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The Nature of Farming Award is run by RSPB with Butterfly Conservation, Plantlife and BBC Countryfile magazine. The winners in 2009 were:
Scotland: John Moir, Cairness Home Farm, Fraserburgh
- Grassland management for wintering pink-footed geese and breeding waders
- Silage crop management for nesting corn buntings and unharvested crops to provide winter food
- Grass margins, beetle banks and conservation margins for insects
- Conservation areas targeted for butterflies
- Planted 180 acres of new woodland
Wales: Alan Morgan, Gadr Farm, Monmouthshire
- Woodland management for dormice
- Pond creation and management for amphibians and insects
- Unsprayed spring cereals followed by over-wintered stubbles for rare arable plants and farmland birds
- Protection of veteran trees
Northern Ireland: Michael Calvert, Barnwell Farms, County Down
- Conservation crop margins, wild bird covers and over-wintered stubbles for seed-eating birds and rare arable plants, and as part of the Yellowhammer Recovery Project
- Range of hedgerows maintained by traditional management
- Rough grass margins for Irish hares, small mammals and barn owls
- Protection of the aquatic wildlife in an area of natural fenland
Northern England: Stephen and Joceline Gibson, Birkdale Farm, Yorkshire
- Involved in the Cornfield Wildflower Project, saving seed of rare arable plants for restoring on new sites
- Protection of a wetland Site of Importance for Nature Conservation
- Scrape created in wet grassland for breeding waders
- Seed mixtures and skylark plots to boost farmland birds
- Bird numbers monitored by a local BTO member
The Midlands: George Eaton, Rectory Farm, Buckinghamshire
East of England: Andrew and Alison Bond, Bryher Beef, Essex
- A wide range of arable conservation measures to benefit farmland birds
- Low-input spring cereals, margins and nectar mixtures to boost insect numbers
- Fallow plots for rare arable plants
- Pond and river management for water voles
South-east England: David Harding, Court Lodge Farm, E Sussex
- Wet grassland management for breeding waders
- Reedbed management for bitterns, harriers and water vole
- Woodland management, especially for the conservation of black poplar
- Over-wintered stubbles and nestboxes for tree sparrows
South-west England: David Willoughby de Broke, Ditchford Farm, Gloucestershire
- Fallow plot for nesting lapwings
- Rough grass margins, wild bird seed mixtures and pollen and nectar mixtures for farmland birds and insects
- Retention of permanent set-aside for wildlife
- Creation and management of pond and lake for aquatic wildlife
- Planting of new hedgerows and laying of existing hedges
Four of these farmers have now been selected as finalists for the UK award which will be decided by a public vote. Who do you think deserves the title of the UK's most wildlife-friendly farmer? Visit www.rspb.org.uk/farmvote to register your vote.
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