AB14: Harvested low input cereal
Find out about eligibility and requirements for the harvested low input cereal option.
How much will be paid
£354 per hectare (ha).
Where to use this option
It’s available for Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier and Higher Tier, on whole or part parcels in rotation, on:
- arable land
- temporary grassland
Where this option cannot be used
After the following break crops:
- oilseed rape
- potatoes
- beans
- peas
Related Mid Tier options
You can locate the following options and supplements on the same area as this option.
- HS3 – Reduced-depth, non-inversion cultivation on historic and archaeological features
- HS9 – Restricted depth crop establishment to protect archaeology under an arable rotation
- OR3 – Organic conversion – rotational land
- OT3 – Organic land management – rotational land
How this option will benefit the environment
An open-structured cereal crop provides summer foraging sites for declining and localised farmland birds, such as yellowhammer and reed bunting, and habitat for skylarks, brown hare, rare arable plants and pollinator species, such as bumblebees, solitary bees, butterflies, hoverflies and beneficial insects.
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.
During the spring and summer, a low input cereal crop (not maize) will be growing, in strips and plots at least 6m wide. An open crop structure will enable wildflower species to grow amongst the crop.
Prohibited activities
To achieve the aims and deliver the environmental benefits, do not carry out any of the following activities:
- harvest the crop before 15 July
- apply any herbicides except those on the list of permitted active ingredients
- apply insecticides after 15 March
On your annual claim you will be asked to declare that you have not carried out any prohibited activities.
Recommended management
To assist you in achieving the aims and deliver the environmental benefits for this option, we recommend that you use best practice.
We recommend that you:
- establish a cereal crop (not maize) each year between 1 October and 30 April. Manage as strips or plots at least 6m wide on a part or whole field basis
- create an open crop structure by managing the crop to deliver between 450 and 700 fertile tillers per square metre
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.
- Records at parcel level of field operations, including any associated invoices
Additional guidance and advice
The following advice is helpful but they are not requirements for this item.
Pick the right location
Sites with low levels of pernicious weeds such as couch, blackgrass, brome, ryegrass and wild oats are best, although you may need to use this option on sites with higher weed burdens if important populations of target plants or birds are present.
Managing the crop
Using lower seed rates between 50kg per ha and 100kg per ha will help make sure that the crop is not too dense. It will allow broadleaved plants to establish and provide foraging options for fledged farmland bird chicks.
There are a range of cereals that you can use for this option, including wheat, barley, triticale, oats and rye. Do not use maize, sorghum of any kind or millet as the cereal in this option – the herbicide and fertiliser management and dense ground-covering traits are not suitable to deliver the outcomes of this option.
Permitted active ingredients
The following herbicide active ingredients can be used.
- Amidosulfuron
- Clodinafop-propargyl
- Fenoxaprop-P-ethyl
- Pinoxaden
- Tri-allate
The permitted active ingredients cannot necessarily be used on all eligible crops within options AB7, AB10 and AB14. It’s your responsibility to confirm whether herbicides are approved for use on the affected crop. Always use pesticides in full accordance with the product label conditions of use.
Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
This option can form part of an IPM approach to prevent the establishment of pests, weeds and diseases. If successful, appropriate and within proximity of cropped areas, these may limit the need for the use of Plant Protection Products and enhance wildlife and biodiversity on your holding. Read information on IPM at AHDB (Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board) Integrated Pest Management and LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming).
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.
Updates to this page
Last updated 4 January 2024 + show all updates
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Update to How Much Is Paid
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New payment rate from 1 January 2022
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Additional guidance and advice section updated - this option can form part of an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to prevent the establishment of pests, weeds and diseases.
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Option updated for agreements starting from 1 January 2022.
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The Requirements and Advice and suggestions for how to carry out this option sections were updated yesterday
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This page has been updated
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List of permitted active ingredients added to section on Advice and suggestions.
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Information updated for applications in 2016.
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First published.