Conservation at The Hawthorns
November 22, 2009
For the past decade The Hawthorns has been involved in environmental projects. The farm entered into The Countryside Stewardship scheme in 2003 with an agreement lasting ten years. The reasons for doing this include gaining recognition for existing good working practices, obtain funding for additional works and encourage native fauna and flora to be restored to the countryside. This was a project that was originally initiated by the Countryside Commission to improve the environmental value of farmland thoughout England. As a result of the Countryside Stewardship scheme The Hawthorns has undertaken replanting of the old apple and perry orchard, replacing missing trees with local varieties of apple, pear and plum. Approximately one kilometre of hedgerow have been replanted using traditional species such as holly, hawthorn and blackthorn. The pond has also been restored, dredging it to return it to its original size and creating inlets for ducks and wildfowl.
By restoring these habitats, wildlife species also benefit because they have somewhere to live and survive.
Old and New Trees in the Orchard
One of the fields has been left fallow for ground nesting birds to have an undisturbed habitat. Due to mechanisation and the move to Autumn planting many of these birds have suffered and their numbers have declined dramatically.
One of the environmental features that have been included as part of the Countryside Stewardship Scheme are field margins. These are strips of ground that are left uncultivated between the hedge and the crop and are between 2m and 6 m in size. These margins provide wildlife corridors for a range of wildlife species including hares and barn owls. They are also havens for wildflowers because the field margins are not sprayed with herbicides which kill them off and the strips are not mown so the plants have an opportunity to seed.
Giving the new hedge plants a good start
In addition to the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, The Hawthorns signed up to Entry Level Stewardship Scheme in 2005. Anyone who owns or manages agricultural land is able to join. This is run by DEFRA- The Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs. This scheme replaces Countryside Stewardship and Environmentally Sensitive Areas (another environmental scheme). You are issued with a Handbook and can pick environmental management options to undertake on your land. Each option, such as pollarding trees (this is when willow trees are cut off at head height to encourage new growth and stop the tree splitting and getting disease) is allocated a number of points. The scheme is non-competitive, so as long as the total of points you accumulate is equal to 30 points per hectare over your whole farm then your application becomes an agreement. All agreements are paid a fee of £30 per hectare.
Initial Results of Soil Structure Survey
November 8, 2009
As mentioned in a previous blog, the adoption of direct drilling techniques should, in theory, bring about an improvement in soil structure. Dr. Nancy Oakes suggested the first step to looking at soil structure was to assess the bulk density. On the 28th September a number of soil cores were taken across the field and the bulk density measured. The bulk density of soil is inversely related to the porosity of the soil. The more pore space in a soil, the lower the value for bulk density and so is a good indication of soil compaction. Three fields were sampled – Cobb Hill, Lime Street and Roundmoors. Cobb Hill was drilled in Oil Seed Rape, Limestreet was left as stubble awaiting sowing with winter beans and Roundmoors was drilled into Winter Linseed. As Dr. Nancy Oakes indicates in her report, the absolute accuracy of the figures is less important than the comparisions between fields and drilled / undrilled areas. To see the report click here Hawthorn soils results 1 . After passing through the field with the Claydon there is normally 7 inches of undisturbed soil between the drill legs hence the measurement of bulk density in the drilled area and between the drilled area.
This is what should happen !
Perhaps the most interesting question raised was whether the drill shatters and loosens the soil between the drill rows and so allow the crop roots to penetrate and make use of the nutrients or if we just end up with large areas of compacted, relatively underused soil inbetween the drill rows.
