Most folk involved in arable farming will either have visited or know of Cereals, one of Europe’s premier agricultural shows. This year the show was held on 10-11th June at Boothby Graffoe, and the RSPB hosted a stand along with approximately 1000 other exhibitors.

Picture 1: RSPB Stand at Cereals 2015. (Anna Broszkiewicz). 

With so much to grab visitors attention, we had to stand out, and our star attraction this year was a hand-made barn owl box, one of three specially made for the show. Throughout the two days the box attracted a huge amount of attention, and it was fantastic to hear from so many farmers who have owls on their farm.  For the chance to win an owl box, visitors we asked to answer three quiz questions about barn owls. At the end of the show the first three correct answers drawn won a box. The lucky winners have all now been informed and are looking forward to installing the boxes on their land. Those entering the competition could also sign up for the RSPB’s farming e-newsletter, a quarterly summary of farming related stories from this blog.

Picture 2: Visitors flock to enter the barn owl box competition. The box (right) was one of three specially made for the show. (Anna Broszkiewicz). 

Our main offering this year was a series of free 1-2-1 Countryside Stewardship advice sessions for farmers.  During these sessions and RSPB advisors used digital mapping to help farmers plan the Countryside Stewardship options on their farm. The mapping module with the new Countryside Stewardship options was specially designed for the show, and the sessions generated a lot of interest. One farmer commented they were ‘the best thing I’ve seen all day’! The sessions could be pre-booked and nearly all available slots were filled.

Picture 3: Senior Conservation Officer Niki Williamson discusses Countryside Stewardship options with a farmer during a 1-2-1 session. (Anna Broszkiewicz). 

The sessions were a unique offering at the show, and helped bridge the current information gap for those farmers whose old schemes are ending and who are looking to apply for Countryside Stewardship. There are a number of differences between the old and new schemes, and Senior Policy Officer Tom Lancaster offers a run-down of the key points in his blog here.  Keep an eye out on this blog for further news on the new scheme in the coming months. Countryside Stewardship is a powerful tool to support wildlife friendly farmers and we were very pleased at the level of interest the 1-2-1 sessions generated.  As a result of attending one of the sessions at Cereals, a farmer has just submitted his Expression of Interest form, the first to have been submitted for Nottinghamshire!

The support among stand visitors and passers-by for managing a proportion of farmland for wildlife was gauged by using a straw poll to answer the following question; 'Would you be prepared to answer 3-5% of you land for wildlife through an agri-environment scheme?" On both days the overall answer was a resounding yes. More specifically, the net result from 71 votes over two days was; Yes = 59 (83%), No = 5 (7%) and It depends = 7 (10%).  

 Picture 4: Coloured vases were filled with water for the straw poll, the results of which were very encouraging. (Anna Broszkiewicz).  

As in previous years, we were very lucky to have the support of two guest Farmers, Martin Lines and Steve Bumstead, who both joined us on the stand for several hours. Their knowledge and expertise was invaluable and we look forward to working with them in the future to promote wildlife friendly farming. We also welcomed Katie Cruickshank from Butterfly Conservation onto the stand to offer advice on how to manage farmland for butterflies. It was a pleasure to see our stand so busy throughout the show, with folk popping in to chat to advisors, book 1-2-1 sessions, browse the leaflets available or just have a cup of tea. Katie later commented that, “ I was so impressed by the service that the RSPB was offering and the level of positive energy on the stand- it was definitely the most interactive stand that I saw on my wanderings'!

Picture 5: The stand was buzzing throughout the show. Many visitors were proud of the wildlife on their farm and were seeking advice on schemes to help support continuing management for wildlife. (Anna Broszkiewicz). 

Butterfly Conservation is working in partnership with the RSPB, other wildlife charities and industry experts to develop a new online advisory tool for farmers. When it is launched next year, the FarmWildlife website will provide farmers and their advisors with the best advice available on how to manage farmland for wildlife. There will also be case studies, a questions forum and guest blogs throughout the year. Keep an eye out for further publicity   

Many thanks are due to the great number of staff who helped with the show, and to the visitors who came along to the stand, your interest and enquires made for an inspiring and stimulating two days. I hope some of you reading this will have been among those visitors, and if not, we look forward to welcoming you at Cereals next year.

By Rebecca O'Dowd (Agricultural Communications Manager).