Rural Payments and Services

This is an old version of the page

Date published: 30 March, 2015

Date superseded: 6 January, 2016

The aim of this option is to retain stubbles following harvest, and then establish a green manure.

This option covers the whole cropping year and will provide food and cover for birds, pollinating insects, and other invertebrates.

Green manure also protects the soil and improves soil biodiversity, fertility, carbon content and structure.

Land that is sown to a spring or autumn-sown cereal or oil-seed crop is eligible.

Under-sown crops are not eligible.

You should not include areas of land covering rocks, scree, water, dense bracken etc. We will check this using the same approach we use to check land for the Basic Payment Scheme.

Assessing your land eligibility

You must identify on a map the locations of any areas to be managed under this option each year.

This option can be moved around the farm within the normal rotation and on an annual basis.

To maximise flexibility you can manage a different total hectarage each year as long the area you manage each year is at least 90 per cent of the area you plan to manage in the first year under this option.

• do not apply pre-harvest desiccants to your crop
• after harvest, retain the stubble overwinter and then establish a green manure crop (such as forage rye, chicory, mustard or legumes) from 1 March the following spring. The seed mix must include at least one annual flowering plant (e.g. vetch, clover or phacelia)
• either, if your next crop is autumn sown – maintain the green manure until 15 August and do not apply fertilisers, slurry or farmyard manure to the site before 15 August
  or, if your next crop is spring sown – maintain the green manure until the 1 March and do not apply fertilisers, slurry or farmyard manure to the site before 1 March
• do not graze or cut forage from the area
• the crop following the green manure must be a combinable or root crop
• do not spray, except for the spot-treatment of injurious weeds (requires prior written notification) or treatment of invasive species (requires prior written approval)

You can claim £498.49 per hectare per year subject to the following maximum claims:

• 10 hectares per year per location code unit of up to 250 hectares
• 20 hectares per year per location code unit of greater than 250 hectares and up to 500 hectares
• 30 hectares per year per location code unit greater than 500 hectares

You will only be paid for the area that you manage and declare annually.

There is a separate capital item to support this, which you will need to claim each year:

• Creation of Green Manure

The inspectors will check:

• the crop is cereal or oil-seed rape, and is not under sown
• there is no evidence of ploughing / cultivation prior to 1 March following harvest
• a green manure crop (such as forage rye, chicory, mustard or legumes) has been established from 1 March the following spring. The seed mix includes at least one annual flowering plant (e.g. vetch, clover or phacelia)
  - if your next crop is autumn sown; the green manure has been maintained until 15 August and no fertilisers, slurry or farmyard manure have been applied to the site before 15 August
  - or if your next crop is spring sown; the green manure has been maintained until 1 March and no fertilisers, slurry or farmyard manure have been applied to the site before 1 March
  - the green manure has not been cut or grazed for forage
• you have not sprayed, unless with prior written notification or approval as appropriate
• check the file for a copy of any written agreement

If you choose to apply for this option over the same area of land that you are allocating as an Ecological Focus Area to meet your Pillar 1 greening requirements, there may be an issue of double funding.

Supporting guidance is available for this option.