AHW9: Unharvested cereal headland
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

£1,072 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s an open-structured, spring cereal crop which:
- is growing in strips or plots
- remains unharvested during the summer, autumn and winter months
The purpose of this is to:
- provide a summer food source for farmland birds and insects
- help establish a range of arable plants and other broad-leaved plants
- provide a habitat that’s present over the winter for insects and food for seed-eating farmland birds
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
This is a ‘limited area’ action. The total eligible area you enter into any combination of one or 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’ (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 (including a list of ‘limited area’ actions).

Eligible land

Eligibility of protected land

Available area you can enter into this action

Part of the available area in a land parcel.

Rotational or static action

This is a rotational or static action – 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 spring cereal crop (not maize) in strips or plots at a seed rate that’s reduced to a level that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

As long as this action’s aim can reasonably be expected to be achieved, you can:
- undersow a seed mix into the spring cereal crop
- use a blend or mix of cereals
Once the cereal crops strips or plots are established, you must manage them in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim. This will usually mean keeping them until around mid-February in the year after establishment.

You must not apply the following to the strips or plots:
- any fertilisers, manures or lime
- insecticides after around mid-March
You must not apply herbicides apart from those containing the following permitted active ingredients:
- amidosulfuron
- clodinafop-propargyl
- fenoxaprop-P-ethyl
- pinoxaden
- tri-allate
It may not be possible for you to use these permitted active ingredients on all crops. It’s your responsibility to confirm whether herbicides are approved for use on the affected crop.

You can use an existing spring cereal crop strip or plot 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 action or option, such as CS option AB7 (whole crop cereals)
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 to establish the cereal crop, you must sow it within 12 months of this action’s start date.

In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do the action until the end of the winter months 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
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
- 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 spring cereal crop

It’s up to you which spring cereal crop (not maize) to use for this action.

If you’re undersowing a seed mix into the spring cereal crop, you can sow it either:
- at the same time as the spring cereal crop, using a mix of cereal and companion crops (including pulse crops, such as field beans, lupins and combining peas)
- as a separate pass into the spring cereal crop
Undersowing the spring cereal crop with a flowering companion crop mix can provide flower and insect-rich foraging habitat for farmland birds and pollinator species.

If you’re using a blend or mix of cereals, it can include crops such as:
- barley
- oats
- red millet
- rye
- triticale
- wheat
- white millet
Choosing the right location

When you establish the spring cereal crop, 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.

You can do this action on most soil types, but it’s best to choose a location with low levels of thistles or problem weeds such as black-grass. This can help the beneficial arable plants in the soil seedbank to:
- grow without competition
- provide a range of valuable habitats during the growing season
It can also support the arable flora to:
- set seed during the early summer period
- retain the insect-rich habitat for foraging farmland birds
How to sow the crop

To help you achieve this action’s aim, you can sow your spring cereal crop strips or plots at a seed rate that’s either:
- around 50% to 60% of the normal seed rate
- to a maximum of around 100 kilograms (kg) per hectare (ha) – for barley, oats, rye, triticale and wheat it’s usually between 70kg and 100kg per ha for red and white millet crops it’s usually between 10kg and 15kg per ha
It may also help if you sow your crop with wider spacing (for example, between 20cm and 25cm) between the rows.

To minimise damage to plants and wildlife you can:
- avoid carrying out in-crop mechanical activities between May and harvest
- sow your crop by the end of April, where possible