SOH4: Winter cover following maize crops
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 expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme. You must read the expanded SFI scheme information (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/expanded-sustainable-farming-incentive-scheme) to understand the scheme rules and how to apply.

Duration

3 years

How much you’ll be paid

£203 per hectare (ha) per year

Action’s aim

This action’s aim is that there’s a cover crop on land, which:
- is not at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff
- follows the early harvest of a maize crop
- is well-established during the winter months
The purpose of this is to:
- reduce the risk of soil erosion and surface runoff
- slow water runoff and allow soil to settle out, to reduce losses of sediment, nutrients and chemicals carried in the surface water
- help take up nutrients and reduce nitrate leaching through the soil profile
Where you can do this action

You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that’s:
- used to grow maize crops
- identified by you as not being at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff – you must keep written evidence of this
- 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

After harvesting a maize crop, you must establish a winter cover crop which will not be harvested as a cash crop.

You must do this by either:
- establishing a quick growing cover crop as soon as possible after harvesting the maize crop, in time to establish before winter (this will usually be no later than around mid-October)
- maintaining a cover crop that was established by under-sowing the maize crop earlier in the year that remains after the maize crop is harvested
A ‘cash crop’ means a crop grown to be harvested for commercial use.

You must maintain the cover crop in a way, and for a period of time, that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim.

For the purposes of this action’s aim, the cover crop will be well-established if there’s:
- leafy vegetation that’s sufficiently well grown to protect the soil surface during the winter months (usually from early December until late February)
- minimal bare soil
You can graze the cover crop with livestock, but it must still be well-established over the winter months.

Once the maize crop has been harvested, you must not apply fertilisers or manures to the winter cover crop during the autumn or winter months.

If you’re establishing an early-sown spring crop, you may destroy the winter cover crop before the end of the winter months. You must not do this more than 6 weeks before you establish the early-sown spring crop.

When you destroy the cover crop, you should try to minimise risks such as compaction, poaching, soil runoff or erosion.

If something happens which means you cannot complete this action, you must tell the Rural Payments Agency about this in writing as soon as possible. For example, if there’s prolonged adverse weather. Read section 13.2 ‘What you must do if you cannot comply with your agreement’ (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 to find out how to do this..

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 for you to do this action, you must start doing it within 12 months of the action’s start date.

In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do this 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 written evidence that land entered into this action is not at risk of soil erosion or surface runoff. You can use the soil management plan produced for CSAM1 or SAM1 to identify this.

You must also 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 and 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 your cover crop

You can choose what quick growing cover crop to use. It can be a:
- mix, such as rye, vetch, phacelia, barley, mustard or tillage radish
- single crop, including grass, such as Italian ryegrass
To help you achieve this action’s aim, the cover crop will need to be frost tolerant, so there’s a well-established cover crop during the winter months.

Which cover crop you choose will depend on factors such as:
- herbicide use and application rates on the preceding maize crop
- the other crops you grow in the rotation
- if and how the cover crop will be destroyed for the following spring crop
If you’re in an area with a shorter growing season you may need to choose plants that germinate and grow in cooler weather.

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

You may find it helpful to read the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) information sheet about cover crops (https://projectblue.blob.core.windows.net/media/Default/Imported%20Publication%20Docs/IS41%20Opportunities%20for%20cover%20crops%20in%20conventional%20arable-rotations%20(2018).pdf).

Where to establish the cover crop

When you establish the cover 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.

How to establish the cover crop

To establish the cover crop, you can:
- remove areas of soil compaction, as long as you avoid causing damage to historic or archaeological features
- drill or broadcast the seed mix – this can include undersowing before you have harvested the maize
- sow at a suitable seed rate to provide a well-established cover during the winter months – your seed supplier can advise on a suitable sowing rate
Doing this action next to a watercourse

If you’re doing this action on a land parcel that’s next to a watercourse, you could consider doing the following SFI actions on areas next to the maize and cover crops:
- CAHL4: 4m to 12m buffer strip on arable and horticultural land
- BFS1: 12m to 24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated land
These buffer strips actions can help to capture any sediment or organic materials carried in runoff water.