8:20am Thursday 19th August 2010
With harvest currently under way across the country farmers and smallholders are being urged to give a helping hand to birds by leaving stubble over the winter.
While some farmers will be planning to sow a new crop in the ground in autumn, others will be waiting until the spring to re-sow. RSPB farmland advisors are asking these farmers to plan their ploughing schedule with wildlife in mind.
“It’s the busiest time of year for cereal farmers, but they will already be thinking ahead to next year,” said Richard Winspear, RSPB Farmland Advisor.
“Many farmers will be planning to follow up this year’s crop with a spring crop. If they leave their stubble until next year instead of ploughing up the land then they will be providing a valuable winter foraging ground for seed eating birds like tree sparrows, yellowhammers, skylarks and game birds.
“Stubble fields are like giant bird tables in our countryside. Winter food sources are vital if we are going to reverse the historic decline in farmland birds.
“A ten year study has shown that in areas where 10 to 20 per cent of land was left as stubble over winter, skylarks and yellowhammers have not declined. But in other areas their numbers have continued to drop. Farmers in environmental stewardship may only need to provide half this area of stubble to halt farmland bird declines.”
As well as being an option in the Entry Level Scheme (ELS) for farmers, leaving over winter stubble will also help farmers to support the industry’s Campaign for the Farmed environment. The Campaign, which has the RSPB’s full backing, is urging farmers to put in place voluntary measures, including over winter stubble, field margins and skylark plots, to help provide food and breeding habitats for threatened countryside wildlife.
Andrea Graham, NFU Countryside Adviser, stresses how farmers can use stubbles to support the Campaign for the Farmed environment.
She said: “It’s great that overwinter stubbles have already proved to be a popular option. Farmers are enthusiastically taking up the new extended winter stubble option in ELS, which keeps the wildlife benefits of the stubble for longer and allows farmers to control blackgrass.
“But if entering into a formal stewardship agreement isn’t for you then how about considering the campaign’s Voluntary Measures for keeping stubbles?”
While leaving stubble is ideal for farmers growing spring crops, an alternative for those growing autumn sown crops is to sow wild bird seed mixtures in field margins.
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