Dan Brown, Senior Conservation Advisor with RSPB Scotland tells us about some encouraging management trials that have been developed with farmers in the Clyde Valley to support breeding wader populations in Scotland

Guest blog by Georgina Bray, RSPB Hope Farm Manager

2023 has been another season of trials and tribulations, with strange weather to say the least. It was one with a few firsts for us again, trying a 2-way variety blends, more complex heritage blends (YQ Wheat), intercropping, and tramline trials in off the back of our oilseed rape pilot trial. This is alongside another year of the agroforestry trial (updated in another…

As part of the Vibrant Vyrnwy project, we launched an exciting new Agricultural Trainee Programme in September 2023. Our goal is to train 6 young people between the ages of 18-25 in conservation farming techniques; giving them a platform from which they can gain jobs within the sector, making a positive impact within the farming community, and benefiting wildlife.

Richard Winspear, Agriculture Advice Manager, looks at how farmers in England can utilise the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) to deliver better outcomes for nature.

Summerdown are the Peppermint People. They grow, harvest and distil their signature Black Mitcham peppermint on their Hampshire farm - and have been doing so for over 25 years.

Black Mitcham is an extraordinary peppermint prized for its pure, bright character and it’s a taste that had been all but lost to England. Alongside other arable crops and herbs such as camomile and lavender, the Summerdown team now grow around…

Ruairi Brogan, Policy Officer - Sustainable Agriculture with RSPB NI talks us through an exciting project underway with dairy farmers in Northern Ireland. 

The RSPB Northern Ireland policy team have partnered with the Dairy Council for Northern Ireland and its member organisations Dale Farm, Lakeland Dairies and Glanbia Cheese to explore how dairy farms can play an active role in tackling the declines in farmland biodiversity…

Hannah Woodall, Land Use Policy Officer with the RSPB Cymru team, tells us about a major peat restoration project being undertaken at Lake Vyrnwy.

It’s an afternoon in mid-Autumn and I pull off the road at Gadfa leading to the Bwlch y Groes, the second highest pass in Wales, where I’m flanked by two sides of iconic Welsh uplands. The breeze is cool, but the bluest of skies and warm light illuminates the hillsides. It is…

Ruairi Brogan, Policy Officer for Sustainable Agriculture RSPB NI, offers an insight into his recent attendance at the Balmoral Show and how, with the right investment and support, nature positive farming can be good for business, climate and nature....

Andrew Stark, Senior Policy Officer - UK Land and Seas Policy, provides a round up of many of the agricultural shows and events we will be attending during the course of the summer. The RSPB cares passionately about agriculture, farmers and crofters,...

Duerden Cormack, Monitoring Assistant at RSPB Hope Farm, reflects on the key findings of the core monitoring of breeding birds, butterflies, and bumblebees carried out at Hope Farm during the summer months of 2022. Reed Bunting at Hope Farm. Image (...

Shelley Abbott, Fair to Nature Technical Facilitator, shares the findings of a recent survey highlighting that the UK's food and farming system is a key ally in the face of the nature and climate emergency.   European starling (Sturnus...

Every year, winter monitoring at our arable Hope Farm in Cambridgeshire checks on bird numbers, to see the impact nature-friendly practices are having on our farmland birds. Across the 180 hectares, there were some amazing records of red list species, including Corn Bunting, Yellowhammer, Lapwing and Linnet to name a few. 

Over on the Saving Nature with Science blog, Duerden Cormack, Monitoring Assistant at Hope Farm, gives…

A summary of the first Webinar in Hope Farm’s Technical Webinar Series 2022/2023, by Helen Mason, RSPB’s Investigations Intelligence Manager (on sabbatical at Hope Farm). Hope Farm Webinar 1 series 2022/2023 - Farming for resilience and a...

Chris Bailey, Advisory Manager for RSPB Scotland, provides an overview of the Knowledge Transfer and Innovation project focused on increasing the number of farmers who undertake wader friendly management in Scotland

RSPB Scotland proactively supports initiatives at both national and local level aimed at reversing the declines in waders, many of them working in partnership. At the national level, we are a partner in t…

Join us for the 2022/2023 series of webinars, hearing from experts in the fields of research, conservation and the farming sector. From hedgerows through to beetles and then wider research projects on how nature-friendly farming techniques may help ...

An opportunity to reflect on the last year at RSPB Hope Farm, by Georgie Bray, Hope Farm Manager.

Winter is well settled in now on the farm, although it has been a long time coming. The scorching 40-degree heat of the summer seems a long time ago with everything looking damp, brown and muddy. As soon as our Autumn-sown crops were drilled it was a relief to see some decent rain to fill the water table. With a bit more…

This year, the RSPB is piloting the Volunteer Monitoring of Farm Wildlife (VMFW) project.  Below is a diary account from one of our volunteer surveyors, Lynne Roberts. We are told that our farmland ecosystems are in crisis and that farms these d...

Richard Winspear, Agricultural Advice Manager, sets out the key requirements of the SFI's role in supporting farmers to build sustainable farming systems in England that support nature, and proposes an SFI Farmland Biodiversity Standard based on ...

Hannah Woodall, Land Use Policy Officer for RSPB Cymru, summarises the key goals and ambitions for the new Sustainable Farming Scheme in Wales. RSPB Cymru very much welcomes Welsh Government’s proposals for its new Sustainable Farming Scheme (S...

To date over 1,000 trees have been planted in the agroforestry field at Hope Farm with the help of staff and volunteers. Sophie Mott, RPSB Carbon Farming Project Manager, tells us more. Over the winter we planted up one of our 11ha arable fields into...

Ecologist, Dr Jacqueline Weir, explains how The Woodland Wildlife Toolkit website has been developed in partnership with other organisations and experts to provide location specific advice and guidance to woodland owners, managers and advisers. In th...

This year, the RSPB has been working with farmers and volunteers across the Dark Peak to map the locations of wading species on enclosed farmland ahead of the introduction of new payments for biodiversity through the ELM scheme.  

Conservation Officer, Tom Aspinall writes about how the project came about and what it hopes to achieve in partnership with farmers in the Dark Peak.

There’s something extra special about walking…

To give us an insight into this year's inspirational Groundswell Regenerative Agriculture Show and Conference Shelley Abbott, Fair to Nature Technical Facilitator, summarises our presence at the recent event, and explains why it is so popular amo...

Mark Varney, Head of Fair to Nature on the importance of restoring nature as part of a productive farming system, and the benefits of joining Fair to Nature. As a nation, over recent years, we’ve seen policy-driven changes in agriculture cause ...

Hannah Woodall, Land Use Policy Office for RSPB Cymru outlines the effective ways that farmers in Wales are using nature friendly farming techniques to improve farm resilience and provide environmental benefits.   Farming in Wales is at its...