MANAGEMENT IDEAS FOR SUMMER

This month's conservation advice comes from the Farm Wildlife website: a forum for farmers and advisers to share ideas and solutions to problems with case studies and a discussion forum. The Farm Wildlife website 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 is a summary of 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.

How to fill the hungry gap for farmland birds through the winter

A bird crop agronomist reported plenty of seed of Gold of Pleasure in mixtures at the start of April this year. He suggested that numerous plots of a decent size will deliver a prolonged source of seeds for wintering birds through the ‘hungry gap’, generally regarded as the time of greatest seed scarcity between January/February and April. Another agronomist suggests that a more reliable method is to spread a small amount of grain onto adjacent farm tracks regularly through the hungry gap to insure against depleted seed abundance in the crops. Finally, a farmer recommends using feed hoppers as a more simple way of supplementary feeding. They do attract rodents, so site them away from areas where these will be a problem and move the feeders regularly.

Are over-wintered stubbles a risk on land prone to wind erosion?

A farmer suggested that the wording in the new Environmental Stewardship handbooks would disallow use of options such as winter stubbles and fallow plots in areas such as the Fens and the Brecks, where soils are prone to wind erosion. FWAG sought clarification from Natural England on this, and the response was that stubbles do not present a risk where the cause of soil erosion is purely wind erosion. The location of fallow plots need to be more carefully judged with regard to potential wind erosion risk, and careful consideration of plot size, location and mitigation measures needs to be made.

Is ELS economically viable for farmers?

A student asked whether ELS payments adequately covered costs of establishment and management. She was referred to the RSPB economic case studies at www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/farming/advice/economics/index.asp. A criticism of these was raised in their inclusion of savings in fixed costs, as there tends to be no savings until you get to a critical threshold when you can remove the costs of a piece of machinery or a member of staff. One person who helps with applications in the North York Moors claimed that 95% of upland farmers have to do little or nothing to get their points as they are generally rewarded for existing low input management.

New RSPB wetland advice

Copies of an updated advisory sheet on scrape creation for breeding waders and a new technical advice note on modifying drainage systems for wetland restoration were posted on the discussion forum.

Update on the Campaign for the Farmed Environment

The first monitoring of farmers attitudes to the Campaign since the baseline monitoring showed that 82% of farmers had heard about the Campaign. About a quarter of farmers had already taken action and of the remaining ¾, about half intended to take action in the future. 49% of arable holdings kept cultivable land out of production in 2009-10, and the total area is estimated to be 156,000ha.

Helping lapwings win the battle against predation

A farmer posted a message concerned that young chicks of his small population of lapwings had been predated by marsh harriers and a kestrel. A specialist adviser on wet grassland management said that there has been a particular problem on many sites this year with the relatively short sward induced by the cold start to the spring. He said that the maintenance of a varied, tussocky sward was the key to allow adult birds to remain vigilant, whilst giving the chicks access to cover in the event of a predator attack. There was a study reported at the spring AAB conference where measures to encourage lapwings to nest in the middle of fields (by establishing more in-field wet features) and discourage them from nesting in the edges (by allowing the vegetation to grow taller) had so far proved inconclusive, as lapwings had stubbornly continued to nest close to the edges of the fields!

Yellow wagtails and oilseed rape

A farmer asked whether yellow wagtails nest in oilseed rape, as she had seen some in flowering rape this spring. The consensus view was that oilseed rape was not a good crop for nesting yellow wagtails as it was too tall and dense, but it may work well as a foraging habitat for insects.