Shona Morrison is one of our Wardens in the Western Isles. In today's blog, she tells us about a new grazing strategy that is benefitting both crofters and local wildlife.
When Sweeny, an active local crofter in Ness, approached me in October 2021 offering his cattle for conservation grazing in areas where there isn’t secure fencing I jumped at the offer! One of the problems we have locally, is that there are plenty of crofts that we could have for the schemes we offer, but it would mean a large financial outlay on replacing/improving fencing. Unless people are actively crofting, they generally aren’t spending money on the upkeep of fences. Currently, the price of materials isn’t helping this situation either.
Sweeny invested in some NoFence collars using the CAGS (Crofting Agricultural Grant Scheme) for assistance (he was eligible for a 60% grant). He marks out the area he wants the cattle to graze using an app on his phone and the information is sent wirelessly to the collars that hang on the cattle’s neck.
Initially, he spent a week or so training the cattle within the safety of his secure croft. After a short learning period, the cattle realised they must turn when they hear the beep that the collar emits when they go near the virtual fence line that is marked out on the app. If they go any further, they will receive a slight shock, less than they’d get from a standard electric fence but just enough so that they learn to keep within the boundaries.
This is now our second winter using the NoFence collars and it’s working out well for everyone involved. RSPB Scotland can sign up more people for the Corncrake Initiative Scheme, where the land managers receive a small payment. This in turn creates a better habitat for the corncrake, the croft tenants get their croft back into a working croft again and Sweeny gets a lot more grazing for his cattle.
Corncrakes will benefit from the habitats created by grazing. Image credit: Andy Hay
The NoFence collars haven’t let us down at all. The cattle have stayed put in all the crofts we have put them in. Sweeny has further invested in 14 collars for the cattle. This enables us to graze more areas as he split the herd into two to get through more of them grazing.
As we are fast approaching the time of corncrakes arriving here from Africa at the end of April, we are starting to run out of time to get the crofts grazed down before the fresh grass starts to come through. We have managed all of them, but some could have been grazed harder. We will probably start to graze them a bit earlier in autumn 2023.
RSPB Scotland entered into a 10-year management agreement alongside Urras Oighreachd Gabhsainn to manage the habitat at Loch Stiapabhat Local Nature Reserve for waders and especially corncrake. Due to the type of habitat at Loch Stiapabhat, lack of grazing has always been an issue. Last winter was more of an experiment with only three cows there for a few weeks, which went well. In early March this year, both herds were brought down to Loch Stiapabhat. Now we have a herd of 12 cattle there for over a month, so we should notice a big difference on the impact of grazing.
Good for crofters, good for wildlife. Image credit: Shona Morrison
At Loch Stiapabhat, the ground is so wet that it isn’t suitable for sheep. Konik ponies weren’t practical and it was proving hard to graze cattle safely there as we couldn’t keep them out of the dangerous, boggy areas. However, with these NoFence collars on, the cattle are kept clear of the wet areas and are free to graze down areas that haven’t been touched for years. This will bring large areas of habitat back to life. The current vegetation there is old and thatched. With the cattle stripping the vegetation right back, in the spring it increases the areas the ground nesting birds can use. Corncrake don’t like rank vegetation, so this will suit them very well. Also, flowers and fresh grasses will get a chance to grow through now, which will in turn help our pollinators.
Cattle use their tongues to pull tufts of vegetation into their mouth. This means that they don’t graze vegetation too close to the ground, which will leave tussocks of grass which are used by small mammals and insects. Also, due to their wide mouths cattle don’t graze selectively, so they don’t target flower heads and herbage which is vital for botanically diverse habitats. Grazing cattle decide for themselves where to concentrate their grazing and so produce a mosaic of sward heights and micro habitats. This will suit our ground nesting birds like snipe and lapwing who need different sward heights.
The NoFence collars are proving to be a good way forward with corncrake conservation locally.
Lapwings need a varied habitat which grazing can help create. Image credit: Graham Goodall
In summary:
The quote below from Sweeny says it best:
“The winter grazing has very quickly become part of my routine and has enabled my crofting business to get through the cost-of-living crisis with fewer concerns than I previously have had. Since I started working with the RSPB, I have increased cattle numbers from 6 to 14, while also significantly reducing my winter feed bill. In fact, my feed bills this winter is half of what it was pre conservation grazing – despite doubling cattle numbers.
“I have also been using other crofters’ herds of sheep and even two horses (!) for other crofts where the fences are better. So, the RSPB by needing conservation grazing, is benefiting the overall local crofting community by accessing grazing and late cut silage crofts for them that may not have been available to them before. I am hoping that in time, the overall reintroduction of winter grazing to crofts that have been lying unused for many years will bring benefit to our local wildlife and crofters alike.”
If you're a land manager and would like advice on managing your land for corncrakes, click here.