Guidance

Annex 8A Countryside Stewardship livestock record keeping requirements

Published 29 June 2023

Applies to England

Countryside Stewardship options with a livestock calendar; and/or a livestock density requirement

(Use the Parcel level record-keeping template)

1A – Parcel level records

A limited number of Countryside Stewardship options may require you to keep a stocking record to show how you have complied with the stocking rate requirements of an option (for example, minimum and maximum stocking rates by grazing animal type by month).

For those options that include this requirement you will need to keep records that are detailed enough to identify the stocking density on the relevant parcels during these periods.

If your option recommended management does not include this requirement then your records should follow the conditions set out in tables 2 or 3 (whichever applies).

GS9, GS11, SP5, SP6, SP7, SP8, UP2, UP3, UP6

Your records must include the agreement reference number, Agreement Start Date, Agreement Holder’s name, the calendar year and the date of each record.

For each parcel, your records must link together the parcel number with the Countryside Stewardship option code, the area of the Countryside Stewardship option within the parcel, the number, species and age bracket of livestock present, and the dates when they are present.

This data will allow you to calculate the livestock density on each parcel and thereby determine how you have met your stocking requirements. For SP6, SP7 and SP8 this data will allow you to determine the ratio of cattle to sheep.

Your records will need to take into consideration the age of the livestock to allow livestock numbers to be converted into Livestock Units. For this purpose you can make a visual assessment of the age of the animals concerned or use any other records available.

Parcel level livestock records only need to be kept for the period when the restrictions on grazing, within the option, apply. You will find these periods in your option recommended management.

If you are managing parts of a parcel differently – for example by using temporary fencing to exclude grazing from a buffer strip - your records need to reflect the relevant requirements for each part parcel.

If you run several adjacent parcels together as one grassland unit, in a block or on rotation, you may keep one record for that grassland unit provided that any associated stocking limits, (usually set out in a calendar), have been set for the unit or block as a whole.

If an option also has a stock exclusion period then your annual declaration on your Countryside Stewardship claim form (that you have complied with the provisions of your agreement) will be evidence that the exclusion has taken place (see 3A).

If you have an option and a supplement(s) such as SP6 (cattle grazing supplement) on an area of GS10 (Management of wet grassland for wintering waders and wildfowl) you will need to keep records that are relevant to both the underpinning option and the supplement on each parcel (or parcels if managed as a single unit).

1B – Farm level records

(Use the Parcel level record-keeping template)

GS9, GS11, SP7, SP8, UP2, UP3, UP6

Section 5.2.4 of the Countryside Stewardship manual explains the maximum stocking density requirement for your farm. The maximum livestock density for your farm will be included in your Agreement Document.

Your records must demonstrate that you have kept within that limit. The methodology for calculating a farm livestock density is:

The maximum livestock density is an annual average figure and should be calculated by adding together the density for each month of the calendar year and dividing by 12.

This means that you could exceed the maximum at times during the calendar year as long as there are other times when you are sufficiently below the maximum.

Your records will need to include the age of the livestock on the farm or production unit where the agreement is located. You can then convert these livestock numbers into Livestock Units to calculate the livestock density. For this purpose you should make a visual assessment of the age of the animals concerned but you might find it easier to use other records that are available.

For calculating the livestock density on your farm the area of your farm is the agricultural area (the area of arable land, permanent grassland and permanent pasture, or permanent crops) of all agricultural land on the farm or production unit where the agreement is located.

2 - Countryside Stewardship options with simple grazing requirements

2A - Parcel level records

Some Countryside Stewardship options have simple grazing requirements that are not density specific. For example AB8 includes: ‘cut (and remove if dense) or graze, 90% of the area between 15 August and 31 October’ or GS6 which includes: ‘manage the grassland by grazing, hay cutting, or a mixture of both’ – if you choose to graze then your records need to show evidence of when this took place.

If you choose to manage the land without grazing then there is no need to keep a grazing record for the parcel (but you will need to meet the relevant control requirements which might apply).

AB8, BE4, BE5, CT1, CT2, CT6, GS1, GS4, GS6, GS16, GS17, HS7, LH1, LH2, OP4, SP1, SP3, SW13, UP1, WD7, WD8, WT12

If you have managed the option land by grazing then you need to keep parcel level livestock records. These must include the agreement reference number, Agreement Start Date, Agreement Holder’s name, the calendar year and the date of each record. For each parcel, or grassland unit, the dates, between which, grazing took place should be recorded.

If the option includes prescription P706 - ‘keep a monthly record of stock numbers grazing on parcels in this option’, you must also record livestock numbers present on the parcel or grassland unit.

If an option has a stock exclusion period then your annual declaration on your Countryside Stewardship claim form (that you have complied with the provisions of your agreement) will be evidence that the exclusion has taken place (see 3).

Parcel level Livestock Records only need to be kept for the period when the restrictions on grazing, within the option, apply. You will find these periods in your option recommended management.

2B – Farm level records

If your agreement allows you to graze at some point in the year and you choose to graze you will need to keep a livestock record for your farm, as set out in Table 1B. This will show that you have complied with the maximum stocking density for your farm and that you therefore have not intensified livestock production.

If you do not graze this land at all during the calendar year you do not need to keep farm level records unless another option in your agreement requires that these records should be kept.

If you use grazing in some years to manage your options, but not in others, your requirement to keep farm level records might change from year to year.

BE4, BE5, CT1, CT2, CT6, GS1, GS4, GS6, GS17, HS7, LH1, LH2, SP1, SW13, UP1, WD7, WD8, WT12