OFM2Organic land management – unimproved permanent grassland

What it actually is

The unimproved grassland member of the organic land management family, whose shared shape is on the OFM4 page: fully organic registration held, the control body's standards complied with for three years, a valid certificate covering the term. Static, on unimproved low input permanent grassland and rough grazing. A note from GOV.UK's June 2026 update travels with this one: the total available area entered applies at the point of application.

Source: GOV.UK, OFM2 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 80 hectares is an illustration.

Is it worth it on your ground?

For a registered organic extensive farm this collects on hectares already meeting the standards, with the paperwork the only work. The design point from the family holds: the same rough grassland may also qualify for the grassland actions elsewhere in the offer where the compatibility lists allow, and the whole-farm entry is where the application earns properly.

Source: the payment rate at the top of this page; requirements from GOV.UK, OFM2 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 is carried in full on the OFC3 page and summarised on OFM4: one graded assessment, 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 organic farms richer in butterflies, moths and pest natural enemies in most comparisons. As with the conversion page for this land type, the comparisons mostly measured systems with inputs to remove, and unimproved grassland has few, so expect the measured differences to be smallest here.

Source: Conservation Evidence, action 895, Enhancing Soil Fertility synopsis, checked 23/08/2026. The fuller accounts are on the OFC3 and OFM4 pages; the closing observation is Tilth's own reading.

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 the records of the grassland's classification. Static: the same land each year.

Source: GOV.UK, OFM2 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 fully organic. SSSIs need consent, and rough unimproved grass is the land where that is most likely to matter: 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, OFM2 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. The family's rule: registration lapses are requirement failures, so the renewal date is the compliance calendar.

Classification pays here. Unimproved earns roughly double improved in this family, and the control body's field classifications are the deciding document. Worth confirming they match the ground before the application, not after.

Enclosed rough grazing in the uplands has its own page. Inside a Severely Disadvantaged Area above the moorland line, small enclosed parcels belong to OFM3 at its higher rate; this page is the below-moorland version.

Keeping the evidence

Source: evidence requirements, GOV.UK, OFM2 action page, checked 23/08/2026. The suggestion is Tilth's own.

The part only your own ground can answer

Which grass the control body calls unimproved, and what else those hectares could carry from the offer, are the two lookups. Tilth holds the field records both run on. Request an invite.