August 2007

Harvest
It has been a frustrating couple of weeks with heavy showers hindering the start of the wheat harvest. The oilseed rape was harvested three weeks ago. Unfortunately, the seed had a high moisture content resulting in additional drying costs. Yields were approximately 2.5t/ha. Post harvest cultivations started immediately after the oilseed rape harvest in preparation for the sowing of the wheat in September. We expect the spring beans to be harvested in September although the yields are likely to be poor.

Birds
On a more positive note, 2007 has been the best so far for birds. The final bird numbers have been calculated following the summers surveying. Stars this year were the Yellowhammer. Numbers reached a new high with 36 territories recorded compared to 14 when we first surveyed the farm in 2000. The population has risen steadily over recent years, helped by our sympathetic management of hedgerows, increased winter food through wild bird cover and two year set-aside and summer food through provision of pollen and nectar mixtures. Overall, the Hope Farm Farmland Bird Index (FBI) is up by 88 % at the end of the 2007. This is a measurement of the collective population trend of the 19 bird species that are most dependant on farmland in the UK. Species that contribute to the FBI include the corn bunting, goldfinch, grey partridge, jackdaw, kestrel, lapwing, linnet, reed bunting, rook, skylark, starling, stock dove, tree sparrow, turtle dove, yellowhammer, yellow wagtail, whitethroat and woodpigeon.

Set-aside
It has been an interesting trying to assess what effect the proposed 0% Set-aside requirement for next year will have on the farms management and subsequent effects on bird populations. At Hope Farm we will be keeping about 6% out of production in 2008 irrespective of the EU decision because of our long-term research commitments so any announcement will later this month result in few changes for the next year.