One of the joys of starting a new job is to be able to inherit the success of others.

Hope Farm is perhaps one of my predecessors' great legacies.  Bought in 2001, thanks to the generosity of RSPB members, we have managed to demonstrate that it is possible to run a profitable arable farm and restore farmland wildlife.  I was there on Friday filming for Countryfile.  John Craven was putting together a package on farmland birds to be shown on telly on 29 May.  It was great to meet John and even better to be able to celebrate the fact that over the past decade we have tripled the number of farmland birds on our farm.   

Populations of skylarks, yellowhammer, linnets, reed bunting and starlings have all increased, while grey partridge, yellow wagtail, lapwing, turtle dove have all returned to the farm.  And this year, greeted with much excitement, we also have a pair of corn bunting.

We've done all this while still returning great wheat yields. 

So what's the secret of our success?  Well lots of praise should go to the farm managers we have had over the years - especially Chris Bailey who moves on to a new job within the RSPB in Scotland later this summer.  But it is simple really, we have put 3% of our farm into Entry Level Stewardship Scheme (ELS) - a government grant scheme available to all farmers.  This subsidy allows us to get paid to get the basics right for farmland birds: habitat which provides somewhere to nest, food in spring/summer as well as food in the winter.

If it is that simple, why aren't farmland birds doing much better across the whole country? 

Unfortunately, not all the options in the the schemes are effective.  This is why the UK Government is currently reviewing the scheme.  We are encouraging them to concentrate on scheme quality, ensuring all agreements contain a minimum of the best options for wildlife, while ensuring that farmers get better advice about what's appropriate for their their farm.

My predecessor was convinced that if you could get ELS working more efficiently, you could see farmland bird numbers rise again - offering more people a chance to enjoy the sountrack to spring and summer.

Have a great Sunday.

P.S. This blog will be silent for three days until Thursday 19 May. The RSPB computer people have some maintenance/upgrade work to do.  After a couple of weeks in the new job, I might ask them to reboot me as well.

  • Sooty - thank you.  I shall try to pick up your gauntlet.

  • Thank you Martin for detailed reply and length of it also,have seen the accounts of course on Hope Farm web site.think we are almost in complete agreement as you would have noticed I praised Hope Farm on everything except the fact that RSPB insist on calling it a profitable farm,yes to the contract farmer but poor returns in my opinion for RSPB.For instance when farming we rented 78 acres at a bit above the average level of rents for that time and to make it more economic we bought 30 acres so reasonable level of debt.Obviously my family would have starved at the level of profit to RSPB from Hope Farm converted to that acreage of 108 acres.All your points very valid about proof of things possible and like yourself wish more farmers followed your Skylark patches.Having retired find it sad that the RSPB and farmers in general see each other as the enemy and as I seem to have foot in both camps(I do after all think the RSPB do a wonderful job and provide me with lots of pleasure for a small sub and your  wonderful staff help me above the level expected)think the criticism from the RSPB about farmers hurts them more than the RSPB think and breeds hostility.

    If I could have one wish for your term of office it would be that somehow ignoring N F U attitude if necessary you could get RSPB and farmers more understanding with each other.that really should not be too much to ask but of course at the same time it is a big ask.If you can you will have my admiration but more importantly wildlife will benefit MORE THAN you could ever imagine.After all the reserves in total are miniscule to the acreage on farms and even 5% increase across all those acres would be colossal.I always find it a fantastic achievement in what can happen where you work together with farmers on projects.This is not criticism of RSPB just a sad reflection of what seems a block between the two camps.

    Thanks for invitation but having retired we enjoy visiting your reserves more than farms in general and in Dorset we are blessed with so many good ones plus we like to go to Mull which to me is almost a RSPB reserve and have come to be friends with Dave Sexton through him helping us.

    Nothing wrong in the way RSPB obtained Hope Farm and should help with conservation in the long run but it is a fact that all farmers could farm differently if given a farm.Sorry went on a bit there but as Mark found sometimes get a bit passionate.

  • Sooty - I am not sure I can make you eat your hat but... I'll have a go and if you read to the end, there is an invitation.

    First, you are right, of course our farm is a bit different - but it is worth noting that, at the time, this was the second biggest donation for a land purchase in the RSPB's history.  This was a good indication of the strength of feeling and concern over the plight of farmland wildlife from our membership and their desire for the RSPB to help find solutions.  This is what we've been trying to do.

    The fact we are an owner occupier without a mortgage reflects the position of some in the farming community - but all farms are different in their individual circumstances, some will have mortgages, some will be tenants, some will have diversification businesses which support farming operations etc.  Therefore we cannot, and do not, look to say 'pick up the entire model of Hope Farm and farm this way'.  We say, you can operate profitably and be environmentaly friendly with the major increases in farmland wildlife we have delivered.  We have been very open with this - having our accounts independently audited by Smiths Gore - one of the UK's leading land agency firms, and by being contract farmed we pay a commercial cost of all the operations we undertake.  

    This latter point is particularly important.  In-hand farms can fail to account for time/labour costs - we don't - and we reflect this in the costings we make when helping to devise the AES options - options in which we are investing our member's contributions in the research to help farmers help wildlife.  So, rather than saying we made £X thousands this year at Hope Farm so you should do this and get the same return, instead we talk to farmers about the gross margins of the options which have delivered our bird results and our crops, importantly the right mix of those options, demonstrate they are profitable and how smart deployment can make both the farm profitable for the farmer and the wildlife which depend on it.    

    For example, we showed that it would cost an arable farmer somewhere between 50p-£2 (depending on the proce of wheat) to create a skylark plot simply by flicking the drill switch on and off.  We advocated for its inclusion in the entry-level scheme - and this now attracts in effect a payment of £5...making it one of the most profitable gross margins in the scheme.  But very few farmers have taken them up.   When cross compliance rules were being devised and the industry were saying it would cost thousands for farmers to comply with the 2m hedgerow rule - we calculated that the real cost to farmers like us who were farming to what was considered industry best practice would be minute.  For us it was just £59 across the whole 181 hectare to comply with a rule which protected our hedgerows and protected our Single Payment.

    Farming as the RSPB does mean we don't have the financial risk of getting things wrong.  BUT IT IS EXACTLY for this reason why we are able to try new and novel techniques to help farmers be environmentally friendly.    

    Finally, am not sure if this has been offered before, but I would like to offer you an open invitation to visit Hope Farm.  We would be delighted to show you around and show you our books!

  • Hi Martin well this theory about Hope Farm being good in all things is just about the biggest myth of all.I am quite happy to salute the increase in bird numbers but in my calculation the profit to RSPB is really atrocious considering that we are in one of the most profitable periods ever for grain farms.I would like you to put a true monetary value on the farm and then calculate the return on capital.Of course the RSPB says it does not hate farmers but there is always someone past and present willing to have some nasty things to say.Let me tell you if someone bought us all a farm like subs etc did with Hope Farm and so no mortgages we farmers could all farm differently.Hope Farm is not a normal working farmers farm and never will be so cannot be judged with other farms,it is simply another RESERVE.I do however acknowledge as I said the increase in birds is impressive and giving the knowledge of what improvements will help increase numbers on farms helpful but profitable farm well if you tell me RSPBs share of profit per acre and return on capital and it is impressive think I would have to eat my hat.

  • I have visited Hope Farm, it is an inspiration as far as farmland wildlife is concerned and an example to be followed by, the NFU and farmers, the Government, and the EU (in respect of the forth coming revision to the CAP). However, how difficult it is to persuade all of them to follow this example, for next to no cost to themselves, for consistently good yields of crops, and for good profits. It seems so difficult, almost impossible sometimes to change the conventional thinking of people, and especially those people who formulate farming policies in these organisations, but if anything can do it Hope Farm can. They should all visit Hope Farm to see how wildlife and farming can work together productively for both.

    (Have a good reboot Martin).