AIM 1: PROVISION OF HABITATS FOR WILDLIFE
Introductory Level (£28 per hectare)
1. Provide resources for birds and pollinators on 5% of eligible land:

  • sites for nesting and cover on 1% of eligible land
  • habitats rich in insects and flowers on 2% of eligible land
  • sown winter seed on 2% of eligible land

or as an alternative to the sown winter seed, you can provide winter seed food with these activities over a larger area of land:

  • sow brassica fodder crops on 5% of land
  • keep enhanced over-winter stubble until 31 July of the following year on 5% of land
  • keep basic over-winter stubble on 10% of land
  • keep whole crop cereal as over winter stubble on 10% of land
Advice:

Advice:

Advice:

Intermediate Level (£54 per hectare) – All actions in Introductory Level plus Advanced Level (£74 per hectare) – All actions in Introductory and Intermediate Levels plus
1. Provide resources for birds and pollinators on 8% of eligible land

  • sites for nesting and cover on 2% of eligible land
  • habitats rich in insects and flowers on 3% of eligible land
  • sown winter seed on 3% of eligible land

2. On 0.5% or 5ha (whichever largest) of the farmed area there will be one or more of the following habitats to support wildlife:

  • cultivated plots for ground nesting birds
  • beetle banks
  • ungrazed legume fallows
  • supplementary winter bird feeding
  • This counts towards the 8% of land you need for the first action

Advice:

1. Provide resources for birds and pollinators on 10% of eligible land

  • sites for nesting and cover on 2% of eligible land
  • habitats rich in insects and flowers on 4% of eligible land
  • sown winter seed on 4% of eligible land

2. Same as Intermediate Level

3. Maintain areas of tall vegetation, scrub and ponds on an additional 2% of the farmed area included in the standard.

4. Support crop-pest predators:

  • Locate areas that support crop-pest predators close to crops.
  • provide at least one area in every cropped field 5ha or larger
  • use these areas to subdivide fields larger than 20ha
  • This counts towards the 10% of land you need for the first action at the advanced level.

Advice:

 

AIM 2: USE OF BUFFERS TO PROTECT TREES
Introductory Level  Intermediate Level  Advanced Level 
1. Create buffers around 50% of in-field trees

  • Where there are in-field trees, there will be 10m buffers to protect tree roots.
  • Additional payment on top of the base payment: £10 per tree

1. Same as Introductory level

Advice:

1.  Create buffers around at least 75% of in-field trees.

 

AIM 3: A PLAN TO REDUCE NUTRIENTS AND EMISSIONS
Introductory Level  Intermediate Level  Advanced Level 

1. Use a nutrient management plan

Advice:

2. Use low emission technologies

You must do at least one of the following:

  • use low emission technologies (trailing hose and shoe or shallow injection) to apply organic slurries and other organic liquid manures

where you’re due to cultivate land, apply any organic manures, composted manures, sewage sludge and slurry within 12 hours

1. Same as Introductory level

2. Same as Introductory level

3. Carry out a nutrient budget and action plan to improve efficiency of nutrient use.

Carry out detailed soil mapping to test nutrient variations within fields, for example P, K, Mg and pH, on either:

  • 25% of the farmed area each year or
  • the entire farmed area once every 4 years

Advice:

4. Carry out soil mapping across the farm to better target nutrient applications

Detailed soil mapping to test nutrient variations within fields, for example P, K, Mg and pH, on either:

  • 25% of the farmed area each year or
  • the entire farmed area once every 4 years

1. Same as Introductory level

2. Same as Introductory level

3. Same as Intermediate level

4. Same as Intermediate level

5. Apply fertilisers and pesticides with precision equipment.

Advice:

 

AIM 4: DITCH MAINTENANCE (only applicable to Intermediate and Advanced levels)
Introductory Level  Intermediate Level  Advanced Level 
Not applicable 1. Ditch channels will be maintained no more than once every 3 years, during the autumn or winter. At least half the length of ditch bank vegetation will be left uncut in any one year.

  • manage your ditches between 1 September and 1 April
  • cut no more than half the length of bank vegetation in any year
  • carry out in-channel management on a rotation of 3 years or longer

 Advice:

 

Eligible land: All cultivated land including:

  • arable
  • field vegetables and horticulture
  • temporary grassland – land that has been in grass or other herbaceous forage for 5 years or less.

Ineligible land: Peat soil areas, greater than 20% soil organic matter to a depth of 40cm or more.

Funding for Capital Items

You may also be able to get funding from other programmes for precision fertilizer application equipment.

Additional standards you can apply to this land

Land parcels you use for this standard can also be used for the:

 

These notes, prepared on the 09.07.2021, are only to be used as a part of a wider discussion/decision-making process undertaken with Townsend Chartered Surveyors also giving accompanying advice. TCS cannot be held responsible for their use other than in this context or for any resulting misunderstanding or damages. As a pilot the payment values and actions required may be subject to change as Defra develops the scheme.