Registered charity Herefordshire Meadows stress the importance of planning ahead if you want to apply for schemes in 2024 that include GS6 options.
Recent good news is that the payment rate for GS6: Management of species-rich grassland has more than doubled to £646 / ha. Defra will shortly announce the schemes that will include GS6 in 2024; this might include Mid Tier, Higher Tier and the Combined SFI and CS offer.
Because eligibility for GS6 requires your grassland to be on Natural England’s Priority Habitat Inventory (PHI) it’s time to get ahead now. You can check which fields are already listed on the PHI by looking on Magic maps and read about what’s involved on the Survey and Monitoring page of our website.
Herefordshire Meadows can help with surveys and assessments this summer, hopefully in time for 2024 applications and certainly for 2025.
To make this worthwhile for farmer, adviser and surveyor, your grassland will have at least 4 key indicator plants growing “occasionally” or “frequently” across each field. Examples include knapweed, ox eye daisy, bird’s foot trefoil, lady’s bedstraw, yellow rattle, meadow sweet, orchids, pignut etc.
Contact Meadows Advisers Caroline Hanks, Rory Johnson and Carys Solman through info@herefordshiremeadows.org.uk to book a slot on first come first served basis. It would help us if you can indicate the number of fields to survey, their size and location, together with past management, previous survey records, and scheme options and the expected timeline for 2024 scheme applications.
For more information contact Herefordshire Meadows directly on info@herefordshiremeadows.org.uk (07779 080940) or CXCS’ Stewardship & Grants Team on 01981 590514.
