Manage hedgerows

What you must do

You must manage hedgerows entered into this action. What you must do to manage them depends on whether they’re: fully established, which will usually be the case around 5 years after they’re planted newly planted, or not fully established If the hedgerows are fully established, you must use one of the following management approaches (you can use different approaches on different fully established hedgerows): cut each hedgerow incrementally on a rotation, cut each hedgerow no more than once every 3 years, cutting no more than one third of hedges each year on a rotation, cut each hedgerow no more than once every 2 years, cutting no more than half the hedges each year managing them in a coppicing or laying rotation, which may mean they’re left uncut for the duration of your 3-year SFI agreement If the hedgerows are newly planted, or not fully established, you must lightly trim them incrementally. You must do this until they’re fully established.

When to do it

For fully established hedgerows, if you’re cutting them: incrementally, you must do this during the autumn and winter months (usually September to late February), each year of this action’s 3-year duration on a rotation no more than once every 3 years, you must do this during the autumn and winter months on a rotation no more than once every 2 years, you must do this in late winter (usually from early January to late February) For newly planted hedgerows, or hedgerows which are not fully established, you must lightly trim them incrementally: during the autumn and winter months each year of this action’s 3-year duration

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