Manage rough grassland for upland breeding waders

What you must do

For the purpose of this action, the upland wader breeding season is during spring and early summer (usually between mid-March and late July). Livestock grazing activities You must graze the land entered into this action with livestock in a way that can reasonably be expected to achieve this action’s aim. To do this, you must: make sure the livestock density across the land entered into this action is not more than 0.6 grazing livestock units (GLU) per ha during the upland wader breeding season graze the land after the upland wader breeding season at a livestock density that will remove the year’s grass growth to achieve suitable sward conditions for upland waders to nest and feed by the following spring To convert livestock numbers into GLU, you must use the following values: Cattle over 2 years old at the start of an agreement year – 1.0 GLU Cattle over 6 months to 2 years old at the start of an agreement year – 0.6 GLU Lowland ewe and lamb, or ram – 0.12 GLU Store lamb, hill ewe and lamb or hogg or teg – 0.08 GLU Goat – 0.12 GLU Pony or donkey – 0.8 GLU Horse – 1.0 GLU Lambs at foot do not have a separate GLU allocation. They are included in the figures shown for ‘ewe and lamb’. Read the ‘advice to help you do this action’ to find out how to calculate the livestock density. Produce a written stocking record Each year, you must produce a written stocking record for each land parcel entered into this action. It must include: each land parcel reference number and hectarage monthly numbers of livestock which grazed the land parcel including their type and age bracket If you manage several adjacent land parcels as one grazing unit, you can keep one stocking record for that grazing unit. You must include all the land parcel reference numbers which comprise that grazing unit. This can be a paper-based or electronic record. Other land management activities You must also do the following activities on land entered into this action: manage dense rushes, so any stands of hard or soft rushes are distributed in patches across each land parcel, and they do not cover more than around 20% of each land parcel manage scrub and bracken, so their cover across each land parcel is minimal You must not: cut the grassland, unless you’re cutting to manage dense rushes, scrub or bracken (which you must not do during the upland wader breeding season) use machinery during the upland wader breeding season, unless you’re using vehicles to check on livestock – in this case, you must only drive around the edge of the land parcel or use an established track to minimise disturbance to ground nesting birds apply digestate or any other industrial by-product, including paper waste apply any fertilisers and manures apply pesticides, except for herbicides to weed wipe or spot treat to control injurious weeds, invasive non-native species, or nettles allow areas of scrub to develop on land containing historic or archaeological features carry out drainage works or change existing drainage if it will drain water away from the parcel – you can block existing drains if this will retain the wetness of the land to achieve the action’s aim – you must obtain any necessary consents from the Environment Agency, Local Lead Local Flood Authority or Internal Drainage Board before you do this carry out supplementary feeding of livestock except for non-energy based mineral licks Supplementary feeding in extreme weather conditions You can carry out supplementary feeding of livestock in extreme weather conditions (defined as 2 or more consecutive days of deep snow or hard frost). In this case, you can feed hay or haylage, but only for the purpose of animal welfare. If you do this, you must: move the feeding sites around the land entered into this action to minimise damage to the soil and vegetation avoid transferring undesirable species which are in the hay or haylage, such as docks or rosebay willowherb feed livestock on or next to historic and archaeological features, steep slopes or footpaths use troughs or feeders You may need to reduce or remove livestock from the area to avoid damage to the soil and vegetation if you need to feed regularly during extreme weather. You can maintain an existing area of rough grazing 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 option

When to do it

You must do this action each year of its 3-year duration.

Evidence to keep

You must keep the required written stocking record. It can be recorded on paper or electronically. You must also 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 and other documentation to show management undertaken 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