OFC2Organic conversion – unimproved permanent grassland

What it actually is

The rough end of the organic conversion family, whose shared machinery, the control body, the approved plan, the standards from day one, the completion requirement, is set out in full on the OFC3 page. This version covers unimproved low input permanent grassland including rough grazing, applied for a year at a time across up to 2 consecutive years, static, with the family's one-way door: land previously registered organic or previously paid conversion aid cannot enter.

Source: GOV.UK, OFC2 action page, checked 23/08/2026.

What it pays, and what that comes to

The rate is in the panel at the top of this page, paid during conversion. Multiplied out:

Source: arithmetic on the payment rate shown at the top of this page, which comes from Tilth's copy of the GOV.UK action catalogue and carries its own last-checked date. The 80 hectares is an illustration.

Is it worth it on your ground?

On ground that receives little and changes less, the conversion-period cost this rate offsets is small, and for an extensive livestock farm converting whole, this action mostly ensures the rough acres are not converting for free while the better fields collect OFC1. The real decision remains the farm's organic market, weighed as on the OFC3 page; the rough grazing follows the business, not the other way round.

Source: the payment rate at the top of this page; requirements from GOV.UK, OFC2 action page, checked 23/08/2026. The judgements are Tilth's own reading rather than scheme guidance.

Does it work, and what makes it work better

This section is what we have found in published sources about the practice this action pays for. It is not scheme guidance, it is not Defra's or the RPA's view, and it adds no requirement beyond what the GOV.UK action page sets out.

The evidence on converting to organic farming is carried in full on the OFC3 page: one graded assessment placing conversion in the category Trade-off between benefit and harms on 7 studies, 55 per cent effectiveness, 52 per cent certainty, 64 per cent harms, and ungraded catalogues finding more butterflies, moths and natural enemies of pests on organic farms in most comparisons. Worth adding for this page: nearly all of that work compares farmed systems with inputs to give up, and unimproved rough grazing had few, so the measured differences, good and bad alike, should be expected smaller here than anywhere in the family.

Source: Conservation Evidence, action 895, Enhancing Soil Fertility synopsis, checked 23/08/2026. The fuller account is on the OFC3 page; the closing observation is Tilth's own reading.

What you actually have to do

Register the land as in conversion, follow the approved plan, comply with organic standards from the start of the conversion period to the action's end date, and complete conversion with the land registered fully organic before the action ends. Keep the plan, certificate and classification records. Static: the same land each year, across up to 2 consecutive annual applications.

Source: GOV.UK, OFC2 action page, checked 23/08/2026.

Where it can go

Unimproved low input permanent grassland, including rough grazing, under PG01, below the moorland line, registered as in conversion. The entry is the total available area in a land parcel, at the point of application. SSSIs need consent, and ground like this is where the check earns its keep: you must give notice to Natural England and get SSSI consent before the Rural Payments Agency offers you an SFI26 agreement. Historic features need an SFI HEFER before you do the action.

Source: GOV.UK, OFC2 action page, checked 24/08/2026.

Things worth watching

This section is Tilth's own reading of where this action is easy to get wrong. It is not scheme guidance, it is not sourced from Defra or the RPA, and none of it adds a requirement beyond what the GOV.UK action page sets out.

Classification is the boundary with OFC1. Unimproved and low input against improved and semi-improved is a judgement your control body makes field by field, and the rate difference between the two pages makes it worth making carefully, once, in writing.

The stock's standards reach the rough ground. Rough grazing converts easily; the animals on it carry the harder rules, feed, medicines, withdrawal periods. The plan covers both, and so must the farm.

The family's small print applies unchanged. Annual applications in consecutive years, completion before the end date, the one-way door for previously organic land. The OFC3 page carries the lot.

Keeping the evidence

Source: evidence requirements, GOV.UK, OFC2 action page, checked 23/08/2026. The suggestion is Tilth's own.

The part only your own ground can answer

Whether the rough acres' conversion is a formality or a change is a question your input records answer at a glance, and for many farms the honest answer is a formality worth being paid for. Tilth keeps those records where the glance works. Request an invite.