Farmwildlife

Search Sort Posts:  Oldest to newest Newest to oldest

06 Apr 2010, 5:09 PM Amy C Joined on 13 Mar 2009 Posts 2 Entry Level Stewardship: Is it economically viable for Farmers to take part within the scheme? Hello, As part of my degree course I am undergoing a study with regards the viability of ELS for farmers, and whether the costs involved at both establisment and the carrying out of options makes it worth it for farmers. I have had various discussions with farmers on their opinions, although i was wondering if anyone had any views on the topic, or any interesting areas or studies previously carried out. I am very keen on exploring not only the typical options used, in ELS schemes, e.g. hedgerows but also ones that provide a higher ecological and environmental benefit, again all views are welcomed. Any help would be gratefully received. Many Thanks Amy    Report

08 Apr 2010, 9:03 AM emberiza Joined on 31 Jan 2008 Posts 29 Re: Entry Level Stewardship: Is it economically viable for Farmers to take part within the scheme? Amy, The economics of wildlife friendly farming can be found here: http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/farming/advice/economics/index.asp Hope that is helpful. Simon Tonkin RSPB Farmland Conservation Officer    Report

09 Apr 2010, 1:39 PM mike.mcdowall Joined on 03 Mar 2010 E.Lothian Posts 29 Re: Entry Level Stewardship: Is it economically viable for Farmers to take part within the scheme? Thanks Simon, Pity the reports aren't linked directly from the RSPB page. I looked at this one on wild bird cover : http://www.smithsgore.co.uk/assets/x/180533 £295 saving on fixed costs ? No explanation ? I find it very hard to believe that changing management on a hectare or two would lead to savings in _fixed_ costs. Theoretically some saving in labour, but a hectare of wheat doesn't take that much and fiddling about changing machinery and doing a wee plot is very time wasting. Fixed costs tend to behave in steps - no change until a significant change can be made, e.g. reduce staff by one, probably with a parallel reduction in machinery fleet. Knocking such a big whack off requires explanation. Interesting that the help to do better calculations points you back where you just came from ... I had a look at flower rich margins too - http://www.smithsgore.co.uk/assets/x/177645 This has the same £295 reduction in fixed costs ? Others may be the same. Mike.    Report

13 Apr 2010, 12:40 PM Gilesman Joined on 09 Apr 2010 Posts 1 Re: Entry Level Stewardship: Is it economically viable for Farmers to take part within the scheme? I have been conducting studies in the North York moors  area, and been involved in applications for the last 5 years. 95% of upland farmers have to do "little or nothing" in the way of changed management in order to get onto the scheme. Therefore it is more than viable in the uplands. This is because most land is already 'low input' or 'mixed stocked', etc, and drains don't get cleared out more than once every 5 years anyway. The only thing they have to comply with that they don't like is cutting hedges every 2 years - obviously this actually saves them money, but they don't like it. The only regular exception to this in the uplands is small dairy farms, they do sometimes struggle to find the required points as their grassland is all high input and they must rely on buffer strips. However, traditional farm buildings will often provide the required points, again in return for nothing other than maintenance. Over 5 years experience, my opinion is that positive benefit to wildlife resulting from ELS is the exception not the rule. Its simply a complicated way of giving farmers back the money taken from modulation.    Report

FarmWildlife » Farmwildlife Fo... » Discussion Foru... » Entry Level Stewardship: Is it economically viable for Farmers to take part within the scheme?

(please select) Forums Home |- Search Forums |- Active Topics |- Unanswered Posts User Options |- Sign In |- Join this community |- Forgot Password Farmwildlife Forums |- Discussion Forum