OFM1Organic land management – improved permanent grassland

What it actually is

The improved grassland member of the organic land management family, whose shared shape is set out on the OFM4 page: land registered fully organic with a Defra-licensed control body, the standards complied with for three years, a valid certificate covering the term, and no new farming asked for beyond remaining what the farm already is. Static, on improved or semi-improved permanent grassland.

Source: GOV.UK, OFM1 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. 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 60 hectares is an illustration.

Is it worth it on your ground?

For a registered organic livestock farm the grass hectares are already meeting the standards, so this collects on them for the cost of the paperwork staying straight. The design point from the OFM4 page matters more than the rate: the compatibility lists let organic grassland stack with the grassland actions elsewhere in the offer, the legumes of CNUM2 and the low-input pages among them, and the whole-farm entry is where the money actually accumulates.

Source: the payment rate at the top of this page; requirements from GOV.UK, OFM1 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 organic evidence, in full on the OFC3 page and summarised on OFM4: one graded assessment, Trade-off between benefit and harms, 7 studies, 55 per cent effectiveness, 52 per cent certainty, 64 per cent harms, with soil life the benefit and yield the cost, and ungraded catalogues finding organic farms richer in butterflies, moths and pest natural enemies in most comparisons. A maintenance action keeps whatever of that the farm delivers, for as long as the registration holds.

Source: Conservation Evidence, action 895, Enhancing Soil Fertility synopsis, checked 23/08/2026. The fuller accounts are on the OFC3 and OFM4 pages.

What you actually have to do

Hold the fully organic registration, comply with the control body's standards throughout, keep a valid certificate covering the three years and records of the grassland's classification. Static: the same land each year.

Source: GOV.UK, OFM1 action page, checked 23/08/2026.

Where it can go

Three rows on GOV.UK's eligible land table, one easy to miss: improved permanent grassland and semi-improved low input permanent grassland, both under PG01, and arable land used to grow crops that you will convert to permanent grassland, under its arable or leguminous crop codes, all below the moorland line and registered fully organic. That third row means the action can pay while arable ground goes down to organic grass, not only while grass stays grass. The entry is the total available area in a land parcel, at the point of application. SSSIs need Natural England's 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, OFM1 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.

The certificate is the action, here as everywhere in the family. Renewal dates and inspection findings are the compliance calendar.

Classification decides the page and the rate. Improved here, unimproved on OFM2 at twice this rate, and the control body's field-by-field classification is the authority. Worth checking their paperwork agrees with your assumptions before applying.

Stack or leave money. The organic grassland that only enters OFM1 has likely missed what the same fields could carry from the wider offer. Build the whole-farm entry first, then slot this under it.

Keeping the evidence

Source: evidence requirements, GOV.UK, OFM1 action page, checked 23/08/2026. The suggestion is Tilth's own.

The part only your own ground can answer

Which of your grass fields the control body calls improved, and what the rest of the offer could pay on them alongside this, are the two lookups that decide the entry. Tilth keeps the field records both run on. Request an invite.