With the successor to the previous agri-environment schemes in England nearing it's final stages of development, Farming Minister George Eustice made a trip to visit the RSPB's Hope Farm earlier this month to see how we've been giving nature a home on the farm.
Image: George Eustice (centre) at Hope Farm (Amy Bell, DEFRA)
Hope Farm is run as a commercial enterprise which faces similar challenges to other arable farms around the UK, and like 70% of others we entered the farm into ELS to support some of the environmental land management we carry out on the farm, skylark plots, flower-rich margins and wild bird cover. Over the last 14 years we have been successful in achieving a significant increase in the number and variety of birds on the farm. Against the backdrop of a sharp decline in farmland birds nationally, our results have been ‘quite remarkable’ according to Mr Eustice. We’ve used our own ecological expertise to make sure that our ELS agreement is providing the big 3 for birds - safe nesting habitat, food in winter to help them survive the colder weather and lots of food (often insects and invertebrates) in summer to grow healthy chicks. If one of the three is missing, or if the scale or location is inappropriate, the circle breaks and potential for the farm to deliver for wildlife is compromised.
What we've done is not remarkable - or at least it shouldn't be. Similar results could be achieved by any number of farmers across the UK - but the current scheme is fundamentally flawed in its inability to guide farmers to making the best choices for their farm and the environment. There are a lot of farmers who are in ELS and doing their best, but it is unfair to expect every farmer to have sufficient ecological knowledge to build the best scheme for their farm and its wildlife, or to expect them to deliver sometimes challenging options with little or no support or advice. Our farmland advisors have been working hard across the UK to support farmers in that task, but they can’t reach every farmer. As a result, we have seen the mass uptake of the simplest options which in isolation do not deliver the benefits for wildlife that we all want to see - the Big 3 'circle' is broken.
Our experiences with Hope Farm demonstrate that a good quality ELS really can work - but it relies on the right options being put in the right place and at the right scale to see the dramatic improvements for farmland birds that we so desperately need.
The Higher Level scheme in England, however, has had much better results due to its more targeted approach and greater level of ongoing support and advice for farmers who are in the scheme to help them get the best results. But this comes at a cost, and there is less money available for agri-environment as a result of the latest CAP review. So the question now is surely one of quality, rather than quantity – although this will mean that fewer farmers will be able to participate in the new environmental land management scheme (NELMS) being developed, we believe that a more targeted future for agri-environment will enable farmers to really see the difference that their management can make. NELMS is a great opportunity to learn the lessons from ELS and HLS and develop a scheme that works for all involved - the farmers who commit themselves to making a positive difference, the wildlife that has the potential to thrive on their land, and the public who support British agriculture through their shopping habits, their taxes and their enjoyment of the countryside
Time is not on the side of farmland birds if we continue to deliver agri-environment in a broad and shallow way, so it is encouraging to hear Mr Eustice’s commitment to provide “support for things that really benefit farmland birds.” We are hopeful that when the new scheme is finally available, it will have been designed to set farmers up for success in achieving positive results, and that in years to come we will see the benefits across the wider countryside as our farmland wildlife starts to recover.
Read the full story in Farmers Guardian here