CONSERVATION TOP TIPS FOR SPRING

 

The Farm Wildlife website at http://www.farmwildlife.info/ holds case studies of wildlife conservation on farmland and hosts a discussion forum for farmers and advisers to discuss wildlife conservation issues. This newsletter covers new case studies and some of the 30 topics discussed over the period October to December 2009. The summaries below represent the views of individual authors and not necessarily those of any individual organisation. If any of these raise comments or questions then please post them on the discussion forum.

 

The Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE) update

The CFE was launched on 5 November. The Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE) aims to retain the environmental benefits formerly provided by set-aside under the Single Payment Scheme (SPS) in three key areas – resource protection, farmland birds and farm wildlife. The Campaign is asking farmers and land managers to renew their existing Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) agreements and choose at least one in-field option (if they are in ELS), retain and correctly record their current area of uncropped land and adopt at least one voluntary measure to meet the campaign targets.

Training events for agronomists and land agents were held at Loddington and Hope Farm. Four further events are planned later this winter. E-mail cfeonline@nfu.org.uk for details. Summaries of the training days, including answers to questions raised, have been posted on http://www.farmwildlife.info/.

 

New Environmental Stewardship handbooks available on-line

Although no applications will be accepted before 1 February, the new (3rd edition) handbooks can be downloaded from http://naturalengland.etraderstores.com/NaturalEnglandShop/NE226.

 

Guidance on delivering resource protection, farmland birds and other wildlife

New Natural England leaflets covering delivery of resource protection, farmland birds and other wildlife through ELS and the CFE are now available from Natural England’s regional offices. They, together with the CFE voluntary measures explanation booklet, have been posted on http://www.farmwildlife.info/.

 

Resource protection case studies

There are a number of case studies from the Catchment Sensitive Farming initiative on http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodfarm/landmanage/water/csf/farm-business-case-study.htm

 

The Farmland bird package for ELS and the CFE

For the first time, all of the farmland bird research has been pulled together to develop a minimum package that arable and mixed farmers could use to reverse the declines of farmland birds using Entry Level Stewardship (ELS) or the voluntary measures under the Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE). The package, per 100 ha of arable farmland, is as follows:

  1. Wild Bird Seed Mixture on 2 hectares or ELS Over-wintered Stubble on 5 hectares (10 hectares of stubble would be required if either a pre-harvest desiccant or post-harvest herbicide is used)
  2. 20 skylark plots in winter cereals, or a fallow plot or extended winter stubble (new options coming into ELS in 2010) on 1 hectare
  3. 1 hectare used to create a network of insect-rich habitats across the farm using one or more of the following options:
  • Unfertilised conservation headlands
  • Unharvested conservation headlands
  • Uncropped cultivated margins
  • Undersown spring cereals
  • Pollen and nectar mixtures
  • Flower-rich margins (not currently an option under ELS)

The following additional advice on best management will enhance the delivery of the package for farmland birds:

  • Create the insect-rich habitats as 6 m strips alongside field margins and beetle banks to ensure a spread across the farm
  • The conservation headlands and uncropped cultivated margin options are the most beneficial insect-rich options for birds, and should be used in preference to the others in the list wherever possible 
  • For wild bird seed mixtures, use spring-sown mixtures wherever possible to provide both seed and cover every winter 
  • If autumn establishment of wild bird seed mixtures is required, so seed only available 1 year in 2, or 2 years in 3, increase the area accordingly, so that at least 2 hectares of seeding crop is available per 100 hectares of arable farmland

The package will contribute between 8 and 18 points of the 30 points per hectare required to enter ELS. It will involve taking between 1.03% and 4% of arable land out of production.

 

Importance of over-wintered stubbles

Questions were raised about the importance of stubbles, many of which now appear devoid of seed food, but there is strong evidence that areas with stubbles have better farmland bird population trends, and sightings of big numbers of seed-eating birds through the winter are most often associated with weedy stubble fields or wild bird seed mixtures.