CUP8:  Moderate livestock grazing on moorland
Source: gov.uk (2025-09-10)

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

This action is part of Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT). You must read the CSHT guidance (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/countryside-stewardship-higher-tier-csht) before you apply.

Duration

10 years

How much you’ll be paid

£20 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s a moderate livestock density grazing on the moorland, so its habitat is maintained or enhanced alongside farming.

The purpose of this is to:
- prevent expansion of areas of bare ground
- increase surface roughness
- reduce diffuse pollution
- improve water quality and flood risk management
- provide habitats for moorland species
- protect historic and archaeological features
Where you can do this action

You can only use this action in combination with Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier action CUP3: General moorland management (https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms/cup3-general-moorland-management).

You can do this action on eligible land that:
- is above the moorland line
- is above the stockproof boundary of enclosed semi-natural vegetation and may include allotments, intakes or newtakes
- contains one or more moorland priority habitats or species, unless you’re also applying for CUP7: Manage non-peat moorland soils for flood and drought resilience supplement (https://www.gov.uk/find-funding-for-land-or-farms/cup7-manage-non-peat-moorland-soils-for-flood-and-drought-resilience-supplement), where you do not need one or more priority habitats or species
If a land parcel is located above and below the moorland line, you can enter it into this action if:
- most of the area is above the moorland line
- it’s managed as one grazing unit with adjacent land parcels located above the moorland line
Eligible land

You can do this action on land that’s:

an eligible land type

registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps

declared with a land use code (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/land-use-codes-rural-payments) which is compatible with the eligible land cover

Available area you can enter into this action

Total available area in the land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This action is static. This means you must do it on the same location each year of the action’s duration.

What to do

Your Natural England adviser will assess your land. They’ll work with you to adapt and agree the activities you must do to achieve this action’s aim. All mandatory activities will be set out in your agreement document.

To get paid for this action, you must either:
- agree the grazing livestock units (GLU) per hectare with your Natural England adviser, either as an average over the grazing period or as a maximum at any time – this must not exceed 0.16 GLU per ha
- follow a stocking calendar (as agreed with your Natural England adviser)
For the following actions, the period of livestock removal required in that action will be deducted from the average stocking calculation:
- CUP12: Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for a minimum of 4 months)
- CUP13: Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for a minimum of 6 months)
- CUP14: Shepherding livestock on moorland (remove stock for a minimum of 8 months)
You must also keep a monthly record of stock numbers and shepherding activities on the land parcel entered into this action. You must record:
- land parcel reference numbers
- hectarage
- dates you plan to graze during each calendar month
- monthly numbers of livestock which will graze the land parcel, including their type and age bracket
If you manage several adjacent land parcels as one grazing unit, you can keep one stocking calendar for that grazing unit.

To convert livestock numbers into GLU, your Natural England adviser will decide on the appropriate value depending on the type and breed of livestock grazing the area. They may use the following values:
- cattle over 2 years old at the start of an agreement year – 1.0 GLU
- cattle over 6 months to 2 years old at the start of an agreement year – 0.6 GLU
- lowland ewe and lamb or ram – 0.12 GLU
- store lamb, hill ewe and lamb or hogg or teg – 0.08 GLU
- goat – 0.12 GLU
- pony or donkey – 0.8 GLU
- horse – 1.0 GLU
Lambs at foot do not have a separate GLU allocation, they are included in the figure for the ewe.

You must not supplementary feed livestock on land entered into this action, unless this has been agreed with your Natural England adviser to support the purpose of this action.

The feeding of hay or haylage is permitted in cases of extreme weather for the purpose of animal welfare only.

Extreme weather is defined as 2 or more consecutive days of deep snow or hard frost.

Read more about supplementary feeding in extreme weather in the advice section of this action.

When to do it

You must do this action each year of its duration.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you have done to complete this action. If it’s not clear that you have done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) may ask for this evidence.

You must supply the evidence if they ask for it, including a monthly record of stock numbers and shepherding activities.

For each supplementary feed (due to extreme weather or as agreed), you must provide:
- a record of the time and date
- the location using maps and photographs
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.

You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:
- CSHT actions: CWT3, CHRW4
- SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2, WBD10
- SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
- CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
Consents, permissions and licensing requirements

To apply for this action, you’ll need:
- Scheduled Monument Consent (https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/planning/consents/smc/) from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- consent from Natural England for any activity on land designated as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/protected-areas-sites-of-special-scientific-interest#get-consent-to-carry-out-operations-on-your-land)
You may need to:
- agree an implementation plan or feasibility study with your Natural England adviser
- get a wildlife licence (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wildlife-licences) from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
- get advice from your relevant Natural England adviser if you have other historic or archaeological features on your agreement land
All historic and archaeological features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).

If you’re a tenant, it’s your responsibility to check whether your tenancy agreement allows you to complete what’s required in the actions you choose. You may need your landlord’s consent.

Capital grants to support this action

If you need to complete an implementation plan or a feasibility study before you apply, you can apply for capital grants plans funding (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/capital-items-guidance-for-applicants-and-agreement-holders#capital-grants-plans).

You can also apply for capital items (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/capital-items-guidance-for-applicants-and-agreement-holders) to help you achieve the action’s aims. Your Natural England adviser will discuss eligible capital items with you.

Advice to help you do this action

The following optional advice may help you to do this action. Your agreement document will set out all the activities you must do.

Grazing rates

Lowland ewe and lamb or ram means:

recognised lowland breeds

animals crossed with lowland breeds

Store lamb, hill ewe and lamb, or hogg or teg means:

recognised hill breeds

crosses between these recognised hill breeds

Your Natural England adviser will calculate the appropriate GLU based on the breed and type of stock grazing the site. For example:
- larger examples of typical hill breeds, will have a higher GLU than 0.08 GLU applied
- Smaller cattle (such as Shetland cattle), will have a lower GLU than 1.0 GLU applied
Grazing on moorland

Sheep, cattle and ponies graze in different ways.

You can achieve greater environmental benefits if you graze the moorland with:
- a livestock species that has suitable grazing traits for the habitat type
- a suitable number of livestock for the habitat type, so you can avoid overgrazing or undergrazing it
Species traits: ponies

Ponies:
- can graze swards very tightly and can create good structural mosaic at low stocking densities
- have a strong preference for grasses and will graze long coarse grass (such as purple moor-grass)
- are very adaptable grazers and can graze bracken (particularly in autumn) and gorse
- are less likely to graze heather over the winter compared with sheep
Species traits: cattle

Cattle:
- graze on longer swards and graze less selectively than sheep
- graze on coarser forage, creating a more varied sward structure
- will graze lower quality forage such as purple moor-grass (particularly in spring and early summer)
Cattle are more likely to cause poaching due to their size and particularly on wetter areas. You can remove them from the area over the winter months to reduce the risk of poaching.

Species traits: sheep

Sheep:
- can graze swards very tight
- are highly selective feeders at fine scale, often selecting young flowers and shoots
- are unlikely to eat long coarse grasses (such as purple moor-grass) if alternative food is available
Sheep can cause a decline in dwarf shrub cover (including heather). This is due to selective browsing and happens most frequently when out over the winter. You can reduce the risk of this happening by:
- removing all the sheep for the entire winter or part of the winter (‘partial off-wintering’)
- reducing sheep numbers during the winter months
Attracting birds, mammals and insects

To attract more birds, mammals and insects, plan to create more structure in the vegetation. You could:
- allow taller scrub and trees to develop (especially on steep slopes and harder to graze places)
- maintain a range of heights and ages of heather and bilberry
- have a mix of sward heights in grassland (including longer tussocks and shorter lawns)
Avoiding damage to historic and archaeological features

Check that there is a cover of dwarf shrubs, heather and other shallow rooted vegetation. This will help prevent the following occurring on historic and archaeological features:
- erosion
- poaching
- burrowing
- dumping
- scrub
- gorse
- bracken growth
- vehicle erosion or damage
Grazing to maintain or enhance moorland habitat

To help you achieve this action’s aim, you may need to graze the following moorland habitats:
- most grasslands
- fens and flushes
- most heathlands
- land with historic and archaeological features that need to be kept free of trees, bracken and scrub
- upland wood pasture
You do not need to graze:
- most woodlands
- blanket bog
- mountain heath and willow scrub
- fragmented upland heath that needs restoration
To restore some habitats that livestock like to eat, you may need to:
- reduce your stock numbers across the whole moorland
- shepherd stock away from those areas
Neighbouring livestock

If the area of moorland you enter into this action is unfenced and adjacent land is grazed by other farmers or land managers, you may need to:
- consider the potential impact of neighbouring livestock straying on your ability to meet this action’s requirements, particularly the maximum livestock density threshold
- talk to neighbouring farmers or land managers about removing stray livestock from your area of moorland
Wild herbivores

Consider the impact of wild herbivores on your moorland. Deer and rabbits are the species most likely to affect moorlands. If wild herbivores are regularly grazing a moor, you may need to manage the populations or factor their impacts into your livestock grazing rate. This means lowering your proposed livestock grazing rate to take account of the wild herbivores grazing impact.

Supplementary feeding in extreme weather

During periods of extreme weather, manage supplementary feeding to avoid damaging habitats such as blanket bog, heather, bilberry and other heath, species-rich grassland and mires. Move feeding sites regularly to minimise damage to vegetation and soils.

Avoid transferring undesirable species in the hay or haylage such as docks or rosebay willowherb.

Do not:
- feed on or next to archaeological features, steep slopes, footpaths or watercourses
- use troughs or feeders
If you need to supplementary feed multiple times in the winter or every year, consider reducing or removing your stock during this period.

Follow the farming rules for water (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rules-for-farmers-and-land-managers-to-prevent-water-pollution) – you’ll need to take steps to stop pollution from grazing livestock.

Responding to climate change

Read Natural England’s publication: ‘Adaptation for habitats in Environmental Land Management Schemes’ (https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/file/5673659512127488) to help you consider your general response to climate change. You must continue to follow the mandatory activities for this CSHT action.