Crops & Cultivation
Grassland & Forage
Grazing platforms, leys, silage and the cheapest feed on the farm.
Grassland is the largest crop in the UK by area and the least measured. This module treats it as a managed crop: measured covers, planned rotations, budgeted forage, costed reseeds and silage analysed against the ration it has to fill. It links directly to the livestock modules so a forage deficit surfaces as a purchased feed cost before it becomes one.
- 12 capabilities
- 4 linked schemes
- Offline capable
- 12
- Capabilities in this module
- 5
- Interactive tools
- 4
- Linked support schemes
- 5
- Data integrations
- 5
- Measures reported
The ground reality
What is actually happening in grassland & forage in the UK
Permanent pasture and temporary grassland dominate UK land use, and lowland grazing livestock is the single most numerous farm type in England at around 30,800 holdings. Herbal ley payment rates have moved sharply under the reset scheme offer, cut from £382 per hectare to £224, while moorland payments rose materially — a change that reverses the economics of several grassland decisions taken only two seasons ago.
Figures are as published at the time of writing. Farm policy and payment rates change frequently — verify against the primary source before relying on any number here.
In the field
Grassland & forage, as it actually looks
Photography from working UK holdings alongside the interface that records it. Every frame below is a commissioned slot: the brief is stated until the photograph is taken.
Grassland & Forage — a walkthrough
A working pass through grassland & forage: entering the record once, and watching it appear in the evidence pack, the calendar and the scheme application without being typed again.
- 0:00 What the module is for
- 0:48 Entering the record
- 2:05 Where it appears next
- 3:20 The evidence pack
Photography slots state their own brief until the shot is commissioned, so the layout never shifts when real images arrive.
Capabilities
What Grassland & Forage does
Every capability below is built on the same underlying record, so entering something once is enough for it to appear wherever it is needed.
Record and plan
- Grass cover measurement with plate meter, sward stick and satellite-derived biomass
- Rotational grazing planner with residency, rest period and pre- and post-grazing cover targets
- Feed wedge visualisation with surplus and deficit identification
Operate and monitor
- Annual forage budget balancing growth curve against livestock demand
- Silage and haylage clamp management with dry matter, ME, protein and fermentation quality
- Reseed cost and payback model against measured production uplift
Comply and evidence
- Herbal ley and multi-species sward planning with scheme action mapping
- Clover content assessment and nitrogen fixation credit
- Grazing infrastructure planning — paddocks, tracks, water points and fencing
Analyse and improve
- Nutrient offtake and return modelling across the grazing platform
- Buffer feeding decision support linked to the livestock ration module
- Soil compaction and poaching risk mapping by field and by season
Interactive
Tools you actually use, not screens you read
These are working interfaces inside the module — maps, calculators, planners and dashboards that respond to your own holding data.
Feed wedge chart updating live from cover measurements
Feed wedge chart updating live from cover measurements
ChartGrazing rotation planner with drag-and-drop paddock sequencing
Grazing rotation planner with drag-and-drop paddock sequencing
BuilderForage budget simulator with stocking rate and growth rate sliders
Forage budget simulator with stocking rate and growth rate sliders
ToolReseed payback calculator across a seven-year ley life
Reseed payback calculator across a seven-year ley life
CalculatorSilage quality dashboard mapped against ration requirement
Silage quality dashboard mapped against ration requirement
MapEnd to end
How Grassland & Forage runs, start to finish
The module is modelled as a state machine, so at any point the business knows exactly which stage every record is at and what has to happen next.
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1
Map and measure the grazing platform
This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
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2
Set annual forage budget and stocking plan
The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
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3
Walk and measure covers on a weekly cycle
Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
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4
Allocate paddocks and adjust rotation
Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
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5
Cut, ensile and analyse conserved forage
Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
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6
Reconcile forage supply against livestock demand
This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
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7
Plan reseeds and sward improvement
Results feed the whole-farm view, so the effect of this stage is visible against the rest of the business.
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8
Report grassland productivity and scheme compliance
The cycle closes here, and what is learned is carried into next season's plan rather than lost.
Who uses it
Built around four real jobs, not one generic user
Each of these people needs something different from the same record. The module is designed so none of them has to work around the others.
Dairy grazier, Cheshire
220 cows, spring block
Needs to hit grazing targets weekly or milk from forage collapses.
Upland sheep farmer, Cumbria
LFA hill flock
Needs to prove grassland management for scheme income that now exceeds trading profit.
Beef finisher
Grass-finished system
Needs forage quality to hit finishing weights without bought-in concentrate.
Grassland consultant
Advisory practice
Needs measured, comparable data across clients rather than recollection.
Schemes and funding
Support schemes this module works with
Agrivencia holds these schemes as data, so eligibility, payment rates, caps and windows update the day they change rather than at the next software release.
Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026
Pay farmers for environmental actions taken alongside food production, as the principal replacement for area-based direct payments in England.
Defra / Rural Payments Agency EnglandCountryside Stewardship
Fund more complex, targeted and bespoke habitat management than the main incentive offer supports.
Defra / Natural England / Rural Payments Agency WalesSustainable Farming Scheme
Replace area-based direct payments in Wales with a scheme rewarding sustainable land management outcomes.
Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales ScotlandAgri-Environment Climate Scheme
Fund targeted habitat, species and water quality management in Scotland.
Scottish Government / Rural Payments and Inspections DivisionRates, caps and windows change frequently and sometimes without notice. Always confirm against the current published scheme rules before applying.
Measurement
How you will know it is working
The module reports against these measures from the day it is switched on, so the value is demonstrable rather than assumed.
- 01Tonnes of dry matter grown per hectare
- 02Utilised grass per hectare
- 03Milk or liveweight gain from forage
- 04Cost per tonne of dry matter
- 05Days at grazing
Try it now
Annual Forage Budget
Balance what the grassland will grow against what the stock will eat, and find the deficit before it becomes a feed bill.
How this is calculated
Supply equals grassland area multiplied by utilised growth, plus conserved forage in stock. Demand equals livestock units multiplied by average annual intake. The balance is the difference, converted to days of cover at current demand.
Utilised growth is not the same as grown growth. Poor grazing management can lose a third of what the field produces.
Benchmarking
How this compares with businesses like yours
A cohort is only useful if it is genuinely comparable, so it is built from farm type, soil grade, region and scale rather than from whoever happens to have signed up. Your own figure is never shown to anyone else.
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Tonnes of dry matter grown per hectare
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 26 Median 58 Upper quartile 73
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Utilised grass per hectare
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 37 Median 57 Upper quartile 76
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Milk or liveweight gain from forage
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 27 Median 58 Upper quartile 78
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Cost per tonne of dry matter
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 35 Median 55 Upper quartile 87
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Days at grazing
Your figure appears hereLower quartile 35 Median 47 Upper quartile 87
How the cohort is built
- Farm type
- Matched
- Soil grade
- Matched
- Region
- Matched
- Scale band
- Matched
- Cohort size
- Minimum 12 businesses, or no comparison is shown
Obligation calendar
What grassland & forage asks of you, and when
Windows, deadlines and recurring obligations for England. Set a different nation and the calendar reconfigures; farm across a border and it shows both, reconciled.
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April 3 entries
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4 April: Allocate paddocks and adjust rotation
A recurring step in grassland & forage.
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6 April: Map and measure the grazing platform
A recurring step in grassland & forage.
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26 April: Agri-Environment Climate Scheme
Annual competitive rounds.
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May 1 entry
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26 May: Sustainable Farming Scheme
Scheme year runs to 31 December, with the single application form deadline in mid-May.
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June 2 entries
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5 June: Farming Transformation Fund
Round-based by theme.
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15 June: Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026
Two windows in 2026: window one from 30 June, window two from September.
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July 2 entries
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14 July: Slurry Infrastructure Grant
Round-based.
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17 July: Water Management Grant
Round-based.
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September 1 entry
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25 September: Set annual forage budget and stocking plan
A recurring step in grassland & forage.
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October 1 entry
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5 October: Farming Equipment and Technology Fund
Round-based, usually open for a defined application period.
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November 3 entries
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12 November: Improving Farm Productivity Grant
Round-based.
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15 November: Walk and measure covers on a weekly cycle
A recurring step in grassland & forage.
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27 November: Environmental Land Management Capital Grants
Round-based, with rapid allocation once open.
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December 1 entry
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26 December: Countryside Stewardship
Rolling and round-based depending on the tier and option group.
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Questions answered
What people ask about Grassland & Forage
Does this replace the software I already use?
Not necessarily. Agrivencia integrates with authoritative sources and mainstream packages rather than insisting on replacing them. Where an incumbent does one job well, the platform connects to it; where the job spans several systems and nobody does it, the platform does it.
Will it work where I have no signal?
Yes. Field capture in Grassland & Forage is offline first, storing locally and synchronising when a connection returns. Only around a fifth of UK farms report reliable signal across the whole holding, so this is a design assumption rather than a feature.
What happens when the scheme rules change?
Scheme rules are held as data rather than code, so a rate change, a cap change or a window closure is a content update that takes effect the same day. The platform also alerts you to what the change does to your own position.
Who owns the data I put in?
You do. The Farm Data Charter gives you a complete export in open formats at any time, and every instance of data sharing requires an explicit, revocable consent that is visible in your account.
Does it work if I farm across a border?
Yes, and that is one of the main reasons the platform exists. A business with land in more than one nation sees one reconciled view rather than two portals, with obligations and deadlines from both administrations in a single calendar.
Can my agronomist or land agent use it too?
Yes. You grant scoped, time-limited access per holding and per module, and you can revoke it in one click. Advisers never get a shared password or a blanket view.
What is the biggest limitation of this module?
Measurement fatigue. Mitigated by fast mobile capture and satellite fallback. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it after signing.
Documents
Take it away with you
Everything here is printable and works on a kitchen table with no signal. Where a document asks for an email address, it says so on the button rather than after you press it.
Measured Grassland: Turning the Cheapest Feed Into the Most Reliable
The practical handbook for grassland & forage: what the rules require, what the evidence has to show, and the mistakes that cost people money.
grassland & forage — evidence checklist
Every document an audit or a claim asks for, in the order it is asked for, with the validity period of each.
grassland & forage — record template
The record structure the module uses, as a spreadsheet, so a business not yet on the platform can start keeping it correctly today.
Data model reference
Entities, fields and integration points for grassland & forage, for advisers and software partners.
See Grassland & Forage running on your own holding
Thirty minutes, using your parcels, your schemes and your enterprises rather than a sample farm. No obligation and no sales script — if it does not fit your business we will say so.
- Free tier available
- No card required
- Your data stays yours