Guidance

How to do the SFI actions for farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land

Find out how you could do the SFI actions for farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land.

• From: Rural Payments Agency
• Published: 10 August 2023

Applies to England

It’s up to you how you complete each SFI action, as long as you do it in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve the action’s aim (which is described in each action).

This voluntary guidance includes advice on how you could do the SFI actions for farmland wildlife on arable and horticultural land (AHL1, AHL2 and AHL3).

You may find it helpful to read this guidance, but you do not have to follow it. The requirements you must follow for each SFI action are explained in the ‘Details of the SFI actions’, which you can find in either:

• section 2 of the SFI handbook
• the webpage versions of the details of the SFI actions

How to establish and maintain blocks or strips of pollen and nectar flower mix (AHL1)

What you’re aiming to achieve

The aim of AHL1 is that there’s a pollen and nectar flower mix which produces areas of flowering plants from late spring and during the summer months.

Late spring and during the summer months will usually include May, June, July and August, but this may vary depending on your location and setting.

Establishing blocks or strips of pollen and nectar flower mix

Choosing a seed mix

AHL1 explains the minimum requirement for flower species in the seed mix (under ‘What to do’). Using a seed mix containing both shorter-lived legumes and longer-lived wildflower species can deliver an extended supply of pollen and nectar from late spring and during the summer months.

You can choose to sow a seed mix containing more flower species than AHL1 requires. Using an enhanced mix can be beneficial as it retains more flower species for longer and is likely to mean less frequent re-sowing.

A seed supplier can help you choose a seed mix that’s the best match for your land and local conditions.

Where to sow the seed mix

You can sow the area of pollen and nectar flower mix as a block or strip. There’s no minimum or maximum area. Using blocks between 0.25ha and 0.50ha, and strips at least 6m wide, can help to provide a buffer for beneficial insects when fields are being sprayed.

Sowing a number of pollen and nectar flower mix blocks or strips, spaced as evenly as possible across your farm, will help pollinators and other beneficial insects (such as crop pest predators) to find food. Evenly distributing 5 blocks or strips of 0.5ha across 100ha of land will meet the food needs of many pollinators (and crop pest predators).

It will usually help to use sites that:

• receive plenty of sunlight, to help the plants establish

• are easy for you to access and manage

• are low in soil fertility, as grasses and weeds can dominate fertile areas

• do not have persistent weed problems, as weeds will compete with the flowers

• do not contain rare arable wildflowers, such as cornflower, red hemp nettle and shepherd’s needle, as they need cultivation to thrive

The block or strip can be located:

• to square up cultivated areas, which may help to speed up farm operations

• close to cropped areas, if you’re using it to help with an integrated pest management (IPM) approach

Sowing the seed mix

Your seed supplier can advise you on an overall sowing rate for the seed mix you choose. This will usually be between 10kg (for light and medium soils, and land with limited fertility) and 20kg (for heavy soils and areas with a higher nutrient status).

It will help the seeds to germinate if they’re sown into a seedbed that’s:

• firm, consolidated, fine, level and weed free

• warm and moist, which will usually be the case between March and mid-September – if you plan to sow in the autumn, try to do it before frosts and prolonged wet weather set in and get advice from your seed supplier on frost-hardy annuals for your mix

Mix the seed well before sowing each block or strip. You can broadcast the seeds onto the surface of the seedbed to help germination. Alternatively, you can shallow-drill the seeds up to a depth of 1cm, as small seeds usually struggle to germinate when sown deeper than 1cm.

If your seed mix contains larger seeds, such as common vetch and sainfoin, you may want to consider sowing these first to a depth of 2cm and then sowing the remaining mix in a separate pass.

After you’ve sown the seed mix, if the soil is dry enough, you can roll the seeds to improve seed-to-soil contact, retain moisture and reduce the risk of slug damage.

Managing the blocks or strips

During establishment

During the first spring and summer after sowing, it’s advisable to check the block or strip regularly to monitor germination. If establishment is poor, you may need to re-sow part or all of it. Your seed supplier can help you if you’re unsure what to do.

Cutting emerging flowers and weeds regularly during the first 12 months after sowing will help to control weeds, so the sown plants can establish. Cut at a height which removes the top growth of any weeds, avoids dislodging the roots of the seedlings and prevents harm to wildlife.

If your mix includes early flowering annuals, such as black medick, common vetch, crimson clover or phacelia, it’s advisable to cut either:

• early, when the plants are less than around 30cm high and do not have flower buds

• late, after they’ve finished flowering

Maintaining established blocks or strips

Once the block or strip is established (usually from the second spring after sowing), you can cut or graze it with livestock as long as you do it in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve the aim of AHL1 (described above).

It will help you to achieve this action’s aim if you:

• cut or graze around half of the block or strip each year when the first flower buds start to form (usually late May to mid-June) – this will help to extend the flowering season

• alternate which half of the area you cut or graze each year – the cut or grazed plants will take time to recover and will produce flowers later than the uncut area, so nectar is available to pollinators for longer

• remove any livestock before the sward is grazed to below a height which means the sown plants may be damaged (usually around 10cm) – this will also help to give the plants time to recover and flower later in the season

Once the block or strip has finished flowering, you can choose to:

• cut or graze the whole area

• leave a proportion of the area (for example, 20%) uncut or ungrazed over winter to provide over-wintering habitat for invertebrates – try to avoid leaving the same area uncut or ungrazed each year

Where areas have been left uncut or ungrazed over the winter months, you can cut or lightly graze them in the spring (usually March) before the flowers have started to grow. This can help to stop grass weeds from growing.

Cutting the block or strip

If you’re cutting the margin, block or strip:

• check it for signs of nesting birds before you cut it – birds, nests and eggs are protected by law, so if you see signs of nesting birds, delay cutting until the birds fledge

• remove the cut vegetation, where possible, to help reduce the risk of it smothering the flower species and limit weeds – if it’s impractical to do this, you can finely chop them and spread them as thinly as possible

How to establish and maintain winter bird food on arable and horticultural land (AHL2)

What you’re aiming to achieve

The aim of AHL2 is that there are areas of winter bird food that produce a supply of small seeds for smaller farmland birds from late autumn until late winter.

Late autumn until late winter will usually include November, December, January and February, but this may vary according to your location and setting.

Establishing winter bird food

Choosing a seed mix

AHL2 explains the minimum requirement for crops in the seed mix and which crops cannot be used (under ‘What to do’). You can use an annual mix or a 2-year mix. Both will provide food for a range of farmland birds, such as finches, buntings, sparrows and partridges.

Cereal crops you could use include: spring barley, spring oats, spring rye, spring triticale, spring wheat, red millet and white millet.

Brassica crops you could use include: fodder radish, forage rape, gold of pleasure, kale, mustard, stubble turnip.

Your seed supplier can help you choose a seed mix that’s the best match for your land and local conditions.

Where to sow the seed mix

You can sow the area of winter bird food as a block or strip. You can choose what size to sow, as there’s no minimum or maximum area. Using larger blocks or strips between 0.4ha and 5ha allows more seeds to remain undiscovered for longer, which can extend their value well into winter.

It will usually help to use sites:

• that receive plenty of sunlight, to help the plants establish

• which are weed-free, as a high weed burden will affect crop establishment

• close to nesting, roosting and other farmland bird feeding habitats, where possible

• next to a field edge, but they can extend into the field

You could locate the block or strip to square up cultivated areas, which may help to speed up farm operations.

Sowing the seed mix

Your seed supplier can advise you on an overall sowing rate for the seed mix you choose.

It will help the seeds to germinate if they’re sown:

• into a consolidated seedbed that’s firm, fine, level and weed free

• when the weather and soil moisture is best for the crops in your seed mix (usually between March and June, depending on the crops in your mix)

You can broadcast the seeds onto the surface of the seedbed to help germination. Alternatively, you can shallow-drill the seeds up to a depth of 1cm, as small seeds usually struggle to germinate when sown deeper than 1cm.

After you’ve sown the seed mix, if the soil is dry enough, you can roll the seeds to improve seed-to-soil contact, retain moisture and reduce the risk of slug damage.

Managing the winter bird food blocks or strips

During establishment

Around 4 weeks after sowing, it’s advisable to check the block or strip for germination. If establishment is poor, you may need to re-sow part or all the block or strip. Your seed supplier can help you if you’re unsure what to do.

Maintaining established blocks or strips

Once the block or strip is established, you need to maintain it by managing it in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim (described above).

To help you achieve the action’s aim, you may need to do the following, as necessary:

• re-sow it, so it continues to produce an extended supply of small seeds – an annual mix will need to be re-sown each year and 2-year mixes every other year

• apply fertiliser, so the crops grow sufficiently to smother annual weeds and produce a supply of small seeds from late autumn until late winter (usually around mid-February)

• control pests, such as flea beetle, slugs, rabbits, corvids and pigeons

• control weeds where a high weed burden may cause poor seed production of the sown crops – to avoid damaging the sown crops it’s advisable to use herbicides (spot-treat or overall application) or remove the weeds by hand before they finish flowering to stop their seeds spreading

How to establish and maintain grassy field corners or blocks (AHL3)

What you’re aiming to achieve

The aim of AHL3 is that there’s an intact grass sward throughout the year, without compacted areas or poaching, so tussocky grass can develop.

Establishing grassy field corners or blocks

AHL3 requires you to establish grassy field corners or blocks by either sowing them or allowing the areas to naturally regenerate.

Where to locate the field corners or blocks

You can choose what shape and size the field corner or block is, as there’s no minimum or maximum area.

Using a number of smaller areas (for example, between 0.5ha and 1ha) spaced as evenly as possible across your land will create a network of habitats. For example, you could space 5 blocks of 0.5ha evenly across 100ha to allow pollinators, flying insects and birds to move between the areas.

You could choose to establish the field corner or block on areas:

• which are less productive, or difficult to reach with machinery to square up cultivated areas, which could help to speed up farm operations

• close to existing nectar and pollen sources to beneficial insects, or existing winter bird food sources to benefit farmland birds

• close to cropped areas to help with an IPM approach – for example, once tussocky grass develops it can provide habitat for ladybirds which eat aphids

• near to existing habitat (such as woodland, hedgerows, waterbodies, heathland, fallow land, wildflower-rich grassland) to help farmland wildlife to move across your land

Sowing grassy field corners and blocks

Your seed supplier can:

• help you choose a seed mix that’s the best match for your land

• advise you on an overall sowing rate for the seed mix you choose

If you’re sowing the grassy field corners and blocks, grass species you could use in the seed mix include: timothy, cocksfoot, crested dog’s tail, red fescue, smooth-stalked meadow grass.

It will help the seeds to germinate if they’re sown into a seedbed:

• that’s firm, consolidated, fine, level and weed free

• that contains moisture, which will usually be the case in the autumn – you can sow in the spring, but you may need to increase the sowing rate, depending on weather and soil type

You can broadcast the seeds onto the surface of the seedbed to help germination. Alternatively, you can shallow-drill the seeds up to a depth of 1cm, as small seeds usually struggle to germinate when sown deeper than 1cm.

After you’ve sown the seed mix, if the soil is dry enough, you can roll the seeds to improve seed-to-soil contact, retain moisture and reduce the risk of slug damage.

Establishing grassy field corners and blocks through natural regeneration

Natural regeneration is likely to be most successful on light, free-draining alkaline soils without many weeds. It will take longer, usually around 1 year, to establish the grassy field corners and blocks, but it will cost less.

You can cultivate the soil in the first year between spring and late summer to encourage seeds that are already in the soil to germinate.

Maintaining established grassy field corners or blocks

Once the grassy field corner or block is established, you can manage it by cutting or grazing it with livestock, as long as it:

• meets the requirements explained in AHL3

• is done in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve the aim of AHL3 (described above)

You may need to control weeds when they appear. To control injurious weeds or invasive non-natives, soft and hard rush, nettles or bracken, AHL3 allows you to:

• carry out localised cutting

• use herbicides to spot-treat or weed wipe

You can also control weeds by removing entire plants by hand before they have finished flowering.

Published 10 August 2023