Farmer Nature Reporting - Understanding your farm’s Nature Reporting metrics

The Farm Metrics provide detailed information on the key Habitat health metrics provided in the report. The guidance explains what these metrics show about your farm and how you can use them to increase farm resilience and performance.

The first section of your report provides a summary of your farm habitats and insights about the nature impacts of these habitats. This information is shown by the following symbols:

Biodiversity-positive habitats are key to your report and your farm’s impact on nature. These are the habitats that are most likely to be contributing positively to nature and supporting your farm’s resilience. A key function of these habitats is to provide resources to native species.

It is these habitats that contribute positively to the metrics below such as Habitat cover and Connectedness.

Below provides a summary of some key habitats - the breakdown of biodiversity-postive or not has been adapted from the structure of Biodiversity Net Gain distinctiness category (and underpinned by UKHab data, with the support of UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology).

Proportion of your farm dedicated to biodiversity-positive habitat. These habitats are those that are more likely to provide resources for a range of native species. They are habitats that are less disturbed than more heavily managed areas such as those receiving inputs, heavy grazing, cultivation, or felling.

Increasing habitat cover can be a straightforward aim to improve and communicate a farm’s impact on biodiversity. Increasing the area expands the areas suitable for biodiversity to thrive.

Farmers are best to evaluate habitat cover alongside other metrics such as connectivity and habitat diversity in order to evaluate the locations where increasing habitat cover is likely to provide the greatest benefits.

A score reflecting how connected your biodiversity-positive habitats are for species to move within and through your farm.

The connectivity of biodiversity-positive habitats is an important metric when considering the impact of your habitats on biodiversity. Even small areas of habitats, if well connected, can provide valuable resources for species across a landscape.

Greater habitat connectivity can improve the resilience of your farm by enabling more diverse and often beneficial species to move across your holding. Thereby, increasing services such as pollination and Integrated Pest Management.

Species across your farm rely on varying areas of habitats and the resources these provide to feed, hibernate, mate, and raise young. These behaviours become impossible if the areas of suitable habitats are small and fragmented or surrounded by areas of impassable or inhospitable habitats for the species.

If you're looking to increase in-farm biodiversity, maximising connectivity is a recommended place to start and should be considered when you're making decisions regarding habitat creation and funding applications.

Total BNG Units per hectare, generated using the statutory Biodiversity Unit Metric. This metric allows us to quantify the resources that the habitats are likely to provide to native biodiversity. We give this score per hectare to help with comparison.

Habitats with the highest Biodiversity Units have been carefully defined by Natural England as those providing resources for the rarest or most important and diverse local biodiversity; ranging from purple emperor butterflies, to lady's slipper orchids, and dormice.

The habitats on your farm that score well are those most likely to be the highest priority to maintain, enhance, expand, and connect. This can help you to decide where you might create or improve habitats to maximise your biodiversity impact.

Importantly, improving this score does not require you to make any changes to your current land use; if you wish to, you can improve it by enhancing the existing habitats that align best with your business and context.

Proportion of the farm’s cropland that has crop cover over the winter months.

The percentage of agricultural area with continuous winter cover is an important metric for understanding risks to soil health, habitat disturbance, and resilient management. Areas of your farm that have continuous green cover over the winter months are likely to be less exposed to erosion, accumulate more organic matter, have better structure and water permeability, and provide habitat and resources for more species than similarly managed soils with no cover over the period.

Although not possible across all farm types, aiming for 100% soil cover throughout the year is a useful target to increase farm resilience.

Increasing your use of cover crops is the main way to improve this score. Resilient cropping practices such as undersowing and direct drilling can help to increase the continuity of soil cover. Payment rates through schemes such as SFI can support the use of cover crops and the associated benefits they provide.

This metric is calculated based on the area of your cropland that satellites detected as having “green cover” between the months of November and January is divided by the total area of your cropland.

Proportion of the farm’s cropland which is within 45m of a habitat from which beneficial species can spread.

Cropland supported by beneficial habitats (IPM) (%) habitat ratio indicates the proportion of productive land that is close enough to biodiversity-positive habitats for potentially beneficial species such as pollinators and pest predators to spread into the productive land and support Integrated Pest Management (IPM).

This metric provides a visual way to understand and plan IPM across your farm. Increasing the metric has the potential to reduce the risk of crop loss and lower dependence on spraying. Reducing spray dependence can reduce costs and lower your business’s exposure to potential future restrictions on chemical applications.

Proportion of cropland or modified grassland within 12m of a watercourse.

Cropping and modified grassland within 12m of a watercourse can increase the risk of runoff, which can contribute to water pollution. In contrast, biodiversity-positive habitats, especially more densely vegetated habitats, that you have along watercourses, slow the rate of runoff and reduce pollution risk.

Buffered watercourses can also provide natural corridors for a range of species to travel across landscapes, which also improves habitat connectivity. Taking these, often difficult-to-manage, buffer strips out of production also tends to have less impact on farm profitability than other areas. These buffer zones also help to reduce the erosion of river banks, change river flows, and improve habitats within river,s aiding biodiversity and fish populations.

Cropped land and modified grassland within 12m of a watercourse will impact this score. Considering whether productive management of these areas is vital to your farm business is important. Reducing these areas that are managed productively, fencing them off (to enable vegetation to grow), and establishing scrub or woodlands will help to improve this score and your farm's impacts on water quality.