It's always great to hear when farmers we work with are recognised for their efforts for wildlife - and this year's Farmers Weekly Awards gave us all a reason to be cheerful.
The Fens is one of the main areas in East Anglia for growing cereal and horticultural crops, but amongst all those crops, there is still room for farmland wildlife to flourish. Award winner Michael Sly has proven just that and wants the public to join him on his journey.
Michael, who farms approximately 1600ha in Thorney, Cambridgeshire, has won the Farmers Weekly “Farming Champion of the Year 2016” award. He is a true advocate for 21st century farming, using the latest techniques to grow good food and combining that with wildlife conservation. Michael is thrilled with his award saying “I was very humbled to have been awarded the Farming Champion of the Year award for 2016. It was a great honour to be recognised at a national level for the work the team puts in to creating our Open Farm and Vintage Weekend every year at Park Farm, Thorney”.
So what has made Michael stand out? Well, alongside profitable production, he has embraced the environment which he and his staff work in on a daily basis. In 2011, the farm entered into the Higher Level Scheme, which forms part of the agri-environment schemes. Amongst some of the options chosen are pollen and nectar mixes for pollinators, bird seed mixes for farmland birds to forage in over winter, and fallow plots have been created for breeding lapwings. “I am thrilled to see the number of lapwings on the farm. We had no breeding lapwings before we entered the scheme. It is great to see all the hard work put into the scheme in the early years, delivering what we see today” said Michael.
Lapwing. Image: rspb-images.com
Michael has seen farming change over the years and is passionate about keeping the public connected with the farming industry and the environment in which they live. With this in mind, Michael has been opening his farm gates to the public for the past 11 years, as part of Open Farm Sunday. His Vintage and Open Farm weekend has gone from strength to strength, with over 8600 people attending in 2016. Michael says: “To see the number of people increasing each year is extremely satisfying and makes the whole event worthwhile.”
Attractions include farm machinery, both past and present, showing people how farming has changed in a very short time. Farm animals are brought in from neighbouring farms, showing every aspect of farming. One of the main attractions is the trailer rides. Hundreds of people, both young and old, experience the farm’s work programme for the year, including looking at the different crops grown, learning about the crop management and understanding where the crop is destined. They also see some of the options grown for wildlife and learn which species will benefit from them. “It is really important to me that everyone understands where their food comes from, and how we are enhancing the wildlife at the same time” says Michael.
Michael’s enthusiasm is infectious, playing a lead role in the Thorney Farmland Bird Friendly Zone which consists of 17 farmers who all undertake great work on their farms for wildlife. Showing clearly how farming on a landscape-scale can benefit farmland wildlife, the group are inspiring other farmers to undertake the same level of commitment on their farms.