SW5: Enhanced management of maize crops

Find out about eligibility and requirements for the early-harvested maize and cover crops option.

From:
Rural Payments Agency and Natural England
Published
2 April 2015
Last updated
4 January 2024 — See all updates
Grant type:
Option
Land use:
Arable land, Biodiversity, Uplands and Water quality
Tiers or standalone items:
Higher Tier and Mid Tier
Funding (per unit per year):
£201 to £300

How much will be paid

£203 per hectare (ha)

Where to use this option

  • Available for Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Higher Tier
  • Whole and part parcels
  • Rotational
  • Only on land where maize is grown, in and directly after a maize crop

Where this option cannot be used

  • On parcels identified in the Farm Environment Record (FER) as at high risk of soil erosion or surface runoff

The following options can be located on the same area as this option.

How this option will benefit the environment

Harvesting maize early in suitable conditions reduces the risk of soil damage and post-harvest loss.

The cover crop reduces the risk of soil erosion and surface runoff after the maize harvest in fields where maize is grown. It will slow runoff water and allow soil to settle out, so reducing losses of sediment, nutrients and chemicals carried in the surface water. The cover crop will also take up nutrients and reduce nitrate leaching through the soil profile.

Establishing the cover crop early by under-sowing maize with grass helps to hold the soil, reduce leaching and compaction from traffic while the maize is growing, during and following the maize harvest.

Reducing sediment, nutrient and chemical losses to water will improve water quality and help protect aquatic biodiversity

Aims

If you’re selected for a site visit, we will check that delivery of the aims is being met and the prohibited activities have not been carried out. This will ensure the environmental benefits are being delivered.

In the autumn, harvest the maize crop by 1 October.

Establish a quick growing cover crop as soon as possible and by 15 October to provide a dense over crop during the autumn and winter. Alternatively, under-sow the maize earlier in the year to establish a dense cover crop that will remain after maize harvest and during the winter months.

Prohibited activities

To achieve the aims and deliver the environmental benefits across the whole parcel, do not carry out any of the following activities:

  • Apply fertilisers or manures that exceed the nutrient requirements of the cover crop
  • Damage the cover crop by spraying, cultivating or trafficking during autumn and winter

On your annual claim you will be asked to declare that you have not carried out any prohibited activities.

To assist you in achieving the aims and deliver the environmental benefits for this option, we recommend that you use best practice.

Keeping records

Where there is uncertainty about whether the aims of the options have been delivered, we will take into account any records or evidence you may have kept demonstrating delivery of the aims of the option. This will include any steps you’ve taken to follow the recommended management set out above. It’s your responsibility to keep such records if you want to rely on these to support your claim.

  • Field operations at the parcel level, including associated invoices

At the start of each claim year, you may be asked to take and submit the following photographic records.

  • Photographs of the option area taken on 2 and 15 October

Additional guidance and advice

The following advice is helpful, but they are not requirements for this item.

Choice of cover crop

  • Cover crops should be suitable for autumn sowing, fast growing, and frost tolerant to provide adequate dense green cover over winter
  • A mix or a single crop can be used:
    • a mixture of seeds, such as rye, vetch, phacelia, barley, mustard or tillage radish, can be sown
    • you can also use a grass crop and there are a range of grass species and varieties that are suitable, including Italian ryegrass (IRG)
  • The choice of cover crop will depend on:
    • herbicide use and application rates on the maize crop
    • the other crops grown in the rotation
    • whether/how the cover crop will be destroyed for the following spring crop
    • the purpose of the cover crop, for example, to reduce soil loss, build organic matter, break up soil compaction or reduce nitrate leaching – different species mixes will be better for different outcomes

How to establish the cover crop

  • Remove areas of soil compaction but do not subsoil on archaeological features
  • Sow the cover crop within 2 weeks of harvesting and no later than 15 October, or by under-sowing in the maize crop
    • establish by drilling or broadcasting
    • sow at a suitable seed rate to provide a dense cover and protect soil from erosion
  • Use nutrients in line with crop requirements. Do not apply more than the recommended amount of fertliser or organic manures for either the maize or the cover crop that follows it
  • Fertiliser and organic manure application must be based on an approved nutrient management recommendation system (Nutrient Management Guide RB209 or equivalent)

Using this option next to a watercourse

For fields next to a watercourse, options SW1: 4 to 6 metre (m) buffer strip on cultivated land, or SW4: 12 to 24m watercourse buffer strip on cultivated land should be considered for the areas next to the maize and cover crops. These field margin options will help to capture any sediment or organic materials carried in the runoff water.

Biodiversity

This option has been identified as being beneficial for biodiversity. All Countryside Stewardship habitat creation, restoration and management options are of great significance for biodiversity recovery, as are the wide range of arable options in the scheme. Capital items and supplements can support this habitat work depending on the holding’s situation and potential.

The connectivity of habitats is also very important and habitat options should be linked wherever possible. Better connectivity will allow wildlife to move/colonise freely to access water, food, shelter and breeding habitat, and will allow natural communities of both animals and plants to adapt in response to environmental and climate change.

Further information

Read Countryside Stewardship: get funding to protect and improve the land you manage to find out more information about Mid Tier and Higher Tier including how to apply.

You can find more information on Cover crops on the AHDB website.

Updates to this page

Published 2 April 2015
Last updated 4 January 2024 + show all updates

  1. Update to How Much Is Paid

  2. How this option will benefit the environment, Aims, Prohibited activities and Additional guidance and advice sections have been updated.

  3. amendment to Prohibited activities section

  4. New payment rate from 1 January 2022.

  5. 'How to establish the cover crop' section - 2nd bullet point updated.

  6. Option updated for agreements starting 1 January 2022

  7. Updated for 2017 applications.

  8. Information updated for applications in 2016.

  9. First published.

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