CHS3: Reduce cultivation depths on historic and archaeological features
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

5 years

How much you’ll be paid

£115 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is to reduce damage to historic or archaeological features under cultivation. You can do this by using non-inversion (minimum tillage) machinery and shallower cultivation depths.

The purpose of this is to:
- prevent damage to below ground historic or archaeological features
- improve soil health
Where you can do this action

You can do this action on eligible land that’s either:
- identified as containing a historic or archaeological feature on your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER)
- contains an historic or archaeological feature identified by you, and agreed with a Natural England adviser
You cannot use this action on land where:
- historic or archaeological earthworks survive
- soil loss or erosion occurs or there is a risk of soil erosion
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 or part of the 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 land management activities will be in your agreement. Your Natural England or Historic 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 use non-inversion machinery to reduce cultivation depths to 15cm deep or less for actions including:
- tillage
- soil management
- planting
- harvesting
You must not grow the following crops on the historic or archaeological feature:
- maize
- lucerne
- root and tuber crops (excluding non-harvestable root crops such as grazed fodder beet and forage turnips)
- short rotation coppice
- miscanthus
You also must not:
- carry out drainage works, including modifying existing drainage, without written permission from Natural England before work starts
- locate vehicle or stock access routes on or within 6 metres of the historic archaeological feature (you can use existing surfaced tracks)
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:
- field operations at a land parcel level
- associated invoices such as seed invoice photograph
- map of access tracks
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: CAB17, 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 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
- get Scheduled Monument Consent (https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/planning/consents/smc/) from Historic England for any work on scheduled monuments
- get advice from your Historic England, Natural England adviser or local authority if you have other historic or archaeological features on your agreement land
- get a wildlife licence (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wildlife-licences) from Natural England if your activities affect a protected species or their habitat
All historic and archaeological features (including scheduled monuments) are identified in your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER).

You can manage any historic and archaeological features you identify that are not listed on your Historic Environment Farm Environment Record (HEFER) under this action (if agreed with your Natural England).

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.

Choosing a site

You cannot use this action on sites where there are earthworks because minimum tillage machinery moves soil around by truncating or levelling undulations. This churns up the below ground remains and erodes protective soil layers, due to a lack of flexibility within the rig.

If minimum tillage machinery is used, some archaeological sites are also more likely to be damaged due to truncation and the levelling effect of cultivation. Sites most likely to be damaged include those located on:
- steep slopes
- thin soils
- heavy soils requiring drainage
- peat soils
- any soil at risk of erosion or movement
Managing historic and archaeological features on your land

Shallow cultivation reduces the risk of damage to archaeological features on farmland. You can reduce cultivation depth by using non-inversion (minimum tillage) machinery. This is not standard inversion ploughing equipment.

You can reduce cultivation depth by:
- raising the height of the chisel
- using depth control chains or gauges
- using a GPS depth controller
- increasing the number of discs (14 discs for a 3m width instead of the usual 9 discs)
- using depth wheels with parallelogram mounting
You can reduce compaction by:
- not working in wet soil conditions
- reducing tyre pressure on vehicles travelling on the site – this will help spread the load more evenly