CSAM1: Assess soil, produce a soil management plan and test soil organic matter
What you must do to get paid for this action and advice on how to do it.
This is an action in the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme: expanded offer for 2024. You must read the SFI scheme information to understand the scheme rules and how to apply.
Duration
3 years
How much you’ll be paid
£6 per hectare (ha) per year and £97 per SFI agreement per year
Action’s aim
This action’s aim is that you:
- understand the condition of your soil
- effectively plan how to increase the long-term health, productivity, and resilience of your soil
Where you can do this action
You can do this action on agricultural land located below the moorland line that’s:
- an eligible land type (read section 5.1 ‘Eligible land types for SFI’)
- registered with an eligible land cover on your digital maps
- declared with a land use code which is compatible with the eligible land cover
For land above the moorland line, you can do CMOR1 to complete a survey to identify, assess and record the soil, vegetation and historic and archaeological features.
Eligible land
| Eligible land type | Eligible land cover | Compatible land use code |
|---|---|---|
| Arable land used to grow crops | 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 |
| Permanent grassland – improved and low input | Permanent grassland | PG01 |
| Permanent crops – horticultural and non-horticultural | Permanent crops | Land use codes for permanent crops |
Eligibility of protected land
| Protected land | Eligibility |
|---|---|
| Sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) | Eligible – you do not need to get SSSI consent for this action |
| Historic and archaeological features | Eligible – you must get a HEFER before you do this action (read section 5.6 ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’) |
Available area you can enter into this action
Total available area in a land parcel.
Rotational or static action
This action is static. This means you must do it at the same location each year of this action’s duration.
What to do
You must:
- assess the soil for all the land parcels entered into this action and produce a written soil management plan which covers that land
- test the soil organic matter (SOM) on all the land parcels entered into this action within the last 5 years
You can use the following to get paid for this action:
- an existing soil management plan that was written in the last 12 months, informed by a soil assessment
- existing SOM test results that are not more than 5 years old
To test the SOM for small land parcels, you can combine them into a single sample area if the soil type and past management is similar. This means you can take soil from each land parcel and combine it into a single sample to test the SOM.
If you need to take soil samples on areas within a land parcel containing historic or archaeological features, including scheduled monuments, you must follow the requirements explained in section 5.6: ‘Land with historic or archaeological features’ of the SFI scheme guidance.
To help improve national data on the condition of England’s soils, Defra or the RPA may ask you to provide some information about your soil assessment and SOM testing results during this action’s 3-year duration.
This data is one of the public goods that this action is paying for and part of wider government measures in relation to our soils policy and strategy. We’ll publish guidance on GOV.UK about what information is needed and how to supply it.
When to do it
For the soil assessment and soil management plan, you must:
- complete the soil assessment and produce the written soil management plan within 12 months of this action’s start date
- review the soil management plan in each subsequent year of this action’s 3-year duration, adding any new soil analyses
For the SOM testing, each year of this action’s 3-year duration you must:
- make sure you’ve tested the SOM on all the land parcels entered into this action within the last 5 years
- retest that land if your existing SOM test results reach 5 years old
If the timing meets the requirements above, you can do the SOM testing at the same time as your other routine soil testing required in the farming rules for water.
If you enter land into this action which has not been tested for SOM within the last 5 years, you should try to do the SOM testing on that land during the first 12 months of your SFI agreement.
If the laboratory that tests your soil samples does not have capacity to do the tests during the first 12 months of this action’s duration, you must:
- get the tests done as soon as possible
- make sure you’ve tested the SOM on all of these land parcels within the last 5 years by the end of your SFI agreement
- keep evidence of why it was not possible to complete the tests in the first 12 months, so you can provide it to us if we ask for it
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
Advice to help you do this action will be published before applications are fully launched from summer 2024. It will not be part of this action’s requirements.
Evidence to keep
You must keep:
- the written record of your soil management plan, including your soil assessment
- the SOM test results
You must supply this evidence when 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. Some actions or options can only be done on the same area if they’re done at a different time of year to this action. For example, winter cover followed by a summer companion crop. Read ‘What to do’ and ‘When to do it’ to find out when this action must be done.
| Scheme | Action or option codes |
|---|---|
| SFI 2024 actions | CSAM2, CSAM3, SOH1, SOH2, SOH3, SOH4, CAHL1, CAHL2, CAHL3, AHW1, AHW3, AHW5, AHW6, AHW7, AHW8, AHW9, AHW10, AHW11, CIGL1, CIGL2, GRH1, HEF5, HEF6, CAHL4, CLIG3, BFS1, BFS2, BFS3, BFS4, BFS5, OFC1, OFC2, OFC3, OFC4, OFC5, OFM1, OFM2, OFM4, OFM5, OFM6, OFA1, OFA6, WBD3, WBD4, WBD5, WBD6, WBD7, WBD8, AGF1, AGF2, PRF1, PRF2, PRF3, PRF4, CIPM1, CIPM2, CIPM3, CIPM4, CNUM1, CNUM2, CNUM3 |
| SFI 2023 actions | AHL1, AHL2, AHL3, AHL4, IGL1, IGL2, IGL3, IPM1, IPM2, IPM3, IPM4, LIG1, LIG2, NUM1, NUM2, NUM3, SAM2, SAM3 |
| CS options | AB1, AB2, AB3, AB5, AB6, AB7, AB8, AB9, AB10, AB11, AB13, AB14, AB15, AB16, BE1, BE2, BE4, BE5, GS1, GS2, GS3, GS4, GS5, GS6, GS7, GS8, GS9, GS10, GS11, GS12, GS13, GS14, HS3, HS4, HS7, HS9, CT1, CT2, CT3, CT4, CT5, CT7, LH1, LH2, LH3, WT6, WT7, WT8, WT9, WT10, OP1, OP2, OP4, OP5, OR1, OR2, OR3, OR4, OR5, OT1, OT2, OT3, OT4, OT5, SW1, SW2, SW3, SW4, SW5, SW6, SW7, SW8, SW9, SW10, SW12, SW13, SW15, SW16, SW17, SW18, UP2, WT1, WT2, UP2 (if located below the moorland line) |
| ES options | All ES revenue options |
| SFI pilot standards |
SFI pilot arable and horticultural land standard – all levels SFI pilot improved grassland standard – all levels SFI pilot low and no input grassland standard – all levels SFI pilot water body buffering standard – all levels |
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 6. ‘Eligible land in other funding schemes’ for more information.
You can do the following actions or options on the eligible boundaries of a land parcel entered into this action:
- SFI 2024 actions: CHRW1, CHRW2, CHRW3, BND1, BND2 and WBD2
- SFI 2023 actions: HRW1, HRW2, HRW3
- CS option BE3 (management of hedgerows)
- all levels of the SFI pilot hedgerows standard