Unharvested cereal headland (updated for SFI26)

What you must do

You must establish a spring cereal crop (not maize) in strips or plots on the headland. The strips or plots must not be more than around 24 metres wide. You must sow the cereal crop at a seed rate that’s reduced to a level that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim. As long as this action’s aim can reasonably be expected to be achieved, you can: undersow a seed mix into the spring cereal crop use a blend or mix of cereals Once the cereal crop strips or plots are established, you must manage them in a way, and for a period of time, that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim. This will usually mean keeping them until around mid-February in the year after establishment. You must not apply the following to the strips or plots: any fertilisers, manures or lime insecticides after around mid-March You must not apply herbicides apart from those containing the following permitted active ingredients: amidosulfuron clodinafop-propargyl fenoxaprop-P-ethyl pinoxaden tri-allate It may not be possible for you to use these permitted active ingredients on all crops. It’s your responsibility to confirm whether herbicides are approved for use on the affected crop. You can use an existing spring cereal crop strip or plot to get paid for this action if it: meets this action’s requirements is not already being paid for under another environmental land management scheme action or option, such as CS option AB7 (whole crop cereals)

When to do it

You must do this action each year of its 3-year duration. If this action’s start date means it’s too late to establish the cereal crop, you must establish it within 12 months of this action’s start date. In the final year of this action’s duration, you must do the action until the end of the winter months or this action’s end date whichever is earlier.

Evidence to keep

You must keep evidence to show what you’ve done to complete this action, such as: field operations at a land parcel level and associated invoices photographs or other documentation If it’s not clear that you’ve done this action in a way that could reasonably be expected to achieve its aim, we may ask for this evidence. You must supply the evidence if we ask for it.

SFI26 actions v2.0, updated 7 July 2026 — verified 1 Aug 2026. Open official guidance