Cultivated arable habitats are an essential element of the UK's landscape, producing a wide variety of crops while supporting features such as hedgerows, buffer strips, beetle banks and temporary grass leys that provide habitat for a wide range of species.

Sustainably managed arable habitats include successful establishment of catch and cover crops to protect the soil from erosion as well as adopting integrated pest management techniques to minimise reliance on pesticides and herbicides.

Species you can expect to find in a healthy arable habitat

Plants

• Poppies
• Corn marigold
• Round-leaved fluellen

Invertebrates

• Dingy skipper butterfly
• Mining bees
• Ground beetles

Birds

• Skylark
• Yellowhammer
• Corn bunting

Mammals

• Common Pipistrelle
• Brown hare
• Field vole

Why are arable habitats important in natural flood management?

Well-managed arable land can capture sediment and slow the flow of water during flood events.

Soils with high organic matter, good structure and minimal compaction not only benefit farm productivity by enhancing yields, increasing profitability, improving crop resilience to drought and flooding and boosting resistance to pests and diseases but also reduce flood risk by increasing infiltration and limiting soil erosion (CFE, 2025).

Components such as cover crops, hedgerows and buffer strips create more stable habitats within farmland, which will intercept surface water flow pathways, store more water and reduce erosion, helping keep soil on the farm.

Please note that the following suggestions are general to all arable habitats. Management requirements may vary depending on site conditions, soil type, cropping system and local objectives. The project does not accept responsibility for any loss or damage resulting from these recommendations.

Maintenance

• Manage buffer strips to maintain a flower-rich, diverse habitat through periodic cutting annually, ensuring no single species becomes dominant, particularly in their first year of establishment.
• Include soil-improving crops within rotations such as legumes (for example field beans and clover), to increase organic matter, improve soil structure and support nutrient cycling.
• Trim hedgerows in rotation every 2 to 3 years.
• Consider using minimum tillage techniques such as direct drilling to minimise soil disturbance.
• Create and follow soil and nutrient management plans. Healthy, well-managed soils support biodiversity, improve water infiltration, reduce run-off and erosion and help protect water quality.
• Consider using livestock to graze off cover crops where appropriate. This can encourage nutrient recycling, support soil health and create a more varied vegetation structure.

Avoid

• Soil compaction and poaching by limiting livestock access and minimising machinery movements, particularly during wet conditions.
• Leaving soils bare for long periods, particularly during winter. Planting cover or companion crops reduces soil and nutrient loss.
• Cutting hedgerows during nesting season (typically between March and August).
• Storing manures and fertilisers near watercourses or on surface water flow pathways where they may be washed into and pollute aquatic habitats.

Further considerations for biodiversity enhancement

• Buffer strips, such as beetle banks, provide natural pest control
• Leave standing and fallen deadwood where safe to do so. Decaying wood is a vital yet increasingly rare habitat for invertebrates and small mammals.
• Plant more hedgerows along field margins. This creates wildlife corridors and provides food and shelter for birds and mammals.

Creating a more diverse habitat structure, enhancing existing features and maintaining buffer strips and hedgerows are effective ways to increase your farm's biodiversity, as well as trapping sediment and slowing run off.

Regenerative farming and promoting soil health

Regenerative farming focusses on soil health and its ability to improve both crop yields and biodiversity. Some key elements of this practice involve ensuring soil is always covered and that it is disturbed as little as possible.

To learn more, visit RegenBen's website for an example of how regenerative farming has been successful in Herefordshire.

How will you know you have created a good, healthy habitat?

Below are some indicators to look out for when managing your arable land. It is important to be aware of your arable habitat’s biodiversity and health, as this can alter your management practices.

A healthy arable habitat will have:

• Well-established buffer strips and hedgerows
• Limited soil compaction from livestock and machinery
• A well-connected network of scrub, hedges and field margins
• High species diversity
• Minimal areas of bare, exposed soil
• Targeted and carefully managed use of pesticides and herbicides, with integrated pest management principles used wherever possible

You may wish to annually record and photograph the condition of your arable habitat, including the species you see, the health of margins and hedges, the presence of bare soil and evidence of runoff.

Farming Rules for Water

Make sure you comply with Farming Rules for Water.

Herefordshire Rural Hub and the National Farmers Union have useful guidance on how to do this.

Championing the Farmed Environment

Championing the Farmed Environment have published a guide and map of management activities and environmental features that could be used on your land.

This guide can help you tailor your management to your farm, looking at features such as:

• Ponds and watercourses
• 'Awkward' shaped fields and boundaries
• Breeding sites for wildlife

Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

The Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust website has extensive advice and detailed research on sustainable farming practices.

The Allerton Project

The Allerton Project is an excellent example of a successful commercial farm maintaining productivity while ensuring benefits for the environment.

Get funding to manage your arable habitat

There are many government grant schemes available, which may benefit you and your land:

• Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI)
• Countryside Stewardship Scheme
• Farming Investment Fund (FIF)
• Capital items

Arable charities and related organisations

Regional

• We are Farming Minds – Herefordshire farming mental health support
• Herefordshire Rural Hub
• Focus groups such as Herefordshire Agri Group
• Farm Herefordshire

National

• AHDB - Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board
• How to Rewild – Offer considerations for your habitat management plan on their webpage

Wildlife

• Herefordshire Wildlife Trust
• Pasture for Life
• Farm Wildlife
• Plantlife
• RSPB Farming Hub

Visit the Natural Flood Management Hub to explore NFM Projects across the UK and view their Agricultural Land Management guide

Visit the NFM evidence directory for more information about how working with natural processes reduces flood risk.