Blogs

Crops

Following several weeks of unsettled weather, including several inches of snow, we are currently waiting for the ground to dry up enough for us to plough in the spring beans and apply the first nitrogen to the oilseed rape.

The crops overall are looking good, if slightly too advanced. The one exception is a few areas of the oilseed rape that were severely damaged by slugs in the early autumn. The contractor sprayed one field of rape in January to control the large amounts of charlock.

Birds

The autumn and winter have been very good for birds on the Farm.

Fortnightly monitoring of the Farm has produces maximum flocks of 398 linnets in September, declining to 162 in January; a record count, 178, of meadow pipits in December and high numbers of yellowhammer, with 121 in January. The flock of linnets is particularly noteworthy, as this is the first winter that a sizeable flock has stayed at the Farm throughout the winter since RSPB tenure began.

The finches and buntings are primarily using the wild bird cover and the two-year fallow, which is clearly providing a sustainable food source. A small number of corn buntings mixed in with the yellowhammers for a few months, with a maximum of 12 being recorded.

Other avian highlights include a kingfisher almost daily at the southern end of the farm, a marsh harrier flying over just before Mark Avery was interviewed for Countryfile, a few brief glimpses of a merlin and four species of owl: tawny, short-eared, barn and little. Skylarks have also begun to give short song flights, but this is surely premature as winter is not over yet.

Typically, in winter, non-avian highlights are rare but good numbers of brown hare have been recorded, along with abundant signs of badger, fox and muntjac.

Visits to the farm

We will be opening the farm to the public for the national farm open day on 10 June. If you would like to come then please register your interest by ringing 01954 267438.

The calculation of the Hope Farm farmland bird index, based on the 19 species that comprise the Government's quality of life farmland bird indicator, shows our populations have increased by 63% in just seven years since purchasing the farm.

The species that contribute to the farmland bird index are the corn bunting, goldfinch, greenfinch, grey partridge, jackdaw, kestrel, lapwing, linnet, reed bunting, rook, skylark, starling, stock dove, tree sparrow, turtle dove, whitethroat, woodpigeon, yellow wagtail and yellowhammer.

The highlights this year have been the continued increase in yellowhammer territories, now up to 30 pairs (from 14 in 2000), the record number of whitethroat (37) and starling (18) territories and the breeding lapwings.

These record numbers have not just been confined to the breeding season. So far this winter we have recorded 400 linnets, 100 yellowhammers and six corn buntings using the set-aside.

Benefits of broadcast oilseed rape

For the last two years, we have established our oilseed rape using a broadcast method. This provides large savings in establishment costs compared with our traditional establishment method of minimum tillage.

By broadcasting, we provide more over-winter stubble, which has the potential to be a good source of grain and weed seeds and should be preferred by birds.

Next year, in a new trial, we will be monitoring the numbers of birds using the crop, yields produced and net margins of establishing oilseed rape by both broadcast and minimum tillage methods. The warm and mild weather has allowed the crops to advance quickly following early sowing. We will be fighting hard to keep the pigeons and slugs off the crop over this forthcoming winter.

With the breeding season monitoring finally completed at the end of June we have now turned our attention to analysing the results.

Our biggest highlights of the year have to be the confirmed breeding of lapwings and grey partridges.

Two large lapwing chicks were seen running around our two-year set-aside field for most of June before departing whilst a covey of grey partridge chicks were seen on one of the margins of the fields. Skylark, yellowhammer and linnet numbers are similar to last year's record numbers.

Skylark, yellowhammer and linnet numbers are similar to last year's record numbersThe full results from this year's monitoring will be available later in the year.

Harvest

Harvest at Hope Farm was completed in early August with mixed results. Fortunately, we were able to harvest all our crops in dry weather, so we don't have any additional drying costs.

We grew wheat and oilseed rape and spring beans this year. Wheat yields were fairly consistently higher this year than last across the farm. We only grew one variety, Robigus which yielded 10.36 t/ha (4.16 t/acre) for the first wheats and 8.70 t/ha (3.49 t/acre) for second wheats.

Our oilseed rape (a variety called Winner) yielded between 2.5 t/ha- 3.25 t/ha (1-1.3 t/acre), which was better than we initially expected but still disappointing. The crop was again broadcast which substantially reduced our establishment costs. Our spring beans, variety Syncro, yielded 3.13 t/ha (1.25 t/acre).

Successful open days

During June and July we held a number of open days for the local community and RSPB supporters who donate regularly to the farm.

These were well attended and everyone went away enthused about the project with most avoided the showery weather. We are planning to run further events on the 16 and 17 June 2007. If you give regularly to support the work of Hope farm and would like to attend future events, then please register your interest via membership@rspb.org.uk or call membership services on 01767 680551. Please include your name, address, postcode, and phone number in your e-mail.

If you would like to donate money to our work at Hope Farm, please call 01767 680551 and we will be happy to help (Mon to Fri, 9 am to 5 pm).

Breeding bird monitoring started in April and we have now completed the first five Common Bird Census surveys on Hope Farm. The highlight so far has to be the appearance of two pairs of lapwings, which have been displaying over our largest field planted with spring beans. We are currently keeping a close eye for any signs of breeding.

Early indications suggest that the number of territories of skylarks and yellowhammers appear to be similar to last year. Migrants including swallows, whitethroats and lesser whitethroats have arrived back slightly later than previous years but numbers have now built up.

Starling numbers reach new peak

The number of starling boxes occupied this year reached twenty four, almost double last year's figure. These include fifteen pairs of starlings, eight pairs of great *** and a pair of blue ***. The boxes have been placed in our orchard, pasture and woodland. We will be monitoring each box closely to assess how well they are faring. Elsewhere, we have breeding robins, skylarks, blackbirds, dunnocks and song thrushes, collared doves and stock doves.

Crops developing

With the contractor having applied the last application of fertiliser and some much-needed rain, both the wheat and the oil seed rape are developing quickly. The oil seed rape is currently in full flower giving the fields the distinctive yellow colour.

The soil was sufficiently dry by the end of February for us to plough in the spring beans, which have now germinated. This is the first time that we have included the crop intentionally into the rotation; in 2004, they were sown because the oil seed rape had failed.

In the last couple of weeks, the remaining part of the wild bird cover trial has been drilled. This trial will be comparing bird usage and seed production of WM1 (the standard wildbird seed mixture of kale, quinoa and triticale - popular with many farmers) with a specially designed 'Hope Farm' mix more suited to our farm. Seed mixtures have been kindly provided by Kings Game Cover & Conservation Crops.

Visitors around the farm

Over the last couple of months, we have hosted a number of important groups including the NFU Eastern regional board, Rural Payments Agency (RPA) staff and Rural Development Service (RDS) staff. Forthcoming events include a visit by several Members of Parliament.

Despite the driest January on record, we have been busy creating our new wet features at the farm. Created by broadening and constructing bunds in some of our watercourses and ditches, we aim not only to improve the feeding opportunities for a range of key farmland birds like yellow wagtails and reed buntings but also assess their value in tackling issues of diffuse pollution.

Nitrates and phosphates added to fields in February and March as fertiliser can sometimes contaminate watercourses and we are keen to see if these features can help remove this by plants like reeds using the nitrates for growth and allow the phosphates to settle attached to soil particles.

Given the relatively cheap cost of producing these, it is hoped that this will be another management technique which has been identified at Hope Farm to the benefit of farmers, wildlife and the wider public.

Getting back onto the fields

January and February are quiet months here at Hope Farm from the farming point of view. The latter part of February has seen the application of fertiliser to our oilseed rape crops, whilst our wheat crops are well advanced in their development so we will assess the need for a fertiliser application soon.

Also, we will be ploughing in our spring beans, once the soil is sufficiently dry. These will be planted in two fields, the largest of which is 27 hectares and which we hope may be attractive enough to entice lapwings to breed.

Regardless of this, the benefits of the spring bean crop will be a nesting habitat for yellow wagtails and skylarks, reduced farm bills as there is no need to apply fertiliser to beans (they have nodules on their roots which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere), and help in our weed control without the need to resort to purely chemical applications.

Spring drawing near...

Despite snow flurries in the latter part of February, the bird populations are showing signs that spring is around the corner. Most notably, our skylarks are becoming territorial across the farm, being a regular feature singing high in the sky above our wheat fields (which all contain skylark plots).

Also our grey partridges have begun to pair up. Increasingly instead of seeing a small flock, the birds are being found in pairs amongst our set-aside trials areas and our oilseed rape. We are hopeful that the tussocky grass and wildflower margins will provide the incentive needed to stay and breed as they did last year.

One group (literally) which has yet to disperse around the farm are our finches and buntings. We still have up to 140 yellowhammers, plus 80 chaffinches and reed buntings feeding at the farm.

Boxing clever

The new year saw the arrival of some new nestboxes, for barn owls and kestrels. As we have improved the habitats around the farm since its purchase, the increase in population of small mammals has been noticeable. As a result we have attracted the attentions of both barn owls and kestrels, so to help these birds we have placed boxes around the farm. Time will tell if they take up residence in these new homes we have provided. Fingers crossed.

Wildbird cover (also known as wildlife seed mixtures) is recognised as a valuable habitat for wintering seed-eating birds. The availability of this habitat through the new Environmental Stewardship Scheme is expected to increase the area of this habitat in future.

However, as with many agri-environment prescriptions, we should never stop trying to improve their environmental delivery whilst devising new ideas. 

For this reason, we have begun a scientific trial that will take place in the winters of 2006-07 and 2007-08. Grown for their seed production to provide a vital winter food source, we want to test what the impact of varying the levels of fertiliser on these 'conservation crops'.

More fertiliser may mean more seed - so more food, but these habitats are often grown adjacent to sensitive habitats like hedgerows and/or watercourses. Apply too much fertiliser and instead of the plants benefiting, it could simply end up in these habitats causing environmental damage. Three treatments: the standard rate (100kg/ha according to seed-providers recommendation), a zero rate, and a half rate will test this. 

We will be comparing bird usage and seed production of WM1 (the standard wildbird seed mixture of kale, quinoa and triticale - popular with many farmers) with a specially-designed 'Hope Farm' mix more suited to our farm (and thus relevant to the 40% of arable area on similar soils). This consists of winter linseed, winter triticale, drilled on 12" rows, which has established well. The space between the rows leaves us the area to drill the phacelia, quinoa and kale in the spring. 

Flocking to the farm

Winter is the time when many farmland birds flock together in search of food. As we enter a quiet period for our farming operations, the machinery unlikely to return until February next year, our winter feeding habitats are a hive of activity.

Flocks of linnets, chaffinches, yellowhammers and reed buntings have all been frequenting the wild bird cover we drilled in April. We have seen up to 240 linnets feasting on the linseed and millet in one of our mixtures and over 100 yellowhammers an almost permanent fixture thus far in our kale, quinoa and triticale margin.

In addition, our hedgerow-cutting regime is paying dividends. Cutting only every third year and in the late winter, rather than annually and post-harvest in the autumn, we have been building up our berry crop. We have seen the number of berries provided by cutting our hedges in this way provide FOURTEEN times the number of berries than annual cutting. This has attracted, amongst others, over 200 fieldfares.

All drilled up

Post-harvest activity has seen us oversee the drilling the majority of next year's crops. With just 30 ha of beans to go in next spring, all our wheat (84 ha) was all drilled by early October and has developed well, whilst for the second consecutive year, our oilseed rape (38 ha) was established using an autocast system.

In accordance with the new cross-compliance rules which came in this year we have ensured that we have left two metres from the centre of a hedgerow and one metre from the top of our ditches. These rules consist of existing law and new requirements that we believe are good farming practice.

Compliance is obligatory in order to receive our subsidy payment, so not only does compliance protect an important income stream but also protects these important farmland habitats from potentially damaging farm operations.

The reduced establishment costs of the autocast system for rape (see Diary September 2005) and the environmental benefits we believe achieved by retaining the winter stubble were again the key factors behind the decision.

Whilst not as wet as 2004, the damp, mild conditions helped provide the moisture required for germination. However, such conditions also favoured the slug and snail pests which led to damage. Protection of the crop during this crucial growth stage means we now have established the crop. 

As the breeding season of 2005 draws to a close, our monitoring has shown that it has been another great year for breeding birds at Hope Farm. 

Measured using the Farmland Bird Index, a nationally recognised measure of breeding bird trends on farmland, our populations have increased by a massive 56% in just the six years since purchasing the farm. 

This is of course against a backdrop of national populations having shown little improvement from their worryingly low levels. 

The highlights this year has been the continued increase in skylark numbers, now up to 34 pairs (from 10 in 2000), a doubling of yellowhammers to 28 pairs (from 14 in 2000), linnet numbers up to 16 pairs (from 6 in 2000), along with three pairs of grey partridges and many other species. 

All of these species will have been helped by the provision of habitats in 2005 available under the new Entry Level Scheme as well as our trial work, providing their critical nesting and feeding needs.

Harvest complete

Harvest at Hope Farm was completed with mixed results. Fortunately, we were able to harvest all our crops in dry weather, so we didn't have a repeat of the extremely wet weather of August 2004. 

We grew wheat and oilseed rape this year. Wheat yields were fairly consistent across the farm, with first wheats 'Claire' and 'Robigus' varieties yielding 9.83t/ha (c.4t/acre) whilst our second wheats ('Consort') achieved a respectable 8.8t/ha (3.56t/acre). 

Our oilseed rape (a variety called Pollen) yielded 2.5t/ha (1t/acre), which was disappointing compared to previous yields. The crop was established by autocasting rather than drilling. This involves broadcasting the oilseed rape seed into the previous standing wheat field (autumn 2004) and using the straw to cover the seed and provide a mulch. Although some fields grew a fairly uniform crop, others were more gappy with bare areas in some fields.

Despite this, the saving we made of over £120 per hectare in growing the crop in this way and the environmental benefits of retaining the stubble overwinter (rather than ploughing it in), means that we will continue with this method of growing our rape this way for harvest 2006.

For the first time, the combines this year had new yield mapping technology. 

This builds up a picture of the field assessing as it moves across the field which areas were the best and worst yielding. 

Over time this will provide a valuable insight into where it is worth growing a crop (where yields are consistently high) and where using the agri-environment schemes can best maximise our returns - financially and environmentally. 

Financial results for 2004 now in

Having received payment for the last batch of the crop from harvest 2004 sold, we are now able to assess our financial performance. 

This shows that we were able to sell our crops for just under £88,000, which in addition to our subsidy payment provided an income of just under £130,000 from our cropped land. 

Having cost us just over £78,500 to grow the crops and dry them (after a wet harvest period), this gives us a difference of £50,623.06. Under the agreement with our neighbouring farmer, our 'contractor' who carries out all the farm operations for us, we receive a 'fixed return' of £35,607.60 as the landowner. The difference, £15,015.46, is then split on a 23%: 77% basis in favour of our contractor. 

Coupled with our income and expenditure from the small grassland areas of the farm, the farm provided us a net return to the RSPB of £37,967.99. This is a little lower than previous years, as a result most notably of inclement weather, causing the oilseed rape to fail (and have to be replaced by beans) and the prolonged wet period during harvest meaning we incurred the additional cost of having to dry the crops prior to sale. 

Our Management Accounts are independently assessed by Smiths Gore.

With the new Entry Level Scheme now available, the size of your drill could be all important to helping the scheme make a real contribution to the economic and environmental bottom line. 

Skylarks nest and feed on the ground, in large open fields. The new skylark plots - undrilled patches devised at the farm over the last five years - make a huge difference to this bird. Allowing the birds to breed for longer and to breed more successfully, our plots have helped to treble the skylark population from 10 to 30 pairs in just five years.

Attracting five points per plot under the new scheme - equivalent to £5 once the points target is reached, farmers can produce plots ranging in size of 3x3m to 12x12m just by switching the drill off.

With first wheat yields at the farm at almost 11t/ha, we would need to sell our wheat at more than a massive £284/tonne (!) to break even with the payment for 4x4m plotsAt Hope Farm, our crops are drilled using a 12m Horsch drill, which can close off 4m sections. With first wheat yields at the farm at almost 11t/ha, we would need to sell our wheat at more than a massive £284/tonne (!) to break even with the payment for 4x4m plots.

Given the average price for our wheat this year was £70/tonne, neither we, nor the skylarks, can afford not to put plots into all our autumn-sown cereals in September at 2 per hectare. Do you farm? Find out if you can benefit from helping the skylarks on your farm.

The table below shows the contribution (£5 minus cost of production) that creating skylark plots of differing sizes can make when yielding 10 tonnes per hectare and at different wheat prices.

Blooming marvellous

Most colourful is our phacelia, birdsfoot trefoil and red clover 'pollen and nectar' margin, the purple flowers of the phacelia playing host to large numbers of bees and other insects. Unsurprisingly, our partridges and yellowhammers are just two of the species which search for insect prey to feed their chicks that are enjoying this insect 'larder' we have provided.

Also developing well are our 6m wildbird seed mixtures. Two blocks - one growing triticale, kale and qunioa and another growing barley, linseed and millet - aim to provide the widest range of seed food for our farmland birds this winter. We expect these areas to be a crucial lifeline in the cold winter months to come.

We expect these areas to be a crucial lifeline in the cold winter months to comeThe mixture drilled into our non-rotational set-aside fared less well. On a small, linear 0.93 hectare field where cropping has never been economically viable, the seed bed was good but the dry conditions and shading from the adjacent wood probably contributed to very poor germination.

Rather than just leave the field bare, we sprayed off the field with Roundup and drilled a universal mixture from Kings Game & Conservation Crops in mid-June. 

Breeding season analysis starts

Whilst the birds of Hope Farm have been busily rearing their young, our research staff have been painstakingly monitoring their activity using nationally recognised methodology.

Comprising ten surveys between April and June it is not just Hope Farm that has come under such rigorous scrutiny. We also survey our 'control farm', a nearby arable farm where we have no management control and which is typical of other arable farms in the area. 

The last of the surveys was conducted at dawn on 30 June. With all the birds mapped, we are currently analysing the results so we can accurately determine the breeding territories we have at the farm this year. 

Watch this space for the final results, but indications are that our wildlife-friendly farming methods have attracted more breeding birds like skylark, yellowhammer and grey partridge in 2005 than ever before.

Read all about it...

The last few months have seen us reach our five-year anniversary of owning Hope Farm. Thanks to the generosity of our membership, we were able to buy the farm with the aim to help arable farmers to help wildlife within a commercially viable business. 

To mark the anniversary, we have produced a brand new booklet 'Hope for farming'. This not only details why the RSPB bought Hope Farm, but what we have achieved in the last five years and how we are planning to help farmers and wildlife flourish alongside each other in the years to come.

Getting back into the rotation

Having been out of production since harvest 2003, our two-year set-aside trial looks set to provide some real challenges as we focus on bringing it back into the rotation. 

The wildlife benefits of the trial have been huge, a four-fold increase in skylark breeding numbers on the field, attracting grey partridges to breed on the farm for the first time and large flocks of wintering yellowhammers and reed buntings to name just a few. 

The road to bringing the field back into production began in June, as the field was sprayed with Roundup in order to control weeds such as blackgrass, brome and cleavers - all known to damage crop yields and be of little feed value to wildlife. 

To test how best to bring this 10.2 hectare (24.6 acre) field back into production, the field will be split in half, with one half growing winter wheat while the other half grows spring beans. Ease of establishment, management methods and ultimately the yields will all be closely monitored over the next 12 months - so watch this space for updates on progress.

As spring has arrived bringing the warmer weather with occasional rain, our wheat and oilseed rape crops have been growing rapidly across the farm. From the very sparse oilseed rape crops in March we now have a thick flowering crop in many of our fields as each plant has grown and branched out.

Similarly, our wheat is responding to the excellent growing conditions. It won't be long until it reaches the critical 50 cm height, which we know begins to exclude skylarks from the all important field floor. However, we have ensured our skylarks won't suffer at Hope Farm as we have provided two 'skylark plots' per hectare in every wheat field.

Devised at Hope Farm, these small undrilled areas allow the birds crucial access to the ground to nest and feed allowing them to breed successfully for longer than in fields without 'plots'.

Skylarks

Skylarks normally start building their first nests around the start of April and this year is no exception. So far, we have found ten nests but still we have a long way to go to reach the 46 found last year - which we are confident of achieving as we have more territorial males singing at the farm this year than ever before.

Breeding season surveys start

The research team have started their annual summer bird monitoring to assess the number of breeding territories around the farm. We have now completed four surveys since the start of April, with a further six to be completed before the end of June.

Early indications suggest that territories of red-list species such as skylarks, yellowhammers and grey partridges appear to be higher than in previous years. Migrants such as lesser whitethroats, whitethroats and swallows have also arrived back from their wintering quarters.

Around the farmyard we have breeding blackbirds, swallows, house sparrows, robins, collared doves, stock doves, greenfinches and wrens.

Nestbox success

Eight pairs of starlings, seven great *** and three blue *** are using nest boxes provided around the farm. The clutches of starlings have all hatched and the parents are very busy providing insect food, from pastures and set aside, for their 37 young.

We expect that the great and blue *** will hatch within the next week. Elsewhere around the farmyard we have breeding blackbirds, swallows, house sparrows, robins, collared doves, stock doves, greenfinches and wrens.

Improving our oilseed rape crop

Early May saw the start of a new trial at Hope Farm. With the oilseed rape crop growing well, we have started to examine if we can improve this crop for birds such as song thrushes and blackbirds. By maintaining a greater level of soil moisture beneath it, the crops dense canopy can harbour insects such as snails and slugs - a favoured food of these thrushes.

However, the density of the canopy can prevent the birds' access to this food source, so we have been cutting strips into the crop along the tramlines (where the wheels of the machinery go). By the removal of a very small amount of crop, we hope that we can find a way of improving a crop which is currently grown on over half a million hectares of UK farmland each year.

Planning ahead

Over the past couple of months, we have been managing our margins to maximise their benefits in the coming year. In early April, during perfect weather conditions, we drilled 6 m margins of wildbird cover and pollen and nectar mixes.

Two types of wildbird cover have been sown. First a mix of triticale (a cereal plant), quinoa and kale, whilst on another part of the farm a mix of barley, linseed and millet has been sown. The different types of seed help a range of birds, each capable of handling one or more of the different size seeds these plants will produce in the coming winter.

At the same time, we have sown our pollen and nectar mixes. Containing a mixture of clover, phacelia and birdsfoot trefoil, these have begun to germinate and will soon be attracting huge numbers of bees, butterflies and other insects. All will help to support the crucial food chain on the farm in the coming months, with most of our farmland birds relying on ample supplies of insects to feed their chicks.

Seed mixtures have been kindly provided by Kings Game Cover & Conservation Crops.

Early March saw the launch of the new Environmental Stewardship Schemes, which includes many options which the RSPB has designed and/or promoted for some time. 

The last few months has been spent preparing the farm to meet the requirements of the scheme and provide the three vital ingredients which farmland birds need to thrive - safe nest sites, supplies of insect food in the breeding season and a plentiful supply of seeds in the winter. 

Six metre margins have been left around one of our larger fields. These will be cultivated in the spring and sown with blocks of wild bird mix and pollen and nectar mixes. The wild bird mixtures include triticale, quinoa and kale - all seed-bearing plants which will attract buntings and finches to feed next winter. 

The pollen and nectar mixes include phacelia, red clover and bird's foot trefoil, which are hugely attractive to bees and butterflies. Such habitats, alongside our sympathetic hedgerow management and 140 skylark plots in all our winter wheat fields, help us to qualify for a payment of £30 per hectare across the whole farm.

We are ensuring that the Entry Level Stewardship Scheme at Hope Farm will not only benefit the wildlife on the farm but also the farm accounts.

Waiting for the sun

Our winter wheat and oilseed rape crops have developed well, and have spent a quiet period through much of February under the thin blanket of snow brought by the cold northerly winds. 

The oilseed rape crops have received their fertiliser and with spring just around the corner, we expect the crop to grow rapidly when the warmer weather comes to Hope Farm. 

The signs that spring is almost upon us are around the farm - with skylarks now singing setting up their territories, starlings investigating our nestboxes and a pair of collared doves already with one chick.

Getting to know your birds... individually

The latter part of the winter is recognised as crucial for so many birds - as natural food supplies diminish, as temperatures remain low and birds are trying to get into condition for the forthcoming breeding season.

To ensure that food is readily available, the staff at Hope Farm put out grain and other seeds around the farmyard. This attracts good flocks of yellowhammers, alongside sparrows and finches. 

With house sparrows having such a hard time recently across the country, we are intensively monitoring our population. Birds are caught and individually ringed - with both a metal ring which is uniquely numbered and a unique combination of three coloured rings.

This allows us to get to know individual house sparrows and monitor their survival over winter. Research staff carry out intensive resighting periods of 18 hours in November, January and March. With 27 birds identified, we know our oldest surviving sparrow is over three years old.

Other bird highlights

In the last couple of months, we have seen a number of welcome visitors to the farm, whilst retaining good numbers of others. 

Throughout the winter, the farm has hosted 100+ mixed flock of finches and buntings - originally on our whole field set-aside trial, the birds are making greater use of the rest of the farm.  

Along with 20 snipe and 3 grey partridge, our set-aside field played host to a short-eared owl for a few days, whilst a woodcock somewhat surprisingly decided to lie low in one of our oilseed rape fields (that is until one of us walked past it!)

Set-aside delivery

Within the three-week period following the advisory group meeting, the majority of the wheat from the volunteers was consumed by a mixed flock of woodpigeons, crows and rooks with peak counts of 2,500 woodpigeons, 300 rooks and 100 crows. Despite this, skylark counts remain high with 121 present on 11 Jan.

Numbers of yellowhammers and reed buntings, using the set aside field, are lower than in November but across the whole farm have remained the same. Other highlights have included the first ever peregrine seen on the farm, three grey partridges and eight snipe.

Crop development

Crops are developing well. Some of the oilseed rape looks sparse in places having used the Autocast method. However, we remain confident that the crop will fill out to provide a good yield. The skylark plots are an obvious part of the Hope farm landscape within our wheat fields and we are in the process of mapping them all with a GPS unit. This will allow us to identify any future weed burden in subsequent crops. All first wheat has been sprayed with Duprosan to control the volunteer beans within the last week.

SAFFIE margins

The SAFFIE Project Steering Group (Sustainable Arable Farming For an Improved Environment) have examined the relative merits of the three trial management options (mowing, scarification - creating bare earth, and selective herbicide use) and have decided to adopt 60% scarification as our margin management treatment.

Taking into consideration the desire to identify a new technique which farmers could implement, given most farmers have 3-4m wide power harrow, and to protect soil & vegetation next to watercourses and hedge-bottoms, only the outer (crop-side) 3-4m of the margin would be scarified. The plan is to scarify the SAFFIE margins in February.

Scandinavian visitor returns

Ringing at Hope Farm has continued with the highlights including a re-trapped fieldfare in December, previously caught on the farm by Will Kirby in 2003. In 2004, a total of 1,046 new birds from 37 species were ringed. New species in 2004 were spotted flycatcher and sedge warbler.

This is an increase on previous years' totals, but has much to do with our increased ringing effort. For example, the new Constant Effort Ringing activity helped to trap 119 adult whitethroats compared to a maximum of just 7 adults in previous years.

We have very carefully counted the number of birds breeding at Hope Farm over the last four years. We are delighted to have seen a steady rise in the birds of the arable farmland including skylarks, linnets, yellowhammers and reed buntings. These birds are the ones that have undergone such a catastrophic decline in the last 30 years.

We have also noted a rise in the diversity of bird species making use of Hope Farm in the winter. In our first full winter (2000/01) we had 57 species making use of the land. This number has risen steadily each winter and 68 species made use of the land last winter (2003/04). Much of this rise has been due to birds that had just been seen flying over, such as lapwings, golden plovers and gulls, now landing and feeding on the fields.

This winter we achieved a landmark in the number of bird species seen at Hope Farm when a barn owl was seen hunting at dusk over the stubble fields. This was the 100th species to be seen at the farm.

If we group together the number of territories of the farmland birds for each breeding season, as we have done in the graph, we can compare our achievements at Hope Farm with what is happening across the countryside. The comparable figures for Eastern England do not show the marked rise that we have noted although thankfully the decline seems to have been stemmed across the region.

The Government has set a target of reversing the decline in farmland birds by 2020. We have not just reversed it at Hope Farm, we have produced a major increase over the last four summers. Our aim now is to enable farmers to carry out similar management to that at Hope Farm with the result that they can reverse any declines that have occurred on their farms.

Overview harvest '03 - Ups and downs of crops and cash

The weather hit our crops last year with a dry spring and summer significantly reducing the yields of the wheat - they were down between a half and one and a half tonnes per hectare, dependent on the field and the crop's position in the rotation.

Whilst we lost on yield, we gained significantly this year on income, with a sharp rise in the world price of wheat. Comparable quality grain from harvest 2002 was selling at £55/tonne, this winter the wheat harvested in 2003 sold at over £90/tonne. Oilseed rape yields and prices were similar between the two years.

The wheat price rise, that was both unexpected and completely outside of our control, resulted in the highest income after costs in all the years that the RSPB has owned Hope Farm. After taking out crop production costs, income was up over £20,000 on last year.

Winter '03-'04 - Stubbles, seed and feed

Detailed research by the RSPB over the years has identified how the stubble left in fields after cereal crops have been harvested can sometimes provide rich pickings for seed-eating birds. They are able to search for and find cereal grains that were left by the combine harvester, and the seeds of weeds that grew within the crop or after it was harvested. When the stubble remains throughout the winter it can provide a vital source of food to enable birds to survive cold weather.

RSPB researchers have noted how some stubble fields support many birds but some support few. This appears to be due to a combination of the number and type of seeds present, how easy it is to find the seeds amongst the dead cereal stalks and how much time the birds need to spend on the look out for potential predators.

To untangle these factors and to help develop some practical advice to farmers we created different feeding conditions in two stubble fields. In half of each field the stubble was cut short in late autumn and then, creating a chequer board pattern, wheat grains were spread across half of the long and short stubble in each field in December, February and March.

Throughout the winter and early spring we kept a close watch on the birds using these two fields, noting exactly where they were feeding. We have now analysed the counts. The skylarks and game birds, including up to five grey partridges, preferred the longer stubble. Fieldfares and starlings preferred to probe for insects and worms amongst the shorter stubble and rooks rapidly learnt to go where the grain had been spread. Unfortunately, there were just not enough yellowhammers and chaffinches around this winter to come to any conclusions on how the length of the stubble affected them.

Early spring '04 - The cropping cycle

The oilseed rape in three fields failed to grow due to the very dry autumn and was resown with beans in the autumn. We had nursed the remaining, largest oilseed rape field through the late autumn and into the winter. We hoped that it would survive to pick up in the spring to provide a crop to reward our efforts.

Cold winds and heavy frosts in January and February put paid to any hope that the small plants would survive - the frost lifted them out of the ground and killed their roots. So, this spring, we had to resow with field beans. The seedbed was already prepared for the oilseed rape and the beans could be drilled into the ground as the soil dried in March.

Over the next three weeks the rooks first gorged on any seed that had not been buried deep enough. Then they feasted on the delicacy of bean sprouts as the young plants emerged up through the ground. However, we had expected some losses to rooks and had compensated for this with some extra seed. The loss we experienced was more of a thinning rather than complete removal of the crop in any area.

The early planted wheat that had been sown into such a dry soil in the autumn was still trying to make up for lost growth through into March. The later planted wheat had been sown into a better seedbed in October and received rain soon after, leading to a vigorous and even emergence. This later planted wheat looked in better shape than the early wheat throughout the winter and into early spring. This was the reverse of what might be expected in a 'normal' year.

Spring '04 - Butterflies on the edge

Many conservation bodies promote the planting of areas for wildlife using locally sourced seed. Most farmers will source their seed for sowing areas such as field margins from their usual crop seed supplier. The result is that they are likely to receive seed of varieties that have been improved for agricultural use by selective breeding and/or using stock from other European countries.

There is a risk that such varieties may be of reduced value for wildlife. They are certainly cheaper than seed from native stock.

Some experiments at Writtle College, Essex, have shown that the caterpillars of brown and skipper butterflies develop poorly on the agricultural improved varieties of their normal grass foodplant. Since caterpillars are an important food for the chicks of several farmland birds, such as yellowhammers, it is important to know if this holds true on farms.

Working with Writtle College and NIAB, a specialist plant breeding research organisation, we have sown a series of field margins with grass and flower mixes from different sources. Over the next three years we will be looking together at the use made of these margins by butterflies and how it relates to the varieties sown. This will help us to justify recommending the use of more expensive native varieties to farmers because of the added wildlife value. This work also has the backing of Butterfly Conservation.

Spring '04 - Early breeding season prospects

We counted up to 23 singing skylarks early this spring. This was higher than the same period last year, giving us hope that we may see another year of rising skylark numbers. We believe that we have provided very good conditions for them with undrilled patches in the wheat fields, areas of fallow on our set-aside and beans rather than oilseed rape as our break crop.

Egg-laying by the larks appears to be late though, probably due to several wet periods in April. This means that the late season nesting opportunities that we provide become all the more important in enabling each pair of skylarks to produce several broods of young through to harvest.

Crop and estate management

The lack of rain dominated our thoughts. Less than 20 mm fell between harvest and the end of October. Very little of the oilseed rape that had been sown in late August had emerged by the end of September. Three fields had virtually no germinated seed and we decided to write it off. 

We were faced with the option of sowing now with winter beans, waiting until the spring and sowing with a spring break crop (cereals didn't fit the rotation) or setting the land aside. Spring sowing would be very risky. A nearby farmer had grown spring rape this year as a pilot arable stewardship scheme option.

Poor germination in the dry spring meant he had harvested not much more than half a ton per hectare. That did not look an attractive option, especially as we would not be receiving the stewardship payment. Broadcasting beans and ploughing them in was the option with the least risk and this was chosen.

The 'first' wheat was drilled in mid September into a dry, dusty and lumpy seedbed. Germination and emergence was slow and patchy but it looks as if they will slowly thicken out. At this stage we do not expect such a poor stand that it will have an effect on our continuing trials of our deliberately created patches in these wheat fields.

It was not until the end of October that the rows of seedlings had filled out sufficiently to make the undrilled patches easily visible. The 'second' wheat was drilled in mid October. We kept waiting for that forecast of substantial rain but it did not come. The decision was made to press ahead with drilling into the dry seedbed.  It was better to have the seed in the ground waiting for the rain than risk being caught out by a deluge, sodden soils and no seed sown at all.

We had planned to sow some experimental grass margins this autumn but the lack of rain has meant that this will be postponed until the spring. This sowing will be of a series of blocks of different grass varieties from different sources.

There is a suggestion that the caterpillars of brown and skipper butterflies do not thrive on some commercial grass cultivars - exactly those cultivars that a farmer is most likely to sow in his grass margins. The result could be 'green concrete', great as a buffer zone to keep farming operations away from the field boundary, but useless as a wildlife habitat. 

Birds and biodiversity

There have been up to 100 linnets feeding on the cultivated rape stubble in September, presumably searching for fallen rape seed. Two birds had been notable by their absence over the late spring and summer - the grey partridge and little owl. Both have now re-appeared with regular sightings.

Lapwings and golden plovers also appear to be more regular this autumn with small numbers seen on the fields as well as passing over. A late hobby in October and two bramblings feeding with the chaffinches marked the change over of the seasons. 

Both round-leaved and sharp-leaved fluellens (Kickxia spuria and K. elatine respectively) were found in the grass margin that was sown this spring. The latter is new for the farm and unexpected on such heavy soil.

Crop and estate management

The dry weather (with cold nights in spring) persisted from February largely without respite through the summer. The result was slow development of the crops, reduced grain-fill but a very early, easy and rapid harvest.

The dryness favoured the limited spring cultivation that we carried out prior to sowing some new grass margins and the resowing of the wild bird cover crops. It may have been easy to get these spring sown crops into the ground but the lack of rain slowed germination and subsequent growth.

The triticale in the wild bird cover withstood this drought well and produced many well filled heads but the young grasses in the sown margins were brown and crisp by August. Hopefully with autumn rains these will pick up very rapidly.

Our post harvest cultivations are aimed at disturbing the surface to create a stale seed bed within which weeds, particularly blackgrass, might germinate. The lack of moisture has meant that this technique just hasn't worked this year and once rains come we might expect a large flush of weeds to coincide with crop emergence, making grass weed control a real challenge this autumn.

Birds and biodiversity

In early spring, before nesting had commenced, our counts of singing male skylarks varied between 15 and 19 birds across the farm. Numbers rose into April and our final territory count taken across the whole nesting season was 27 territories. This is a continuing year-on-year increase based on a consistent survey each year - the previous three years' territory counts were 10, 18 and 24 territories.

Most significant was that there were only 10 territories in 2000 when the crops were distributed in the same fields as this year. The first nests were found in the oilseed rape fields while the crop was still short. As it grew too tall and the wheat became more suitable we found the nests in this crop. Later nesting attempts were concentrated in the fields with the undrilled patches and wide spaced rows as we had hoped.

Other birds that fared well were yellowhammers - the increase recorded over the period 2000-2002 was held with 18 territories found again - and linnets which increased again in 2003 to 16 territories.

Not such positive news was that we were unable to prove that any of the grey partridges reared young on the farm after three males were seen, sometimes with females, to the end of May. Also disappointing have been the losses of some other breeding birds. An absence of cuckoo reflects a national downturn but the loss of little owl must be a local effect.

Sedge warblers bred in the oilseed rape this year, a new breeding species. New species seen flying over the farm were a short-eared owl in spring, presumably a migrant moving north to its upland breeding grounds and a redshank in late summer doing the reverse journey. The species count for the farm (including fly-overs) now stands at 99.

Crop and estate management

The crop in the fields that are in their second year of growing wheat in the rotation had fully emerged by the beginning of November, having been sown in early October. Two of these fields had been sown with our trial to create nesting opportunities for skylarks. It was then possible to see where the undrilled patches had been created and note the difference in row width between a conventionally sown field and one sown at twice the normal row width.

These fields received a herbicide application in late November and this was the last treatment to any of our crops this year. Nothing else will go onto the crops until there is a dry, warm spell in early March when the rape will receive its first nitrogen dressing.

The last of the grain was sold from the farm store in mid December and it is now possible to review last harvests yields and profitability. Oilseed rape yields were much better than last year at an average of 3.2 tonnes per hectare (t/ha).

Average yields would have been higher still but for the damage to one field by woodpigeons. They gathered on a part of the field that could not be effectively scared due to the slope of the land and a house at its lower end.

Wheat yields also varied across the farm. The wheat that followed oilseed rape averaged 10.3 t/ha while the same variety following set-aside yielded less at 8.0 t/ha. This was due to a soil borne disease that had persisted in the set-aside fields, surviving on the roots of the self-sown wheat and grasses. The quality of this wheat, variety Claire, was affected by the rain in August that delayed the harvest. Its poor quality meant that it could only be sold into the low price feed wheat market.

The wheat that followed wheat in the rotation last year was a particularly early maturing variety, Soissons, and this was harvested before the rains. It produced a very good quality grain that fetched a premium price for milling for bread flour. This good price was in part offset by the inherently lower yield of this variety at an average of just over 8 t/ha. The overall effect of improved yields but some lower prices was that the income left after all crop production costs had been accounted for was up from £46,000 in 2001, to £49,000 in 2002.

Birds and biodiversity

The peak skylark count so far this winter was 85 on 18 December. This was our highest ever count, the birds being almost wholly in the oilseed rape. Linnets have hung around for the first time this autumn with a peak of 13 on 1 November. We have been putting out farm grown wheat and oilseed rapeseed for the birds since early autumn.

Our first yellowhammer feeding on this supply this winter occurred on 5 December although there has been a flock of 30 to 40 birds ranging across the set-aside strips. The peak count at the feeding site was 64 chaffinches and 11 yellowhammers on 19 December.

Our unharvested mix of wheat and kale, now in its second year, saw a dramatic drop in numbers of feeding birds after the end of October. It appears that the gales at that month's end rattled all the seeds out and onto the ground. Here they disappeared amongst the weeds or we presume were eaten by mice and voles.

We have occasionally been flushing snipe from fields or ditches over the last three winters. This December single birds were flushed on two occasions. Closer to the true number of snipe present was revealed when we did a nighttime mammal count using a spotlight eight snipe were counted across the farm along with three woodcock.

A new addition to the farm bird list was a drake wigeon that was seen on one of the ponds. It was a very foggy morning and it is presumed that it was lost and landed on the first water it found. Birds just flying over the farm included 17 golden plover on 1 November and a buzzard drifting over from adjacent woods or copses on several occasions.