Our Conservation Work

Insect heaven!

Insect heaven!

Wild flowers

Pyramidal orchid

So far we have:

  • Reverted 50ha of arable land to species rich meadow and pasture using native seed
  • Left 2km of grassy field margins around arable fields
  • Established 1ha of wild bird cover containing kale, sunflower, millet, etc
  • Planted over 1000 native trees and shrubs (although these areas are kept discreet to maintain  the open "wold" character of the farm)

Every year we:

  • Crop 10ha of spring barley which is then left as stubble over winter
  • Leave bare skylark plots in the spring barley for nesting
  • Restore 50m of dry stone wall
  • Cut the hay late when flowers and grasses have set seed
  • Leave blocks of set-aside, grass and some margins untouched over winter for the birds and insects

We also:

  • Keep livestock numbers low to avoid over grazing and soil damage
  • Restrict avermectin (wormer) use so as to benefit dung and insect numbers
  • Leave dead wood in situ wherever possible
  • Leave hedges uncut for 3 years plus and cut only after winter leaving the berries for birds
  • Erect barn owl boxes and boxes for tree sparrows etc
  • Do not use artificial fertiliser on the species rich meadows and pastures
  • Limit pesticide use – we are due to start organic conversion in 2010
  • Limit supplementary feeding of stock aiming for a natural grass based diet

With natural resources in mind we:

  • Do not work or travel on soil when set so as to avoid compaction
  • Recycle all farm plastics, glass and scrap metal
  • Are reducing our energy usage and have switched to green tariffs
  • Monitor and reduce our carbon (CO2) footprint with the aim of being carbon neutral
  • Are researching ways to become more self sufficient in energy
  • Limit water use and collect rainwater
  • Compost as much as we can