Farming

Post by Georgie Bray, Hope Farm manager

For the last two decades, one mission for Hope Farm has been to develop a hub of knowledge sharing on wildlife-friendly farming. As we were unable to celebrate our 20 year milestone in the traditional way, we launched a series of webinars to do just that.

Over the last few months, we have looked at the following topics and the key ways that they might be achieved:

• habitat management…

Before Christmas, the Welsh Government launched its Agriculture (Wales) White Paper - an important consultation that sets out the legislative and support framework for Welsh agriculture for the next fifteen to twenty years. We set out our thoughts on the proposals, and encourage you to submit your own response to the consultation.

Guest blog by Andrew Stark, Land Use Policy Officer, RSPB Scotland What is the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme? The Agri-Environment Climate Scheme was introduced to Scotland in 2014 to help support nature and climate friendly farming methods, as par...

On the 8th May, Scottish voters will go to the polls to decide the make-up of the next Scottish Parliament. Staff in Scotland are busy ensuring that nature is included in discussions around relevant election issues as much possible, and our main ask related to food and farming is to “transform Scottish agricultural policy by 2027 so that it facilitates and rewards nature- and climate-friendly farming.” Find out how that…

Imagine a thriving countryside that’s rich in nature, supports rural livelihoods and helps communities adapt to climate change. Think of a future where nature is cherished for the vital role it plays in supporting our prosperity. This is the vision painted by farmers, producers, policymakers and conservationists at our two-day Food, Farming and Land Convention which took place on February 9 – 10 2021. It’s the resilient…

Guest blog by Alice Groom, Senior Policy Officer

Defra set out a robust and ambitious vision for domestic agricultural policies in the Health and Harmony consultation in 2018. Central to this was a high-level of environmental ambition, and commitment to redirect public money from area-based subsidies to public goods via a new environmental land management scheme.

Since 2018, it feels as if the ambition is waning as Defra…

 A summary of the 2nd Webinar in Hope Farm's 20th Anniversary series, by Sophie Mott, RSPB’s Conservation Advisor for Cambridgeshire

 If you’ve read the previous blog, you’ll already know about Hope Farm’s 20^th Anniversary Webinar Series, five webinars covering important nature focused farming topics being delivered by industry experts and farmers alike.

The second webinar of the series took…

A summary of the 1st Webinar in Hope Farm's 20th Anniversary series, by Sophie Mott, RSPB’s Conservation Advisor for Cambridgeshire

In celebration of Hope farm’s 20^th anniversary we are doing something a little different, with the launch of a series of five webinars. The webinars welcome anybody interested in nature-based solutions on farmland and touch on a few lessons we’ve learnt over the last 20…

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…