Farming

Olivia Martin, an MSc Zoology student from Anglia Ruskin University, investigated the impact of cover crops, cultivations, and other crops on winter bird populations, using 5 years worth of monitoring data at Hope farm. 

In the U.K., many bird species are seeing their populations decline, partly due to the way we farm the land. To target and stop these declines, wildlife-friendly farming techniques are being investigated…

Back in 2000, the RSPB was looking to purchase a farm, to demonstrate and research wildlife-friendly farming methods that would still turn a profit. A pin was put in the map between Elsworth and Knapwell in Cambridgeshire, and Grange Farm (now named Hope Farm) was purchased from the Sandercock family.  

Our aspiration was to halt the ongoing decline of red-listed and endangered species that had relied on farming practices to survive…

Lucy Bjorck, Senior Policy Officer at the RSPB, talks about part one of the Food Strategy, launched this week.

Part one of the Food Strategy was launched yesterday. Much of it rightly focuses on ensuring everyone can eat well but it also has some important recommendations on trade, which have implications for nature.

Many of the issues which beset our food system - high climate change impact, deforestation, unsustainable…

Flowers are a fundamental part of a sustainable farming system. Without flowers, the ability of biodiversity to thrive and in turn help us grow food is very limited. We need connected flower-rich habitats to help reverse the ongoing decline in biodiversity, and we need a stable ecosystem for our food security.  Surely, though, we have seen declining biodiversity over the last 50 years, but consistently higher yields? Well…

A blog by Chris Bailey - RSPB Scotland's advisory manager

RSPB Scotland has extended its relationship with Soil Association Scotland, Scottish Forestry and Scottish Water to deliver the Farming with Nature Programme for another year. Originally the programme was due to run for just two and a-half years jointly funded by the partners and through the Scottish Government Knowledge Transfer and Innovation Fund (KITF)…

A blog by Katie Gibb, RSPB's Conservation Officer for Antrim Plateau

The curlew is undoubtedly one of the most recognisable UK bird species; it is entrenched and entangled in our stories, its haunting call is the soundscape that captures the essence of our moorlands.

However, curlews, like many of the UK's farmland birds, have seen dramatic population declines within living memory. Within Northern Ireland alone, they…

A blog on soil health by Georgie Bray - RSPB's Hope Farm Manager

Playing the waiting game!

Sitting in the farmhouse office, looking at another day with grey skies and puddles on the patio, you can’t help but wonder how much more rain can fall from the sky. It has been one of the wettest winters in our memory at Hope Farm, and although my memory is short, many other farmers have been saying how abnormally difficult…

In this blog, Paul Cabrisy, research intern at RSPB Hope Farm, explains the importance of hedges and correctly managing them on a farm. Paul also tells us the outcome of a study carried by a masters student who looked at different preferences of farmland bird species to different frequencies of hedgerow management at Hope Farm.

The importance of hedgerows. 

Hedgerows are highly important to farms’ wildlife as, in the UK…

Citizen’s Assembly: Emergency Plan for Agriculture and Wildlife

Climate and Net Zero - by Mair Floyd-Bosley and Melanie Coath (RSPB - climate change policy)

Agriculture in the UK produces 45.6 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalent, 10% of UK total GHG emissions, including significant methane and nitrous oxide contributions. At the same time, the continuing decline of nature is both exacerbated by, and accelerating, climate…

Citizen’s Assembly: Emergency Plan for Agriculture and Wildlife

A Just Transition - by Mair Floyd-Bosley (RSPB policy assistant) and Sorcha Lewis (high-nature value farmer in Wales)

This discussion was geared around building a fair and equitable shift for everyone, especially farmers, who are the most directly affected by an ambitious change in our food system. Moving towards payments for public goods has the potential…

Citizen’s Assembly: Emergency Plan for Agriculture and Wildlife

In our first blog in this series we reported on some of the discussions which RSPB was involved in at the Oxford Real Farming Conference. One of our aims for attending the conference was to crowdsource ideas to contribute to an Emergency Plan for Agriculture and Wildlife through a Citizens’ Assembly. In this blog we highlight some of the ideas which…

Citizen’s Assembly: Emergency Plan for Agriculture and Wildlife

In our previous blog we reported on some of the discussions which RSPB was involved in at the Oxford Real Farming Conference. One of our aims for attending the conference was to crowdsource ideas to contribute to an Emergency Plan for Agriculture and Wildlife through a Citizens’ Assembly. In this blog we highlight some of the ideas which were championed…

A blog by Mair Floyd-Bosley, RSPB's farming and climate change policy assistant

Even before the Agriculture Bill was published, farming was the only subject in Oxford this month. At the beginning of January, an RSPB team from all over the UK headed over to Oxford for two action-packed days of the Oxford Real Farming Conference. This was the 11^th ORFC, a self-proclaimed ‘radical’ alternative to status-quo Oxford Farming…

Paul Cabrisy, research intern at RSPB Hope Farm, tells us about the outcome of our butterfly and bumblebee surveys throughout the monitoring seasons this year.

The butterfly monitoring.

Summer 2019 has been a relatively hot and wet season, but just like last year our butterflies have increased in numbers at Hope Farm. Moreover, we have recorded over 6200 individuals of 24 species. The butterfly index for this year stands…

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 ground. What sets Hope Farm apart is our ability to monitor the changes to farmland bird populations to quantify the difference of taking a wildlife-friendly farming approach…

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 that it featured on collectable cigarette cards of common British birds. According to the example below from circa 1920, a corncrake’s nest was ‘built on the ground amongst…

A blog by Rhys Evans, Policy Officer for RSPB Cymru.

On 9^th 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 their initial proposals contained within last year’s Brexit and our Land consultation and will run until 30^th October 2019.  If you haven’t had a chance to read the consultation…

In August, the RSPB said goodbye to Mike Clarke after nine years as our Chief Executive, and we welcomed Beccy Speight to the role. In this blog, she introduces herself and shares some of her thoughts and aspirations.

Hello, I'm very honoured to introduce myself as the new RSPB Chief Executive. I have most recently led the Woodland Trust – a job I enjoyed doing for over five years – and I am really excited to be continuing…

RSPB's Hope Farm has run a successful LEAF Open Farm Sunday event for the last 5 years. Read on to hear from Hope Farm manager Georgie Bray on how 2019’s event went.

“This could have been our first year of wash out rain but someone was looking down on us to help run yet another sunny sell-out event. With sun beaming, we joined hundreds of farmers across the country who opened their gates to the general public…

With its green pastures, rolling hills and rugged highlands, Wales may seem like a lush country brimming with wildlife. However, look closer, and you’ll see that this is not quite the case.

Sadly, Wales is one of the most nature depleted countries in the world. A third of Welsh birds are declining, and one in 14 species is under risk of extinction. Evidence shows that farmland nature is doing particularly badly…

David Sandford is Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network in Northern Ireland. Below he talks about what they have been up to recently to spread the messages about wildlife friendly farming.

“Formed at the beginning of 2018, the Nature Friendly Farming Network aims to unite farmers from across the UK who are passionate about nature, wildlife and sustainable farming. Our aim is to champion a nature way of farming…

Michael Clarke farms Williamwood farm in Dumfriesshire in partnership with his wife, Shirley. They run a lowland, pasture-based beef and sheep enterprise alongside holiday cottages, in which they offer farm and wildlife-watching experiences. Michael is Scotland Chair of the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN) and below he writes about his experiences and why he joined NFFN.

"Farming is a bruising business. As livestock…

Sophie Mott

The Spring brings a welcome warmth and sunshine to the farm, and with that come the visitors. Birds have been fledging young, flowers coming into bloom, and lots of species have been heard in full song across the farm. Because it is Hope Farm, the sound of people chattering about our conservation management has often been heard this spring too.

Thank you for the Turtle Doves!

To kick off visitor season, Hope…

Sunday 9 June, 10am - 4pm

Each year, we join in with the national LEAF event, Open Farm Sunday. It is a fantastic thing to be involved with, getting members of the public engaged with where their food comes from in the UK. For us, it is an opportunity to open the Hope Farm gate and show the locals what we do to put food on the table whilst providing a home for wildlife. Attendance is FREE on 9th June, so there’s no…