AHW9: Unharvested cereal headland (updated for SFI26)

This is a Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026 ( SFI26 ) action. Read the SFI26 scheme information to understand what you’re required to do under an SFI26 agreement and how to apply.

Select ‘See all updates’ at the start of this page to find out how this action has changed for SFI26 compared with SFI24 .

For SFI24 actions, read the  SFI24 agreement holder’s information .

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 on the headland of the land parcel

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:

a ‘headland’ (the outer edges of the land parcel which are usually used to turn farm equipment during field operations, such as planting)

an eligible land type (as defined in section 5.1.1 ‘Eligible land types’ in the SFI26 scheme information)

registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps

declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover

Eligible land

Eligible land type Eligible land cover Compatible land use code

Arable land used to grow spring cereal crops (not maize) Arable land Land use codes for arable crops or leguminous and nitrogen-fixing crops

Temporary grassland Arable land TG01

Arable land lying fallow Arable land FA01

25% limited area action

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 4.5 ‘Limited area SFI actions’ in the SFI26 scheme information for more details (including a list of ‘limited area’ actions).

Eligibility of protected land

Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs): Eligible – you must:

give notice to Natural England to get SSSI consent before the Rural Payments Agency ( RPA ) offer you an SFI26 agreement

have received SSSI consent from Natural England before you do this action (read section 10.1 ‘SSSI consent’ in the SFI26 scheme information for more details)

Historic and archaeological features: Eligible – you must get an SFI HEFER before you do this action (read section 5.3 ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’ in the SFI26 scheme information to find out how to do this).

Available area you can enter into this action

Total or part of the available area in a land parcel. It’s your responsibility to check that the area you enter is eligible for this action.

You must do this action on the area entered into your SFI26 agreement. If something happens which means you cannot complete this action on some or all of the area, you must tell the RPA in writing as soon as possible. Read section 12.2 ‘What to do if you cannot comply with your agreement’ in the SFI26 scheme information to find out how to do this.

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 on the headland. The strips or plots must not be more than around 24 metres wide.

You must sow the cereal crop 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 crop strips or plots are established, you must manage them in a way, and for a period of time, 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 establish 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.

Scheme Action or option codes

SFI 2026 actions AGF1, AGF2, OFC3, OFM4, PRF2, PRF4, SOH1

SFI 2024 actions AGF1, AGF2, CIPM1, CNUM1, CSAM1, OFC3, OFM4, PRF2, PRF4, SOH1

SFI 2023 actions IPM1, NUM1, SAM1

CSHT actions from 2025 CAGF1, CAGF2, CAGF3, CAGF4, CHS3, CHS9, CSP13, CSP14, CSP15, CSP20, CSP21, CSP9, CWS1, CWS3

CS options HS3, HS9, OR3, OT3, SW5, SW6

ES options No ES revenue options

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 5.6 ‘Land that’s already in other funding schemes or grants’ in the SFI26 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 2026 actions: CHRW2, BND1, BND2 and WBD2

SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2 and WBD2

SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3

CSHT actions: CHRW4

CS options: BE3 (management of hedgerows)

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 2 metres (m) of the centre of a hedgerow. Read the guidance on  Hedgerow management rules; buffer strips  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 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

Eligible land

Eligible land type Eligible land cover Compatible land use code

Arable land used to grow spring cereal crops (not maize) Arable land Land use codes for arable crops or leguminous and nitrogen-fixing crops

Temporary grassland Arable land TG01

Arable land lying fallow Arable land FA01