Nature of Farming Award winners 2009

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Nature of Farming Award winners 2009

farm-advice 21 May 2009, 3:56 PM

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

  • Created a species-rich meadow and is using this to seed and improve field margins
  • Restored field boundaries with hedgerow planting, laying and coppicing
  • Restored wet grassland with shallow ditches and scrapes for breeding waders
  • Provided farmland birds with wild bird seed mixtures, pollen and nectar mixtures and rough grass margins
  • Buffered rivers and bunding ditches to benefit aquatic wildlife
  • Restored native grassland habitats along a disused railway line.

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.