Forestry, Trees & Hedgerows

Hedgerows & Field Boundaries

Measured in metres, paid in metres, evidenced in metres.

Hedgerows are among the most reliably funded actions in every UK scheme and among the most poorly recorded. This module measures and classifies every metre of boundary, plans a cutting rotation that satisfies both the regulatory cutting ban and the scheme action requirements, and captures the evidence that turns hedgerow management into scheme income and biodiversity units.

Start with Hedgerows See how it works

12 capabilities
5 linked schemes
Offline capable

12: Capabilities in this module
5: Interactive tools
5: Linked support schemes
4: Data integrations
5: Measures reported

The ground reality

What is actually happening in hedgerows in the UK

Hedgerow management, hedgerow trees and hedgerow assessment carry payment rates in the English, Welsh, Scottish and Northern Irish offers, and hedgerow condition contributes to biodiversity metrics used in Biodiversity Net Gain. Statutory cutting restrictions apply through the bird nesting season, with defined exemptions, and non-compliance is one of the more commonly recorded inspection findings.

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.

Capabilities

What Hedgerows 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

Boundary survey with hedgerow, wall, fence and ditch classification
Metre-accurate measurement from mapping with field verification
Hedgerow condition assessment against the recognised structural criteria

Operate and monitor

Cutting rotation planner respecting the statutory ban and scheme requirements
Hedgerow tree identification, tagging and management
Gapping up, laying and coppicing programme with cost modelling

Comply and evidence

Scheme action mapping across all four nations with rate and cap enforcement
Biodiversity metric contribution from hedgerow condition and length
Dry stone wall condition and rebuild programme management

Analyse and improve

Historic and archaeological boundary feature protection
Photographic evidence at fixed points with season-matched comparison
Contractor instruction and completion verification

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.

Boundary map with metre totals by type and by condition

Map

Cutting rotation calendar with statutory ban overlay

Tool

Hedgerow income calculator across every applicable scheme action

Calculator

Condition assessment wizard following the structural criteria

Wizard

Laying and gapping cost estimator per metre

Tool

End to end

How Hedgerows 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.

1

Survey and classify all boundaries

This is where the record starts, and getting it right here removes work at every later stage.
2

Measure and verify lengths

The platform prompts only for what this stage genuinely needs, and carries everything forward.
3

Assess condition

Conflicts with scheme rules, regulatory windows and existing commitments are flagged here rather than discovered later.
4

Plan the cutting and management rotation

Capture works offline, so this stage is completed in the field rather than remembered afterwards.
5

Map to scheme actions and check caps

Everything recorded at this point becomes evidence automatically, in every format that will later ask for it.
6

Instruct and carry out the work

This is the stage most businesses currently do twice, once for the operation and once for the paperwork.
7

Capture evidence at fixed points

Results feed the whole-farm view, so the effect of this stage is visible against the rest of the business.
8

Claim and reconcile

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.

Mixed farmer

14 km of hedgerow

Needs to know exactly how many metres are claimable and under which action.

Contractor

Hedge cutting and laying

Needs clear, mapped instruction and completion evidence.

Scheme adviser

Agreement preparation

Needs accurate boundary measurement to build a claim on.

BNG assessor

Baseline and uplift assessment

Needs condition-scored hedgerow length for the metric.

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.

England

Sustainable Farming Incentive 2026

Pay farmers for environmental actions taken alongside food production, as the principal replacement for area-based direct payments in England.

Two windows in 2026: window one from 30 June, window two from September. Defra / Rural Payments Agency England

Countryside Stewardship

Fund more complex, targeted and bespoke habitat management than the main incentive offer supports.

Rolling and round-based depending on the tier and option group. Defra / Natural England / Rural Payments Agency England

Environmental Land Management Capital Grants

Fund capital works supporting environmental outcomes — boundaries, water, air quality, natural flood management and infrastructure.

Round-based, with rapid allocation once open. Defra / Rural Payments Agency Wales

Sustainable Farming Scheme

Replace area-based direct payments in Wales with a scheme rewarding sustainable land management outcomes.

Scheme year runs to 31 December, with the single application form deadline in mid-May. Welsh Government / Rural Payments Wales Northern Ireland

Environmental Farming Scheme

Fund environmental land management across higher, wider and group levels in Northern Ireland.

Round-based. DAERA

Rates, 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.

01Metres surveyed and classified
02Metres under scheme management
03Condition score improvement
04Income per kilometre
05Cutting ban compliance rate

Try it now

Hedgerow Income Calculator

Every metre of boundary, mapped to every scheme action that could pay for it, in your nation.

How this is calculated

Eligible length is adjusted where a hedgerow is managed on both sides and both sides are claimable. Payment rates for each applicable action in your nation are applied to the eligible length and tree count.

Rates and action availability differ by nation and change between scheme years. Confirm the current published rates before claiming.

— Eligible length m

— Management payment £/yr

— Hedgerow tree payment £/yr

— Total annual income £

Questions answered

What people ask about Hedgerows

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 Hedgerows 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?

Cutting ban breach. Mitigated by calendar enforcement and contractor instruction. We would rather state that plainly than let you discover it after signing.

Because everything shares one record, adding a neighbouring module usually costs less work than it saves.

Forestry & Woodland Creation Plant it once, fund it four ways, and keep the felling licence in order. Agroforestry & Silvopasture Trees and farming on the same hectare, without losing the scheme claim. Tree Health & Biosecurity Ash dieback, plant passports and the pests already on their way. Crop Farming & Precision Agriculture One cropping record that feeds agronomy, assurance and scheme evidence at once. Soil Health & Structure Sampling, structure and the 2030 target nobody has a baseline for. Land, Mapping & Field Boundaries The canonical boundary graph every other module reads from.

See Hedgerows 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

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