Remember this splendid if somewhat sentimental 80’s film?! It’s about a farmer who responds to a voice telling him to plough up his wheat and build a baseball pitch, which is then visited by celebrated figures from the past.
He is mocked by his neighbours for destroying the crop, but it turns out that the pitch brings its own rewards which, although less tangible than a ton of wheat, are just as valuable.
In the Fens, many farmers are responding to voices telling them to create wildlife habitat. Funded by Stewardship schemes and helped by the RSPB, they are using small amounts of well chosen land to provide farmland birds with the things they need - winter seed food, summer insect food and safe nesting places.
They are planting things like nectar flower mixes, full of clovers and vetches, which help bees and butterflies and provide loads of tasty caterpillars for birds like the grey partridge to feed to their chicks. Or wild bird seed mixes, which are like a giant living bird feeder and help make sure that tree sparrows and corn buntings can find enough grain to survive the winter.
There’s a tendency for these areas to be seen simply as being ‘out of production’. True, the land isn’t directly producing food destined for human consumption (or animal consumption, as most UK wheat is), but it is providing protection for our soil and water, storage for carbon, habitat for our pollinators and food for our birds, bugs and beasts. So though these farmers are sometimes mocked by their neighbours, the ‘ecosystem services’ that they provide bring enormous benefit to us all.
I’ve been helping farmers put these mixes in for two years now, but it still amazes and thrills me how fast Nature moves in. This week I popped in to visit Janet, a farmer in Crowland near Peterborough – as I wandered past one of the brand new nectar flower mixes, I heard a familiar jangling sound and looked up to find a corn bunting singing from the telegraph wires above me.
Last week I dropped in on Ed, a farmer near Ely in Cambridgeshire, to find that just a year into his Stewardship scheme, breeding grey partridge have returned to the farm, and there are maybe half a dozen corn bunting territories. You can hear his nectar flower mixes before you see them, thanks to the cacophony of buzzing bees and hoverflies.
Our farmland birds, still declining, are in danger of becoming figures from the past. But there are simple things that farmers can do – and are doing - to step up for nature and stop this happening. I don’t know the first thing about baseball (although I’ve studied Kevin Costner pretty hard over the years!) but it appears that it’s true what they say – if you build it, they will come.
Niki Williamson
RSPB Fenland Farmland Bird Advisor
Unlike normal people, who spend their Wednesday evenings enjoying a free ticket to the cinema, the Agriculture Policy nerds at the RSPB have spent the last 12 hours or so digesting and interpreting the EU budget proposals for the period 2014-2020, which were announced last night. As many of you will know there’s a lot at stake for the environment across Europe.
So what was the result? We are viewing the figures with a mixture of relief but also extreme disappointment. Relief because the secret plans of some within the European Commission to make severe cuts to the budget for wildlife friendly farming, forestry management and rural development were pushed off the table late in the negotiations. This is in no small part due to the intense lobbying by us and our supporters, including many farmers who spoke up to protect this essential funding. A sincere thank-you to everyone who helped.
So why the disappointment? According to the Commission’s figures and the narrative around it, funding for Rural Development has been saved from the axe. Isn’t that what we were after? No – is the short answer. The funding is already insufficient to address the challenges facing the natural environment in the wider countryside. And far from increasing the pot of money available for wildlife friendly farming and rural development, the budget has in fact been cut by at least 7% in real terms, compared to the current CAP. If this figure remains unchanged through upcoming European negotiations it will mean less money for farmers who want to improve the environmental benefits their land provides, less money to protect threatened wildlife, less money to manage protected areas, and less money to tackle climate change from agriculture.
All these challenges are ones that Europe itself has promised to tackle by 2020. With this short-sighted budget, it is very difficult to see how they or the UK Government are going to deliver.
So what next? Do we give up and go to the cinema? Hell no – we’re in this for the long haul. As you will see in our press release, the next few months will be vital and the RSPB, its BirdLife partners and other NGO colleagues will continue to work hard to mobilize not just MEPs and Member State Governments, but also continue the work with supporters, members, farmers and other voices for nature in getting the best result possible for biodiversity and the environment, and for the farmers and land managers who can make it happen.
Abigail Bunker, Acting Head of Agriculture Policy
I hope you like numbers (don’t you?) as I have a few for you today:
100, a lovely round number isn’t it, it’s more than an impulse. It’s a ton, a significant milestone.
It’s the number of bird surveys RSPB Volunteers carried out for Eastern England farmers this April. That’s about 500 hours donated to help farmers find out more about their birdlife in just one month: quite a gift I hope you agree! Another 20 surveys will hopefully have been started in May, and each surveyor needs to fit in three surveys on their local farm before Harvest gets going in Mid July to complete the V&FA survey.
This gives us enough information to deduce where the key species are holding territories so we can show these on the final map presented to the farmer, inform future habitat management and support a HLS application where relevant.
9’111.01 (911: american emergency plus room 101- read into it what you will!)
This huge number is the number of hectares Eastern England Volunteers have surveyed so far this year- if those farmers all did the farmland bird package just on that fraction of their land, that could equate to 180 football pitches worth of wild bird seed mixtures to get farmland birds through the hungry gap in winter.
12- a dozen and the number of years we’ve been providing this service to farmers. Over the years, we’ve worked with over a thousand farmers here in the east, and hope to work with many more, either by providing a free bird surveys, helping to make agri-environment schemes work for both the farm and its wildlife, and offer practical advice, training & solutions.
I’m one of 138 Volunteers doing farmland bird surveys in their own time this year, and it brings so many rewards, not just some brilliant bird ticks (but a love of birds does help as you’ll see...).
This year, a few of our volunteer surveyors (including me) will be sending in their survey diaries which I will post here when available- so watch this space!
The signs from the EU in the last few days are that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, is considering major cuts to pillar two of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). An essential fund that amongst other things pays farmers and landowners to manage their land in wildlife friendly ways (as pictured and taken just days ago) President Barroso is expected to announce the budget on Wednesday 29 June. If these reports are true, it would mean that the EU will fail to get anywhere near its recently adopted biodiversity target, and problems like water pollution and soil erosion would further increase. The CAP has long been criticised for inefficiency and waste. It would be unbelievable if cuts were targeted at the one part of the policy that is actually delivering for public goods and rural populations. The RSPB is asking members of the public and farmers to join them in sending an email to President Barroso at www.rspb.org.uk/capreform calling for a fair deal for farm wildlife and public benefits. Any reduction will remove the lifeline on which many of our most-loved species depend and will risk decades of effort, which has already helped save many species from the brink. Farmers, landowners and agronomists from all around my region have expressed their upset with the situation and pledged to make a stand together with the RSPB. Suffolk Farmer, James Bucher said: “This is just absolutely staggering news. We as farmers are given such mixed messages; on one hand, we are told to farm to help the environment, but today we hear of emerging policies like this. It is a total contradiction. Species of farmland wildlife are in decline, I am stepping up for nature on my farm, but I need the help and support of government and the EU to create and manage areas for public benefits. “Without these funds many farmers will not be able to help farm wildlife and as a result some of the most beautiful wildlife and countryside will change irreversibly for the worse.” Cambridgeshire Farmer Philip Bradshaw said “Many Farmers, like myself, have enjoyed being able to improve the environmental and wildlife profile of our farms in recent years as a direct result of pillar two funding, and it is vital to the future of agriculture and the countryside that such funding continues” Edward van Cutsem of the Hilborough Estate in Norfolk said: “The bio-diversity of the environment and wildlife across the UK has benefitted substantially from Pillar 2 funding as farmers have been able to afford to bring a significantly improved balance to the land they farm. We have been provided with help in de-intensifying our farm which has saved a large number of rare species of fauna and flora from total decline, including amongst them the stone-curlew, where as a result of Pillar 2 funding we now have 15% of the national population. “The only alternative to Pillar 2 funding would be a reversal of this significant progress of the past 8 years and a return to intensive farming as we still fight to be profitable in a very difficult climate for farming. More widely one only needs to travel across the country to see how significantly it has changed from even 5 years ago, with previous 'carpet' farming now widely broken up by headlands and conservation strips and a noticeable increase in our wildlife. The Pillar 2 funding of the past ten years has only just come in time to save otherwise irreversible declines and a diminishment in our existence; can we afford to let that go?” Norfolk Farmer, John Goucher said: “This news is so worrying; it makes me wonder what is next for the countryside. If pillar two is cut this would dismiss all of the hard work of conservation organisations like the RSPB working with farmers like me to ensure the countryside, its wildlife and the next generation have a future.” Chris Skinner of High Ash Farm just outside of Norwich said: “The public wants us to farm in an environmentally and wildlife friendly way, but that does cost money. Without pillar two funds I cannot afford to farm my land to the benefit of wildlife and have to go back to more conventional ways of farming which would be disastrous for the farm wildlife and the tax payers that come to enjoy it.” Ed Cross, another Norfolk Farmer said: “This is deeply concerning news, it is clear to me that there is still much to do for farm wildlife and that species that are already in decline will only be lost forever if this fund was to be removed. On my farm I have seen changes for the better including Lapwings using HLS areas and we have also been able to take on a young trainee, none of which would have been possible without pillar two funding. Hertfordshire Farmer, John Birchall said: “We have been involved with agri-environment schemes for over 11 years now and have seen a steady improvement of the farm wildlife and the sustainability of the farm operations as a direct result of our pillar two funds. I will make a stand together with the RSPB to try to save this fund; I am really upset that such important resources may be lost effecting wildlife and the sustainable future of farming.” Essex farmers, Andrew and Allison Bond said: “We farm 300 acres in North Essex and have been in the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme for three years. It has been a lifeline not only to the many species of wildlife that have benefited from our various schemes we have on the farm, but also to us as a small family business, giving us a small amount of extra security in these hard times. Without a doubt had we not gone into the Higher Level Scheme we might well not be in business today. “The scheme has given us such pleasure and satisfaction - the various options we have taken have proved that they work - we have more corn buntings, tree sparrows, turtle doves, grey partridge, barn owls, marsh harriers, lapwings and curlews to name but a few, and we are sure that by the time we come to the end of our scheme there will be even more. We have also seen an increase in the number and variety of bees and butterflies and have been able to share our success with groups of visitors who enjoy looking around the farm and understanding what we are trying to achieve.” Adam Glover – Farmer, Norfolk said: “This is crazy, pillar two is not money for nothing, it is a payment the provides real public benefits and enables me to farm with the public interest at heart.” Richard Palmer an agronomist in Norfolk said: “I think it is vital for the future of our rural environment that CAP reform targets environmental protection and enhancement. We need to continue and expand the good work that has been done by farmers in the UK. Many have renewed ELS and converted expiring CSS schemes into HLS, as well as those that have entered into new HLS agreements. We need to move forward from this sound base to encourage more farmers to enter into ELS and HLS to widen the area in which good habitats are being developed to encourage biodiversity. Without funding from Pillar Two this will be difficult to achieve. High commodity prices have made production based subsidies less necessary, so surely any cuts deemed necessary should be in Pillar One not Pillar Two. We are in danger of undoing all the good work that UK farmers have done over the past years. Surely, this would be a very retrograde step for our rural environment.” Daniel Skinner a farmer in Norfolk, said: “As a young new entrant to agriculture, without pillar two funding I would have to reconsider my decision to enter the agricultural sector. I came to work on the farm because I aspire to farm in wildlife friendly ways. Pillar two funds are directly linked to my involvement in agriculture.” Robert Law a farmer in Hertfordshire said: “What they are talking about is about a 180 degree turn from where we were a few years ago, you can understand the reluctance of some farmers to join these schemes when we are at the whim of politicians. They seek our commitment to join up for 5-10 years and then change the rules and withdraw the funding – madness!” All of these farmers and landowners can demonstrate the huge public value they deliver in return for public funds and I really do applaud them for their efforts. I hope the EU will recognise the value and the essential need of continued funding for farmers and landowners to meet future challenges and ensure there are significant funds to help our best loved wildlife.
The signs from the EU in the last few days are that the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, is considering major cuts to pillar two of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). An essential fund that amongst other things pays farmers and landowners to manage their land in wildlife friendly ways (as pictured and taken just days ago)
President Barroso is expected to announce the budget on Wednesday 29 June.
If these reports are true, it would mean that the EU will fail to get anywhere near its recently adopted biodiversity target, and problems like water pollution and soil erosion would further increase. The CAP has long been criticised for inefficiency and waste. It would be unbelievable if cuts were targeted at the one part of the policy that is actually delivering for public goods and rural populations.
The RSPB is asking members of the public and farmers to join them in sending an email to President Barroso at www.rspb.org.uk/capreform calling for a fair deal for farm wildlife and public benefits.
Any reduction will remove the lifeline on which many of our most-loved species depend and will risk decades of effort, which has already helped save many species from the brink.
Farmers, landowners and agronomists from all around my region have expressed their upset with the situation and pledged to make a stand together with the RSPB.
Suffolk Farmer, James Bucher said: “This is just absolutely staggering news. We as farmers are given such mixed messages; on one hand, we are told to farm to help the environment, but today we hear of emerging policies like this. It is a total contradiction. Species of farmland wildlife are in decline, I am stepping up for nature on my farm, but I need the help and support of government and the EU to create and manage areas for public benefits.
“Without these funds many farmers will not be able to help farm wildlife and as a result some of the most beautiful wildlife and countryside will change irreversibly for the worse.”
Cambridgeshire Farmer Philip Bradshaw said “Many Farmers, like myself, have enjoyed being able to improve the environmental and wildlife profile of our farms in recent years as a direct result of pillar two funding, and it is vital to the future of agriculture and the countryside that such funding continues”
Edward van Cutsem of the Hilborough Estate in Norfolk said: “The bio-diversity of the environment and wildlife across the UK has benefitted substantially from Pillar 2 funding as farmers have been able to afford to bring a significantly improved balance to the land they farm. We have been provided with help in de-intensifying our farm which has saved a large number of rare species of fauna and flora from total decline, including amongst them the stone-curlew, where as a result of Pillar 2 funding we now have 15% of the national population.
“The only alternative to Pillar 2 funding would be a reversal of this significant progress of the past 8 years and a return to intensive farming as we still fight to be profitable in a very difficult climate for farming. More widely one only needs to travel across the country to see how significantly it has changed from even 5 years ago, with previous 'carpet' farming now widely broken up by headlands and conservation strips and a noticeable increase in our wildlife. The Pillar 2 funding of the past ten years has only just come in time to save otherwise irreversible declines and a diminishment in our existence; can we afford to let that go?”
Norfolk Farmer, John Goucher said: “This news is so worrying; it makes me wonder what is next for the countryside. If pillar two is cut this would dismiss all of the hard work of conservation organisations like the RSPB working with farmers like me to ensure the countryside, its wildlife and the next generation have a future.”
Chris Skinner of High Ash Farm just outside of Norwich said: “The public wants us to farm in an environmentally and wildlife friendly way, but that does cost money. Without pillar two funds I cannot afford to farm my land to the benefit of wildlife and have to go back to more conventional ways of farming which would be disastrous for the farm wildlife and the tax payers that come to enjoy it.”
Ed Cross, another Norfolk Farmer said: “This is deeply concerning news, it is clear to me that there is still much to do for farm wildlife and that species that are already in decline will only be lost forever if this fund was to be removed. On my farm I have seen changes for the better including Lapwings using HLS areas and we have also been able to take on a young trainee, none of which would have been possible without pillar two funding.
Hertfordshire Farmer, John Birchall said: “We have been involved with agri-environment schemes for over 11 years now and have seen a steady improvement of the farm wildlife and the sustainability of the farm operations as a direct result of our pillar two funds. I will make a stand together with the RSPB to try to save this fund; I am really upset that such important resources may be lost effecting wildlife and the sustainable future of farming.”
Essex farmers, Andrew and Allison Bond said: “We farm 300 acres in North Essex and have been in the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme for three years. It has been a lifeline not only to the many species of wildlife that have benefited from our various schemes we have on the farm, but also to us as a small family business, giving us a small amount of extra security in these hard times. Without a doubt had we not gone into the Higher Level Scheme we might well not be in business today.
“The scheme has given us such pleasure and satisfaction - the various options we have taken have proved that they work - we have more corn buntings, tree sparrows, turtle doves, grey partridge, barn owls, marsh harriers, lapwings and curlews to name but a few, and we are sure that by the time we come to the end of our scheme there will be even more. We have also seen an increase in the number and variety of bees and butterflies and have been able to share our success with groups of visitors who enjoy looking around the farm and understanding what we are trying to achieve.”
Adam Glover – Farmer, Norfolk said: “This is crazy, pillar two is not money for nothing, it is a payment the provides real public benefits and enables me to farm with the public interest at heart.”
Richard Palmer an agronomist in Norfolk said: “I think it is vital for the future of our rural environment that CAP reform targets environmental protection and enhancement. We need to continue and expand the good work that has been done by farmers in the UK. Many have renewed ELS and converted expiring CSS schemes into HLS, as well as those that have entered into new HLS agreements. We need to move forward from this sound base to encourage more farmers to enter into ELS and HLS to widen the area in which good habitats are being developed to encourage biodiversity. Without funding from Pillar Two this will be difficult to achieve. High commodity prices have made production based subsidies less necessary, so surely any cuts deemed necessary should be in Pillar One not Pillar Two. We are in danger of undoing all the good work that UK farmers have done over the past years. Surely, this would be a very retrograde step for our rural environment.”
Daniel Skinner a farmer in Norfolk, said: “As a young new entrant to agriculture, without pillar two funding I would have to reconsider my decision to enter the agricultural sector. I came to work on the farm because I aspire to farm in wildlife friendly ways. Pillar two funds are directly linked to my involvement in agriculture.”
Robert Law a farmer in Hertfordshire said: “What they are talking about is about a 180 degree turn from where we were a few years ago, you can understand the reluctance of some farmers to join these schemes when we are at the whim of politicians. They seek our commitment to join up for 5-10 years and then change the rules and withdraw the funding – madness!”
All of these farmers and landowners can demonstrate the huge public value they deliver in return for public funds and I really do applaud them for their efforts. I hope the EU will recognise the value and the essential need of continued funding for farmers and landowners to meet future challenges and ensure there are significant funds to help our best loved wildlife.
Date: 21 April | Volunteer: Marcus Nash |Location: Moore’s Farm, Norfolk
The children were up really early as well, so after giving them a quick breakfast, it is out to the farm in the village. It doesn’t take long to get there, so I make sure I am on site by 6.30am. It looks like being a lovely morning – there is a bit of damp on the grass and a hint of mist, but the sun is starting to warm up already. Out of the car, and I can already hear lots of birds singing.
The first thing that strikes me is the number of Yellowhammers I can hear. They seem to be everywhere – the bright yellow singing males, duller females, calling birds, singles and pairs. Every 50m or so, I come across another one. The farm has a good variety of hedges, some recently trimmed but others left uncut, which seems to provide them with perfect habitat.
Many of the summer migrant warblers are already in. I quickly hear a singing Whitethroat and, more surprisingly, a Lesser Whitethroat as well. I only saw my first one of those on the coast yesterday, so I am somewhat surprised that they are on site here already. By the end of the survey I have found two singing males. Needless to say, there are lots of Blackcaps, especially on the edge if the wood, as well as a couple of Chiffchaffs and a single Willow Warbler.
The farm has a lot of old pits (ponds). I flush a few Mallard and a Grey Heron from these as I walk round. Then, coming up to a particularly overgrown pit, on the edge of the wood, I hear a bird fly up from the water. It doesn’t sound as big as a Mallard. At first, it seems to be heading in to the trees but then it flies out across the field and I can see it is a male Teal. A good find – the vast majority of Teal are winter visitors here and have already left by April.
As I walk back along the far side of the farm I get my next surprise. By the farm buildings, on a bare strip of earth, I catch a flash of white and see a Wheatear fly up to the hedge. Then I realise there is more than one, and as I scan I count up to five. Wheatears are not uncommon on the coast at this time of year. They do pass through inland as well, but I have never seen one in the village before and I think five is an unusual number to find here.
As I get back towards the car, I think I have seen just about everything, when the local Barn Owl puts in an appearance, flying straight towards me along the bank of the drainage ditch. At the last minute, it sees me and veers off across the field.
So, a very productive first survey. By the end of it, I have seen 40 species and a couple of things I had not expected here!