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Ideas for summer
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Delay cutting non-rotational set-aside until August and leave 25 per cent uncut each year
The set-aside rules stipulate that non-rotational set-aside should be cut between 15 July and 15 August.
It is better to leave this until August to protect nesting birds and up to 25 per cent of each block can be left uncut each year. This will protect a proportion of late-nesting skylarks and will provide more wildlife diversity in the field.
The uncut area has to be cut within three years, so it is best to rotate the uncut area around the field so that a different area is left each year.
Leave hedgerow and field margin work until at least September
It is important to delay management of field boundaries and margins until at least September when you can be confident that birds have finished rearing late broods. Mowing margins or trimming hedges in breaks during harvest can be very damaging for local bird populations.
Hedgerow work is best done in January or February to allow birds to make use of the berry crop through the winter, but the months from March to August should be avoided to protect nesting birds.
Avoid pre-harvest desiccants on cereals if stubble is to be over-wintered
Over-wintered stubble is the most important habitat on the farm for seed-eating birds through the winter. They feed on spilt grain and the seeds of broad-leaved plants in the crop. An application of a pre-harvest desiccant will reduce the number of seeds available in the stubble.
In Entry Level Stewardship, the use of pre-harvest desiccants and post-harvest herbicides is not permitted on crops used for the over-wintered stubble option.
Is there a need for rush control?
Pastures that are prone to rush infestation are often damp and therefore attractive to breeding wading birds such as lapwings, curlews and snipe.
Small areas of rush or sparse rush cover can be beneficial, providing cover for chicks, but dense stands occupying more than a third of the field are not beneficial and reduce the grazing potential. Topping is the first step to successful management of rush infestations, but should be carried out after wading birds have finished rearing chicks.
If it is not possible to judge when breeding has finished, then delaying the first cut until August should be safe. Management should start by topping the rush cover in August, followed by a second cut 4-8 weeks later or grazing the aftermath with cattle. The cattle grazing should not reach levels that create poaching, as this will encourage more rush germination.
In situations where the water level can be raised, then flooding the field immediately after cutting can kill the roots of the rushes. In particularly dry years, it is easier to tackle rush problems in wetter areas of the field.
Avoid swathing oilseed rape
Reed buntings frequently nest in oilseed rape crops and many will still be nesting when the rape crop is desiccated. If natural ripening is not possible then spraying is better than swathing to protect nesting birds as it leaves a standing crop for a further few weeks for chicks to fledge. However, any spray drift of glyphosate into hedgerows at this time of year will damage this important habitat, so suitable buffer zones are required. Natural ripening would be an even better option.
Leave undrilled patches in winter cereals for skylarks
Skylarks are less successful at rearing young in winter cereals than in spring cereals because of the crop being too high and dense during the nesting season. If you are starting to sow winter cereals this month, consider leaving small (at least 3m x 3m) undrilled patches in the field at a rate of 2 per hectare to boost skylark nesting success next summer. In England, these can be funded by Entry Level Stewardship.
Graze down grassland used by breeding waders
Birds such as lapwings, curlews, redshanks and snipe should now have finished nesting. On grasslands where spring stock rates were kept low to maintain suitable conditions for these species, it is now safe to start grazing off the year’s growth. On wet grassland sites, it is also timely to undertake any management whilst water levels are low to avoid soil compaction.
Protect ground-nesting birds in hay meadows
If there are nesting species such as curlew or corncrake in your hay meadows then mow these fields as late as possible. For curlews, this should be after mid-July, for corncrakes, this should be after 1 August. It is advisable to mow from the centre of the field outwards so that chicks are not drawn into uncut areas in the centre of the field and chopped whilst cutting the final strips. If uncut margins can also be left then this will provide a refuge for these chicks.
Retain areas of winter stubble
Winter stubbles provide seed food for birds in the form of spilt grain and seeds of weeds that germinated with the preceding crop. The best stubbles for birds are ones with no pre-harvest or post-harvest herbicides, which can be left untouched throughout the winter. Agri-environment schemes can fund retention of winter stubbles.
Considerations for insecticide use in summer
June is the peak month for rearing chicks in the bird calendar – many of these are dependent on insects to provide the chicks with a high-protein diet for healthy development.
Adopt the Voluntary Initiative best practice guidance on use of insecticides:
Know your farm's potential for pest attack; field records are essential in this. Assess the implications of cropping sequences and likely attacks.
Where possible, take full advantage of varietal resistance.
Use cultivation techniques and sowing dates to deter attack.
Use seed treatments where available if significant damage is expected.
Monitor crops regularly and base management decisions on the results.
Make absolutely sure a treatment is really needed; treat only when pest thresholds has been exceeded.
Wherever possible, use insecticides specific to a target pest. Try especially to avoid using broad-spectrum products when the young of birds are dependent on insects for food.
Apply treatments as accurately and as close to ideal timings as possible.
Use buffer zones and LERAPs to protect sensitive wildlife habitats and water courses.
Include arable crops in grass ley rotations
Permanent grassland supports higher densities of some birds because cultivations associated with reseeding and arable cropping disrupt the life cycles of their prey (earthworms, insects, etc). However, short and medium-term grass leys on suitable land can allow beneficial arable crops to be fitted in a rotation.
These particularly provide the seed rich habitats that benefit species such as linnets, twite, yellowhammers and skylarks. Livestock systems that provide a diversity of habitats – arable crops in ley rotations, and permanent grassland that includes more extensively managed areas will provide most of the food resources birds need.