Farming
We're working with farmers to find and share practical wildlife-friendly farming techniques.
Farming near you
Farming after Brexit
Following the decision in June 2016 for the UK to leave the European Union, major decisions will need to be made about how all governments across the UK support the environment, farming and rural development to replace the Common Agricultural Policy.
The RSPB, in partnership with leading UK conservation organisations, has called on the government to grasp the opportunity to provide more support to nature-friendly farmers and secure a better future for our countryside. We are currently working with farmers and others with expertise in food, rural development and conservation to achieve this.
Advice
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![Skylark (alauda arvensis) sitting in heather, South Stack RSPB reserve, Wales]()
Get a farmland bird survey
Find out how to get a survey of the bird-life on your farmland.
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![Redshank Tringa totanus, in breeding plumage, Geltsdale RSPB reserve, Cumbria,]()
Helping species
If you know which birds are on your farm, then you can find out what they need and how you can help them.
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![Skylark Alauda arvensis, at the grassy edge of a small field. Cornwall]()
Managing habitats
Advice on how to manage habitats for wildlife on your farm, from margins, banks and headlands to meadows, scrub land and buildings.
Agriculture and land-use
Our work with government helps develop agricultural policies that support the vital work that nature needs farmers to do.
Hope Farm
EU LIFE+ Farmland bird project
The EU LIFE+ Programme supported our Farmland Bird Project, enabling us to provide free bird surveys, an annual wildlife-friendly farming competition and free practical advice for farmers from specialist experts in their own area.
Find out more about the project and how it’s helped us shape the new advice and support tools we have available for farmers.
Our work with farmers was kindly sponsored by the EU LIFE+ fund between January 2010 and September 2013, safeguarding the future of our farmland birds under the EU Birds Directive.
Nature of Farming Award
Our farming blog
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Hope Farm: a round up of our farmland breeding birds in 2019 and how we did it!
How did farmland birds fare in 2019 on RSPB's Hope Farm in Cambridgeshire? In this blog, Farm Manager Georgie Bray tells us. A key part of the work we do at Hope Farm is to demonstrate wildlife friendly farming, in terms of its practicalities on the ...
Posted 28/09/2019 by Steph Morren -
Corncrake: the people's bird
Chris Bailey - RSPB Scotland's Advisory Manager - tells us below how corncrakes have fared in 2019, and why it is so important that we continue to work on conserving them. In the first half of the twentieth century, the corncrake was so widespread th...
Posted 27/09/2019 by Steph Morren -
Future Agricultural Policy in Wales
A blog by Rhys Evans, Policy Officer for RSPB Cymru. On 9th July 2019 Welsh Government published their Sustainable Farming and our Land consultation which puts forward plans for how farmers will be supported in the future. This consultation follows t...
Posted 19/09/2019 by Steph Morren -
Making public goods pay – new research shows that at least £3 billion is needed to support nature-friendly farming in the UK
Today, three major conservation organisations – the National Trust, the RSPB, and The Wildlife Trusts – publish landmark independent research on future agriculture policy.(read more)
Posted 19/09/2019 by Georgina B