CNUM3: Legume fallow
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-27)

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 (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme-expanded-offer-for-2024) to understand the scheme rules and how to apply.

Duration

3 years

How much you’ll be paid

£593 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s an established legume fallow with plants that:
- grow and flower from late spring and during the summer months
- provide green cover over the winter months
The purpose of this is to:
- manage nutrient efficiency and improved soil health
- provide food for farmland wildlife, such as pollen and nectar for pollinators and farmland birds
- support an integrated pest management approach by reducing grass weeds and, if located close to cropped areas, encourage natural crop pest predators
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 (as defined in section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme-expanded-offer-for-2024/sfi-scheme-information-expanded-offer-for-2024) in the SFI scheme information)
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rural-payments-land-use-codes-2024/land-use-codes-2024) which is compatible with the eligible land cover
Eligible land

Eligibility of protected land

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

You must establish a legume fallow on land entered into this action.

You must use a seed mix which contains at least 6 flowering species, including legumes. The seed mix can contain legumes such as:
- alsike clover
- bird’s foot trefoil
- black medick
- common vetch
- lucerne
The seed mix can also include:
- non-legume flower species
- grasses, such as cocksfoot or timothy, which can help to control blackgrass
You must avoid growing deep rooted legumes, such as lucerne, on any area in a land parcel that contains historic or archaeological features. These are identified in your SFI HEFER.

Once the legume fallow is established (usually from the second spring after sowing), you must maintain it. To do this, you must manage it in a way, and for a period of time, that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

You must not do the following on the established legume fallow:
- graze it with livestock – if you want to do this you may want to consider action CSAM3 (herbal leys) instead which allows grazing activity
- use the area for regular vehicular access, turning or storage (for example, storing bales or machinery)
- cut it, except to prevent blackgrass from setting seed or to control other annual grass weeds
- apply any fertilisers and manures
- apply pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/identification-of-injurious-weeds), invasive non-native species (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/prevent-the-spread-of-harmful-invasive-and-non-native-plants#types-of-invasive-non-native-plants), or nettles
You can maintain an existing legume fallow 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 AB15 (two year sown legume fallow)
When to do it

You must:
- establish the legume fallow by the autumn, within 12 months of this action’s start date
- maintain the legume fallow at the same location for a period of time that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim – this will usually be until the end of the second summer after sowing
- re-establish the legume fallow by the following autumn (either at the same location or a different location) and maintain it until this action’s end date
If you want to establish a legume fallow in the spring and remove it in the summer during the same year, you should apply for spring-sown or summer-sown cover crops actions (SOH2 or SOH3).

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
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 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.

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’ (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme-expanded-offer-for-2024/sfi-scheme-information-expanded-offer-for-2024) in the SFI 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 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
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 a seed mix

This action explains the minimum requirement for flowering species, including legumes, in the seed mix (under ‘What to do’).

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

When you establish the legume fallow, by law you cannot cultivate or apply fertilisers or pesticides to land within 2m of the centre of a hedgerow. Read the guidance on Hedgerow management rules; buffer strips (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/hedgerow-management-rules-buffer-strips#buffer-strip-rules) to understand how these rules apply to you.

When you sow the seed mix, it can help to use sites:
- that receive plenty of sunlight, for better foraging habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects
- where you wish to control grass weeds, such as blackgrass
- where soil health and compaction need improving
- where you want to reduce soil run-off during winter
- where you want to reduce your fertiliser use in the following crop
Try to avoid sowing the seed mix on sites that are:
- difficult to access and manage (like remote field corners)
- known to contain rare arable wildflowers
- known to support injurious and other broad-leaved weeds which can be difficult to control, such as common ragwort, creeping thistle, spear thistle, broad-leaved dock, curled dock
Spreading the legume fallow areas across the farm can help to provide a network of habitats for farmland wildlife.

How and when to sow the seed mix

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

It can 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 – this is usually spring or autumn, but it will be easier to control grass weeds in spring-sown fallows
You can either:
- broadcast the seeds onto the surface of the seedbed to help germination
- shallow-drill the seeds up to a depth of 1 centimetre (cm) - small seeds usually struggle to germinate when sown deeper than 1cm
After you have sown the seed mix (if the soil is dry enough), you can roll the seeds to:
- improve seed-to-soil contact
- keep moisture
- reduce the risk of slug damage
During establishment of the sown legume fallow

In the first few months after sowing, it’s advisable to check the area for successful germination and pest damage.

If establishment is poor, you may need to re-sow part or all the area. Your seed supplier can help you if you’re unsure what to do.

Maintaining established areas of legume fallow

Once the area is established, you can maintain it by managing it in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

During the first spring and summer after sowing, you can control annual grass weeds, such as blackgrass, by:
- cutting as soon as it starts to produce seed heads
- doing follow up cuts as necessary to remove further seed heads
During the second year after sowing, you can control blackgrass by:
- cutting between March and mid-June
- leaving the area uncut for around 8 weeks between June and August – this will help to allow plants to flower for as long as possible to provide pollen and nectar for insects
Check the area for signs of nesting birds before you cut it. Birds, nests and eggs are protected by law (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wild-birds-protection-surveys-and-licences#what-you-must-not-do), so if you see signs of nesting birds, delay cutting until the birds fledge

Remove the cut vegetation (where possible) to limit weeds and reduce the risk of it smothering the flower species. If this is impractical, you can finely chop the vegetation to spread them as thinly as possible.