
This action is rotational or static. This means you can either:
- move its location for the second and third years of this action’s duration
- do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration
What to do
After harvest, you must:
- leave the stubble for a period of time that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim – this will usually be until around mid-February
- establish a green overwinter cover crop on the stubble area, such as mustard or fodder radish, so it covers between approximately 10% to 50% of the area
You must not do the following on the stubble area:
- top or graze it
- apply any fertilisers, manures or lime
- cultivate it after harvest
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 this action until around mid-February 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
For all the land entered into this action, you must keep:
- written evidence that it’s not at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff – you can use the soil management plan produced for CSAM1 or SAM1 to identify this
- a valid organic certificate and schedule for it – this must cover at least the full period of this action’s duration
You must also 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 | AHW10, OFC3, OFM4, AGF1, AGF2, PRF1, PRF2, PRF3, PRF4, SOH1, SOH2, SOH3, CIPM1, CIPM3, CIPM4, CNUM1, CSAM1 |
| SFI 2023 actions | IPM1, IPM3, IPM4, NUM1, SAM1 |
| CS options | AB14, OR3, OT3 |
| 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