tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91035049316771892112024-03-13T11:39:29.411-07:00Farmland BirdsFarmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-34103378606525437802012-04-29T15:22:00.002-07:002012-04-29T15:29:37.908-07:00Big weather. Little birds<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love BIG weather. The downside is it can cause flooding, take off the garden shed roof, cut off the phones or hinder travel but it makes you feel small, a little bit helpless and even insignificant, and in this modern world where we're each at the centre of our own personal universe- a sense of scale within the wider world probably isn't a bad thing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today's strong winds brought down a few boughs and the odd tree but they weren't the strongest to date but they were relentless and unseasonal and when combined with the driving rain they made today a bad day to be a wild bird.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The farm as a whole is already struggling to cope with the heavy and continued rain we've had. It is of course much-needed but arriving all at once as it has makes it seem like Mother Nature is being sarcastic. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We lamb our sheep later than many farms as it allows us the time to comfortably get all the cattle out of their winter housing and into the fields- it also means the weather is typically more favourable and the lambs can be born outside with minimal human interference- but it looks like the gamble didn't pay off.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This year the young stock are still indoors, the dairy herd are turning their fields to mud and lambs are being born into constant rain and biting winds. You know your fields are sodden when they attract Mallards, dozens of Starlings and a daily flock of foraging gulls that has now reached over 200 birds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today's strong winds and rain saw many birds seeking shelter; the bird feeders were abandoned, the sky empty and even the most persistent species like the gulls and the corvids were overpowered and depleted in number. Occasionally Chiffchaffs, Willow Warblers and Blackcaps were still singing, but from the hedgebottoms not the treetops.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the saddest site of the day was a scattering of little black dots on a bankside that turned out to be a flock of Swallows. As I approached I could see their feathers were drenched, their wings hanging by their sides, and they appeared exhausted as they made little effort to move despite my presence. 'Our' Swallows were already sheltering in the farm buildings but these were clearly someone else's birds- probably headed north but stopped in their tracks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've seen Swallows on the ground before, but only odd birds, and always by the side of puddles in the farmyard as they collect mud for their nests. This was something different, but I backed away. It was unlikely I could do anything for them that wouldn't risk more harm than good- even trying to gather them up would probably be a rather misguided and destructive affair. But I did resolve to keep an eye on them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I thought about those Swallows for much of the day- all the trials and thousands of miles they'd endured to get here and I then thought about what they'd arrived to. Yet the more I thought about them, the more I realised just how smart and how tough these little birds are.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Yes, the conditions weren't exactly Swallow-friendly but rather than continuing to fly on unsuccessfully they (guided by their survival instincts) had decided to cut their losses and sit it out. They were basically doing what I'd do in their position. What's more they'd chosen one of the farm's few south facing banks to land on- they were safe from the north-easterly wind, and indeed the rain. The howling winds blowing just a couple of feet over their heads were enough to keep many would-be predators off their cases.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So today's Swallows were a sorry sight and I don't believe in sugar-coating a pill, no matter how bitter- but, drenched and exhausted when flying was impossible- they'd taken a rather practical plan B. A decision that turned out to be the right one as 5 hours later, when the wind had died down (a little) they were all back on the wing, zipping along the woodland edge and catching any insect brave enough to take flight. They'll be gone tomorrow and if you live north of Derbyshire they might just end up somewhere near you.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Big weather can cause big problems, but the environment is full of little survivors that are capable of great feats of endurance. Some species are more delicate and prone to suffer but you'd be surprised at how good they are at pulling though when more is at risk than just the phone connection or the garden shed roof.</span></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-77139355878572915512012-04-09T13:20:00.004-07:002012-04-09T13:29:47.685-07:00Putting a price on our farmland birds...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Money makes the world go round. It's no secret and it's not ideal, but it's a fact and it's the reason why so much is wrong with the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Take for example the decline of our farmland birds. The demand for cheap food and the post-war subsidisation of our food production led to their decline, and in a way it's my fault, and it's your fault, and the fault of everyone that's eaten anything in the last 60 years (which is most of us).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Our farmers were the ones doing the producing that led to this decline and are the ones we all blame for the fact that these days if want to see a Corn Bunting I need a train ticket and a lot of luck.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As a nation we like to think that we control our farmers, because their work is subsidised. Rightly or wrongly we feel a degree of ownership over them and the countryside they manage. Since we pay our taxes we feel they should farm how we want them to and not how the rules of capitalism dictate they should.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In many ways that's not a bad thing if people feel connected to their countryside and feel impassioned to seek change for the better.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Whilst we seek that change we must also remember that it's money that makes the world go round. Goodwill can go a long way, and our farmers have bucket-loads of it, but farming remains a profit-driven industry. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This isn't a thinly-veiled appeal for more Government money as cynics may believe, I'm simply highlighting the fact that if our farmed environment is to support the species we would like it to then we have to find the best way to make that happen with the limited resources we have- this also HAS to be viable when compared to farming the land for maximum output.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This isn't easy. In fact it's bloody tricky, and made all the more difficult by the fact that in many sectors the price paid for our food is now slowly increasing, making more intensive food production an ever-more appealing option for someone looking to make a living from the land. And who can blame them, </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to work for a lesser salary to stricter guidelines dictated by someone else.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The simple answer is not to offer any form of subsidisation to those that don't farm in an environmentally-sympathetic manner, and that's logical. But if food prices continue to increase it's not going to be enough of a disincentive to put people of farming for a higher profit.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It's a bit of a conundrum- not least because it leads us to question what price we would pay for our farmland species. We HAVE to know what to do if subsidising the environment cannot compete with the demand for food.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It's not all bad news- there are things we can do to farm the land for profit AND wildlife- some of them remarkably simple and effective. The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and the RSPB have worked hard on finding practical solutions, their work has correctly focused on the evolution of our farming practices rather than a revolution within the industry.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">What we now need to think about is how we encourage and inspire farmers to adopt the successful measures- and it's not always that farmers are unwilling to do these things. If I went to my local livestock auction and spoke to those assembled around the sales ring about Lapwings I don't doubt they'd all lament their demise, but probably all be unsure if and how they could do anything to make a difference.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The other thing they'd all be pretty sure of is that they were to blame for the Lapwings disappearance- they've been told it enough. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I see the farming community as a huge pool of neo-conservationists- they have the potential to be the Corn Buntings best friend. Because of existing environmental subsidies, the good work of groups such as the RSPB and The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, and the will of the farming community we have the potential to apply the brakes to (and where possible reverse) species decline- depsite the increased demand for affordable food.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We now need all those concerned to make a concerted effort to implement the findings of these trials, they need to disseminate their results to farmers and not just fellow conservationists, and where possible pull out all the stops to help and encourage farmers to take up new methods. Offering incentives to farm for wildlife may convince some- but for others just showing that farming for wildlife will not hinder profits is more effective.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Helping to save our farmland birds is all about looking to the future and not the past. It's about working with farmers and not standing on your soapbox, pointing the finger of blame and repeatedly telling them it's their fault. Especially when we've all so clearly dined on the fruits of their labour.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So money makes the world go round- and we have to accept it. So subsidise the farmers or don't subsidise the farmers- the sustainability of subsidised agriculture is always questionable and as demand for food increases it may end up being irrelevant anyway. Working with farmers for a profitable AND sustainable countryside will be better for all of us in the long run.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-58852191553118220182012-04-04T15:55:00.003-07:002012-04-05T00:57:01.169-07:00April (snow) showers, bring forth May flowers...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes Spring can seem a bit like a tick list- beginning somewhere in darkest February and petering away in late May. We all have a different Spring tick list- dominated by the things we notice most. For some people the list could be dominated by the particular order in which they plant their vegetable seeds. For some it might be the order in which you shed the winter woollies . And for others it might be the run of boozy Bank Holidays that punctuate the calender at this time of year.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However you measure the arrival of Spring the chances are that somewhere in your list will be a nod to the natural world- be it the first daffodil, the first lambs or the return of the Swallow. Whatever it is the most important thing is that these indicators arrive roughly in the correct order.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For those of us that take an interest in the natural world the Spring is marked by arrival of particular flowers, particular emerging insects and particular migrating birds. Sometimes things run a little behind schedule, sometimes ahead of themselves, but as long as the order is maintained we're happy, it's a relief, and summer is on the way.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chiffchaff, Sand Martin, Willow Warbler, Garden Warbler, Whitethroat, Swift. It's just the way it is and if one year the Whitethroat arrived before the Willow Warbler, or the Garden Warbler failed to turn up it wouldn't feel right at all. I still hear people that are quite put out by the fact they haven't heard a Cuckoo.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Springs' order had been going so well. It was the 3rd of April, Chiffchaffs were nest-building, Sand Martins had been sighted, and right on queue a Willow Warbler had been heard. And then it snowed.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It had been forecast, but somehow the absurdity of the prospect of snow meant it didn't really register , it was like a be-lated April Fools. joke From about 5.30am it snowed... and snowed. The strong winds drove it sideways, our electricity was cut off, the roads blocked, and something I can only describe as 'seasonal confusion' kicked in.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkSjlW6eONAhP24XVNIpUNXwHF9JHU2Aq3rWXbUMLUjgB8KFmrvwjV7VhLY50jOICt569GhITYrvFePhyphenhyphenpjW_B0NyMAtI6CN7qlIBKRyNSfyJZ2pV08MgauWxpPtXQ8izt5HMFN5_UDVI/s1600/IMG_5662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkSjlW6eONAhP24XVNIpUNXwHF9JHU2Aq3rWXbUMLUjgB8KFmrvwjV7VhLY50jOICt569GhITYrvFePhyphenhyphenpjW_B0NyMAtI6CN7qlIBKRyNSfyJZ2pV08MgauWxpPtXQ8izt5HMFN5_UDVI/s320/IMG_5662.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkSjlW6eONAhP24XVNIpUNXwHF9JHU2Aq3rWXbUMLUjgB8KFmrvwjV7VhLY50jOICt569GhITYrvFePhyphenhyphenpjW_B0NyMAtI6CN7qlIBKRyNSfyJZ2pV08MgauWxpPtXQ8izt5HMFN5_UDVI/s1600/IMG_5662.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By first light we were white-over, and the countryside was eerily quiet. I topped up the bird feeders and House Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, Chaffinches & Goldfinches flocked back, some species particularly the Tits had naturally dispersed in search of breeding sites so were slower to find their way back to their winter feeding station. Unsurprisingly the birds consumed more than five times the amount of food they normally do in one day at this time of year.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXbiFahUAnkAfnfQFuM9xQ5Fj9qHmIaM53fu2dku8XZmXL8d3syMHFcuEzamwRlNZrz4NG4NTu4qOhWdop7sFePsmF0Q0S5kKSyuq5AsxK40wdGxwV9Jp8qxiGKu0ycma01cR8EF-c9Y/s1600/IMG_5691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXbiFahUAnkAfnfQFuM9xQ5Fj9qHmIaM53fu2dku8XZmXL8d3syMHFcuEzamwRlNZrz4NG4NTu4qOhWdop7sFePsmF0Q0S5kKSyuq5AsxK40wdGxwV9Jp8qxiGKu0ycma01cR8EF-c9Y/s320/IMG_5691.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The dairy herd had been turned-out for the summer just a couple of weeks ago, today they found themselves back inside- not that they minded- for them as for us- confusion reigned. They could only watch, and presumably speculate that we had experienced a very short summer indeed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmdYqVOnUJbMRcZZRjUOpwobYw8C-cvsiRFwDKpQXGh1AKOAg-vZ_THJnUVK57tTpDBeKsEzh_tsXKG18Ge8R_ptXZUmCCjL5hM0lDlBLSm2-_PXtff4KOWxe_b69S6osCMcdQ4elNbQ/s1600/IMG_5666.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmdYqVOnUJbMRcZZRjUOpwobYw8C-cvsiRFwDKpQXGh1AKOAg-vZ_THJnUVK57tTpDBeKsEzh_tsXKG18Ge8R_ptXZUmCCjL5hM0lDlBLSm2-_PXtff4KOWxe_b69S6osCMcdQ4elNbQ/s320/IMG_5666.JPG" width="225" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Snow continued throughout the day, clearing the ground proved a waste of time as the snow simply reclaimed the exposed ground within minutes. The strong winds meant the snow drifted, areas sheltered from the wind escaped the snow and larger birds such as a Rooks, Pheasants, a Jay and a Red-Legged Partridge were seen foraging on clear ground. Black-headed Gulls also took advantage of these areas but looked strange traversing a snowy sky in full summer plumage.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKEoARpP1kuPpVMldeTesV90az4gtZXsEN1IKhvUGaqTd1bwB3Oq0c2x_5T-WQ3XlCQJM5Jk0IRY7g1X9YpRfl5663s84aT8AxqHge1lWbJgha2hDTpAuZgt0WM0FgP-JCgCGMvi3GbS4/s1600/IMG_5699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKEoARpP1kuPpVMldeTesV90az4gtZXsEN1IKhvUGaqTd1bwB3Oq0c2x_5T-WQ3XlCQJM5Jk0IRY7g1X9YpRfl5663s84aT8AxqHge1lWbJgha2hDTpAuZgt0WM0FgP-JCgCGMvi3GbS4/s320/IMG_5699.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We tend to lamb our sheep a little later than most farms, we do this because it would be too much work for us to care for the dairy herd whilst housed indoors <em>and</em> lamb the sheep- whilst not usually ideal, this year it's worked out for the best. Here some of our in-lamb ewes shelter from the blizzard. Many farmers were happily lambing their flocks outdoors and may now have lost young lambs to the freezing conditions. Even those indoors will have suffered as power cuts meant it was impossible to keep vulnerable lambs warm.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5pMuJH9SCTVDOXM9pWG1I_p0kBT-IIZ_YDqLDgEwahRW-8Z7RW78OWTdfM5WmWsU7BmATgFQz4FYanV08n99lwzaJyyD7lIIYq8XlvthPV3FqstE_Hif3eJAW1oJbUVrUxuDx-NeEp0w/s1600/IMG_5694.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5pMuJH9SCTVDOXM9pWG1I_p0kBT-IIZ_YDqLDgEwahRW-8Z7RW78OWTdfM5WmWsU7BmATgFQz4FYanV08n99lwzaJyyD7lIIYq8XlvthPV3FqstE_Hif3eJAW1oJbUVrUxuDx-NeEp0w/s320/IMG_5694.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of our cattle had been taken to summer-grazing away from the farm, they couldn't be returned to their winter sheds and for them the snow was a nasty surprise. For the young calves it was about keeping them warm, and with no time to prepare keeping out the cold relied on straw bales, wood and of course bale-string.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvs7MKxsr-W61kSBqA9NE9_R90ZjTsRNSOO5tJsutSrATu9CJFanTpmeaIRAHLFCSnOFbfirKkvje3zglfH4VVA38WqfbE5y-FexEv17DForqL_zSeORagyI2GT2DfWm6Oru8sL2F04Cg/s1600/IMG_5669.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvs7MKxsr-W61kSBqA9NE9_R90ZjTsRNSOO5tJsutSrATu9CJFanTpmeaIRAHLFCSnOFbfirKkvje3zglfH4VVA38WqfbE5y-FexEv17DForqL_zSeORagyI2GT2DfWm6Oru8sL2F04Cg/s320/IMG_5669.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trees were emerging from winter dormancy and the sap-filled boughs struggled to cope with the wet, heavy snow and the strong winds. Boughs were brought crashing down across the farm and some roads were blocked. Thankfully we didn't lose any trees and in the woodland block the trees were relatively unscathed.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz4K7IwCEd-76wg9ONdSVkmT471Sqf5TU1XqG5l9x-ThHqAkZDaKV_EG6H_o6G749_actq5SzcLty7UO-NSEe2lfvIJx-JfI3bP8uEUJlXnVOqc_rgdFFHqzVYorz6pR2619IsMOm1Qxs/s320/IMG_5702.JPG" width="239" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And even when in the house the fun and games weren't over. The lack of electricity only made things more challenging, and no matter how long it takes the sodding kettle to boil- tea is always a priority!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been a cruel 24 hours for our countryside, bad for the livestock, but perhaps worse for the wildlife. The poor Willow Warbler that flew thousands of miles to-and-from Africa and arrived just yesterday- all to avoid a UK winter will have experienced a taste of one nonetheless. The five species of butterfly that had emerged early and were flitting happily around the farm last week have will probably have perished- it's a bit depressing. When the weather does this, inconvenient, frustrating and harsh as it may seem- it's nature. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Thankfully the snow is now melting, the forecast tells us it'll be cool for a couple more days meaning it will linger but then Spring will continue, aided by the (much-needed) water from the snow melt. It's been stressful and there will have been little tragedies right across the farm but the Willow Warbler will hopefully be singing again soon and Wednesday 4th April will probably not go down in the records as a great natural catastrophe. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In fact, just to prove that Spring continues, today will be remembered for <em>something</em>... our first flowering bluebell. Tick.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-54111224463678678612012-03-31T12:57:00.003-07:002012-03-31T13:31:40.075-07:00Remember you're a Womble...<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I find it astounding that in 2012 we have a litter problem in our countryside. In so many ways our attitudes have come so far since the 1970s, 80s and even 90’s. ‘Green’ issues have become political and not just about lefty-liberalism; you don’t have to chain yourself to a tree or reside in a tunnel under the proposed route of a motorway to show you care about the environment. ‘Green’ issues have become accessible and acceptable like never before.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We’ve all heard of our 'carbon footprint' and 'ethically sourced' foods, many of us worry about the melting polar ice caps and biodiversity decline, and whether by hook or by crook we all recycle. Despite all of that, despite living in these environmentally-enlightened times, when seismic environmental changes are occurring- littering, such a simple issue to prevent, is getting worse.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A couple of weeks ago I became frustrated at the amount of litter strewn along the country lanes in this quite corner of Derbyshire, I assumed it was more apparent because it was exposed by the lack of vegetation or because like so many gripes it is prevalent when you look for it- but I was sure it hadn’t been this bad for years. I tweeted about it and many people up and down the country confirmed by suspicions- I wasn’t just a moaning do-gooder, I was a moaning do-gooder with a point.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So if there really is more litter- who is dropping it? And more importantly, why? In a spare half-hour I litter-picked a mile of the lanes nearest to the farm and gathered a full black bag of the stuff, and not just a half-hearted, loosely-tied bag of air, I’m talking about a burgeoning, ripping-at-the-seams bag of rubbish- but what do it’s contents tell us about our persistent litterers? What sort of person literally trashes the countryside in 2012?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Disconnected: The whole picnic</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A whole meals-worth of picnic wrapping all contained in a carrier bag and left in a hedgebottom- who is to blame for that? Well the food manufacturers have something to answer for given the amount of plastic wrapping- but what sort of family leaves all that waste behind? </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Presumably to even opt for a picnic there must have been at least <em>some</em> perceived pleasure in dining al fresco, the culprits must have found this piece of countryside aesthetically pleasing enough to warrant stopping here to eat. Given that we’re talking about a remote country lane it’s safe to assume they drove here or cycled here, and we <em>know</em> they had a carrier bag- so why leave it?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps we live in a world in which we eat, and then leave. From fastfood to fine-dining once we’ve eaten, we stand-up and we walk away. Perhaps these people believe a countryside picnic is a brand name and this lane was an outlet. Perhaps they thought a ‘Countryside Picnic’ waitress would turn up after they’d gone. Either way, they were wrong.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Selfish: wet wipes</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">No one can argue with hygiene and the people that disregard it can often be tracked down by nose alone, but we’ve all become rather obsessed by our quest to live in a sterile environment. We’ve all seen the adverts: bad mothers leaving their innocent children exposed to a teeming swarm of deadly bacteria or the neon glow of bacteria all over the entire kitchen and stemming from the uncooked chicken. Its clever marketing, it’s scare-mongering, and it’s little wonder we’re a nation of paranoid OCD sufferers.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The latest weapon in the arsenal of the over-wary is the anti-bacterial wet wipe. For just a few pounds you can carry a little pack around just in case you touch anything. They’ll kill all known germs and leave your skin coated in chemicals that make your hair drop out and render your children infertile (scare tactics of my own).</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And sure enough they’ve reached the countryside. Despite being an undoubtedly clean environment, the sheer amount of these I found indicates visitors are terrified of contagion. Once their hands are wiped the wipee is then left holding a wiped wipe- they clearly have no choice but to drop it, then presumably wipe their hands again before fleeing the germs.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Disregarding: Alcohol</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many of us enjoy a drink, and even more of us enjoy a day out- I find the two are best combined with a good village pub at the end of a walk but each to their own. In the hedgebottoms around here I found a surprising amount of empty cans and even a gin bottle- I don’t know what life throws at some people but when you find yourself knocking back half a bottle of gin in a country lane you probably have bigger things to worry about than what you do with your litter.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That said the vast majority of the cans were for the energy drinks and cheap lager that make an evening driving a Nova around Spar car park a much more enjoyable experience. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Careless: Farm waste</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones (or litter) and farms have a lot to answer for around here. The lanes are the traversed by farmers from across the area but we are one of only a handful of working farms in the area and are probably not blameless.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How farmers dispose of things such as plastic silage wrap is now monitored and it’s correct disposal recorded- but there’s nothing to stop long strips of the stuff taking flight in the wind before becoming entangled in the miles of hawthorn, bramble and barbed wire that divide our countryside. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I doubt farmers go around putting it there, or shoving the plastic corn bag or the mineral bucket in the hedge bottom or throwing their work gloves in the verge but it’s nothing a bit of good housekeeping wouldn’t solve. There are several things we’re advised not to do on our own doorstep- and littering is one.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Misguided: Balloons and lanterns</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A cloud of coloured balloons in a cloudless sky or a trail of glowing Chinese lanterns through the night sky are nice things to see- and they may drift out of sight but you’d be pretty misguided to assume they’ve disappeared. I’m forever picking the remains of balloons and lanterns up from our fields and hedges- I found two balloons on my litter-pick and a lantern a couple of days later.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In practical terms is launching 100 balloons really any different to ‘launching ‘ 100 carrier bags or drinks bottles or crisp packets? And in the case of lanterns there’s the added risk as the whole thing is aflame. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Its easy to sound like a killjoy when you’re complaining about something that people enjoy but on our small farm we’ve lost at least one cow to a humble balloon. I'm sure you'd agree that seeing a previously healthy cow abort her calf or end up destroyed for the sake of someone’s balloon is a tad sobering.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The Mindless: Dog poo in a bag, hung from a tree(!)</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That’s dog dirt. Picked up in a plastic bag by the owner. Then hung from a tree. It defies all logic, sense and reason. Whatever the situation- if it fell out of <strong>your</strong> dog- it belongs to <strong>you</strong>.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ve tried to find an explanation or justification I really have- but I can’t. Putting it in a bag is a good thing- but then the whole point is to bin it. If you don’t like carrying dog crap around like a warm, squidgy souvenir then either don’t take your dog, or walk it somewhere you KNOW there are bins.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leaving it in the countryside is like a big two fingers up to every other person who comes across it.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*******</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So who drops litter? Judging by the rubbish I found there are lots of different people doing it, and lots of different reasons why they do it. Be their actions disconnected, selfish, disregarding, careless, misguided, mindless or even malicious the one thing they all have in common is that they’re totally unnecessary. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps it’s time to resurrect the old ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ campaign, or (heaven forbid) call the Wombles. Or maybe we need to look more closely at our attitude to the countryside and how it’s managed. Maybe as a society we’ve become accustomed to such things being ‘someone else’s job’.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the more bizarre items I found was a punnet that once contained Organic Blueberries. It’s a mad contradiction when someone who is presumably aware of their own wellbeing and that of the environment (and pay extra for it) is able to discard their litter so freely. There must be a breakdown between the perceived cause and effect of littering.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Such contradictions are an increasingly common feature in our society, in the same way we worry about the environment we still do bonkers things like buying bottled water, flying everywhere, and eat out of season produce we know has travelled half way around the world. Why do we do it- we do it because it’s only me, no one is looking, it’s just once, and someone somewhere will compensate for it by doing the correct thing.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It might not be a crime to think that way, but when 60 million of us think like that is there any wonder we’re seeing more and more litter in our otherwise beautiful countryside.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-67289218435958111692012-03-13T16:23:00.003-07:002012-03-14T14:16:46.835-07:00Spring awakening...<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been several weeks since I last posted, our wonderful Internet provider left us without any broadband for a few weeks and there has been lots to do at this very busy time of year. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The dairy herd are still kept indoors around the clock which means a lot of work for those tasked with keeping them content. On the farm January and February are very much times for keeping your head down, working away, often in darkness and sometimes in snow. By March it's (usually) safe to at least take stock. We have a lot less silage, and a lot more muck but it will be a few weeks more before the ground is dry enough, and the grass recovered enough for the cows to go out- but there are lots and lots of signs that Spring is coming.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">No one is more ready for those sunnier days than the cows themselves, for them 'turning out day' cannot come soon enough-it only takes a sunny day and they will gather at the side gates of their shed in anticipation. On such days its not wise to spend too long around the cowshed as the cattle tend to assume you're readying the gates for 'turning out' and can become unduly excited and stressed. And of course there are still a few cold nights and wet days when they're more than happy to be indoors.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Whilst the cows are perhaps picking up on the temperature, day length, and the scent of new grass, for us there are other signs of the impending Spring- its arrival to this quiet corner of Derbyshire has played out as follows:</span></div><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">16th February: <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/blackheadedgull/index.aspx">Black-headed Gull</a> in full Summer plumage over the farm</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">20th February: <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/skylark/index.aspx">Skylark</a> singing overhead</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">21st February: Birth of 2012's first calf</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After this we had a small Wintery interlude (winterlude?) before more developments:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">26th February: <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/o/oystercatcher/index.aspx">Oystercatcher </a>heard calling</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">27th February: Frogs in the ditches & a <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/curlew/index.aspx">Curlew</a> heard calling</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">28th February: Baby rabbits emerged from warrens </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">29th February: First Common Newts & Common Pipistrelle, large flocks of <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/f/fieldfare/index.aspx">Fieldfare</a> gathering and passing over.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">1st March: Birth of the second calf of 2012, Seven-spot ladybirds & Bumble Bees emerged, 6 Skylarks</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">6th March: <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/f/fieldfare/index.aspx">Great Crested Grebe</a> courtship seen at nearby reservoir.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">7th March: first frogspawn</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">9th March: Celandine flowers </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">11th March: Small Tortoiseshell & Red Admiral butterflies on the wing</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">12th March: Dandelion flowers & Mining Bees</span></li>
</ul><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">It can only be a matter of days before the first <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/chiffchaff/index.aspx">Chiffchaff</a> is heard or weeks before our Swallows return.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">All this time spent offline and the seasonal optimism have allowed me to get three little projects underway. They're all slightly nerdy and will be very much ongoing- but I will keep you updated when/if they prove interesting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><u>Bird of Prey Monitoring:</u></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I think birds of prey are a good gauge of the health of an eco-system, sitting (somewhat precariously) at the top of a food chain means when the whole thing collapses they have the furthest to fall and the longest climb back to recovery.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The farm attracts a decent number of bird of prey species, though the populations of some of our species appear to be at something of a turning point. <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/k/kestrel/index.aspx">Kestrel </a>& <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/l/littleowl/index.aspx">Little Owl</a> sightings seem to be fewer, while the <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/buzzard/index.aspx">Buzzard</a> population seems to go from strength to strength, <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/sparrowhawk/index.aspx">Sparrowhawks</a> appear to also be more frequently spotted, though this could be due to the male that is living up to his name and hunting the Sparrows in the garden.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hopefully by recording, rather than just 'noticing' I will be better placed to see how our birds of prey are doing, and as a result understand the effects our farming practices are having on prey species populations and nest site availability.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In the mean time if you're keen to prevent birds of prey from deliberate harm and would like to see the introduction of the offence of vicarious liability for raptor persecution in England you can do so by signing the petition <a href="http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23089">here</a></span></div></li>
</ul><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><u>Brown Hare Monitoring:</u></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Anyone who has read my blog before may well know that much as I am a bird lover, I am also extremely fond of this brilliant mammal, what's more I am interested to know how and why our farming methods (seem to) benefit this species.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This will follow a similar pattern to the recording of birds of prey in that it will hopefully provide more information as time goes by- and I will bore you with my 'data' at some point in the future.</span></div><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you want want to record the mammals you see please submit your sightings to The Mammal Society and help them build up a picture of how our mammals are doing across the UK. Submit your sightings <a href="http://www.mammal.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=357&Itemid=329">here</a></span></li>
</ul><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><u>Calving blogs:</u></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">As a dairy farm the story of why some of our birds have disappeared and others prospered is inextricably tied up with the management of our land, the management of our dairy herd and ultimately the pressures on the industry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I think it's really important to understand what farmers do and the reasoning behind the decisions they make and I have often wondered how to communicate this, it's not about sympathy, or blame or tales of woe (well, not totally) but about openness and maybe education.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">With the arrival of our first calves of the year, it seemed obvious, nothing tells the story of a dairy farm better than the cows themselves, so expect updates on what's happening in the herd and (hopefully) what becomes of this years calves as they grow. You may find it interesting and educational, you may find it very dull and wish I'd stop blogging- but either way it will make a change from my endless bird sightings.</span><br />
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<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial;">No links for this one, but a nice picture of 2012's first calf, a Friesian heifer. I had a few name suggestions on Twitter, and non seemed more apt than Tweetie- more on her soon...</span></li>
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<ul></ul>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-53913262917788753362012-01-12T11:13:00.000-08:002012-01-14T07:47:14.072-08:00Milk, muck & NVZs<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cows poo... a lot. They also break wind a lot- which concerns some scientists. But the most pressing issue is the poo, and more specifically what we do with it.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">Dairy cows typically spend their lives grazing the fields, all that grass is processed (and reprocessed) within the cows large and complicated digestive system in order to extract as many nutrients as possible. The byproducts of this process are methane... and fields dotted with nice big cow pats. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In the winter the weather becomes unfavorable for dairy cows, wet fields quickly become trampled and as the temperature drops our fields cannot grow enough food for the cattle- for these reasons dairy cows will spend a few months housed indoors. Here they are fed silage, given shelter, and providing they have enough room and suitable housing they are quite happy. The downside is that they produce a lot of poo... in a small area. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Our herd is cleaned out twice each day and the poo is gathered in a concrete-lined pit outside of the cow’s shed and collected until we have the time (and the right weather) to allow us to transport it out to the fields to be spread. Of course the cows produce the same amount of poo as they would if they were outdoors, but a concentrated slurry of poo (and wee) spread over a relatively small area, on water-logged soil leads to run-off- as a result nitrates enter our waterways causing all sorts of problems. We have become more responsible when it comes to the use of fertilizers (another source of nitrate) but managing the distribution of slurry is now a contentious issue.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
It wasn’t so bad when farms had smaller herds, they were often fed on hay (which led to drier poo) and small herds meant smaller muck heaps and less need to spread the slurry on such a regular basis. As the average herd size grew, so did the amount of slurry produced by individual farms- and nobody was aware of the damage we were all doing to our waterways.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Introducing NVZs...</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
To tackle the issue we now have a shiny new European Commision Nitrates Directive under which land that drains into water polluted by nitrates are designated as Nitrate Vulnerable Zones or NVZs. The implementation of the directive is being overseen by the Environment Agency and mandatory rules for farmers are being phased in across all NVZs- in short dairy farmers whose land is within an NVZ will have to securely store all of the slurry their cattle produce between the months of October and March. The regulations will most likely (and rightly) come to encompass all the UK’s farmland over the coming years.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Our small herd of 70 dairy cows produce a lot of slurry- our small slurry pit is about 40 years old and our herd can fill it in about 6 weeks- finding somewhere to store 6 months worth of slurry is going to be difficult... and expensive.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We’ve consulted a lot of people to look into giant covered pits, massive metal tanks... even rubber bags- there’s no way around it we will have to invest at <em>least</em> £60,000. On top of this we also have long-needed to replace our milking parlor and carry out work on the housing- more investment.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">In business terms £60,000 may not seem like a big investment- but to our business it is. In total each year we receive somewhere in the region of £108,000 for our milk. Producing this milk requires investment in silage production, rent, fertilizer, loan replayments, corn, water, electricity, machinery, veterinary bills and two people working all day, everyday. It may sound like a lot of money but milking is already being made unviable by those further up the chain.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The reality is our farm will probably be forced to close in the coming years. It’s something that’s already happened to thousands of small farms- and is likely to happen to those that remain. Our farm buildings will be converted to housing or holiday cottages, and fields that aren’t snapped up for building plots are likely to be absorbed into larger neighboring farms that are better placed to invest the money required. Market forces increasingly dictate that if you’re not able to produce a lot for a little you’re out of business. The quality of your product, how far it’s travelled, the welfare of the cows, or the impact of your farm on the environment don’t really matter. After all it’s <em>only</em> milk.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
But all this is a bit depressing isn’t it- back to the poo.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Controlling the nitrates on our farmland is vital to protect our precious water. I’m not a fan of industries turning a blind-eye because sorting something out is the trickier option. But I am concerned about the repercussions of driving small scale farms out of business- not just for the individuals involved but also for our environment. I have long blogged-on about the role small farms could, should and do play in preserving our dwindling farmland species but when it comes to NVZ rules I have to admit we have something of a catch-22.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In protecting our waterways are we inadvertently damaging the farmed environment by forcing our small farms out of business? Is it right to help one facet of the natural world if doing so damages another? It’s an argument that crops up again and again- everything is a trade-off of sorts; from culling Ruddy Ducks to flying to an environmental conference. It’s a matter of weighing up impacts- it could be a long process, and to be fair in this case the two outcomes are not mutually exclusive. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
We have to protect our waterways and to be honest NVZs are just one of the many things stacked against our small and medium farms. I only ask that we introduce the changes in a more sensitive way- particularly for those most at risk from going out of business as a result.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
If we don’t do it through grants or subsidies (which are never popular with the public) then perhaps we should look at ways of ensuring buyers, supermarkets and the like are obliged to buy British milk produced in a nitrate-sensitive way as opposed to importing even cheaper milk from the far corners of the EU and beyond- places that don’t face the same levels of nitrate regulation- and yes, that should include the millions of gallons that goes into other products too.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
It’s not about taxing imports or penalizing our neighbours. It just strikes me as a bit mad that we produce all this great food to high environmental and welfare standards (and spend millions implementing and policing its production). To then send it overseas and buy back cheap and unregulated food in its place. It’s wrong in lots and lots of ways.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
It’s really just about helping our farmers by offsetting some of the costs their businesses face when protecting our environment. If we help our farms to comply they can produce lots of great milk, protect our farmland birds and our waterways. </div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-73467170624914917542012-01-08T13:22:00.000-08:002012-01-08T13:22:43.197-08:00Cheap food- at what price?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesterday <a href="http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/">The Grocer</a> magazine marked it's 150th birthday by studying the prices of select items in relation to the prices paid in 1862- <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16450526">the study</a> made for some interesting reading and tells us as much about life today as it does about life 150 years ago.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Incredibly back in the Victorian era it was typical for a family to spend a third of their income on food- something unimaginable by today’s standards where our food 'spend' has been eclipsed by our soaring fuel bills, the cost of running a car, insurance and even leisure costs. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The cost of the commodities we buy may have soared but in comparison the cost of food has dropped markedly and we no longer have to consider remortgaging the house if we want to splash out on a mango.</span> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In the Victorian area, aside from the things that could survive weeks at sea- almost all our food came from these Isles- so besides things like Nutmeg we were pretty self sufficient. This was of course before many of the developments upon which modern farming is built- the land was farmed as intensively as possible but without the pesticides, fertilizers, medicines, machinery and vast fields of today farming and the production of food was much more reliant on more basic things such as man (and woman) power, resourcefulness, a decent horse, good weather and a lot of luck.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
It had lots of downsides; a drought or a flood could send wheat prices soaring and make bread a greater luxury and the high costs meant millions went hungry, many were malnourished and some starved. A burgeoning and increasingly industrialised population needed cheap food and farming raced to keep up with feeding all those hungry framework knitters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Our countryside still had lots of farmland birds- but during the Victorian era their populations were already in decline- the trade-off between our wildlife and our need to feed a predominantly urban population had begun- and it’s rumbled on ever since. On the plus side our great-great-grandparents probably didn’t starve to death but on the downside you have to travel a long way to encounter a corncrake.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
And that’s sort of where we’re at today- the decline of farmland species continues, but instead of paying a lot for food, we’re paying a little- and for many of us it still seems too much. Acquiring food has become less about survival and more about begrudgingly paying yet another household bill- it’s a notion perpetuated by the supermarkets where seemingly low prices are emblazoned across our TVs, magazines, billboards, buses and brains in an attempt to get us through the supermarket door.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
But when you think about it, when you actually break down your shopping bill, our food IS cheap- so cheap we take it for granted, we over indulge and we waste it. Anyone who’s ever tried growing a few vegetables will testify that it’s not easy and it’s not cheap- yet we rarely stop and ask ourselves how some of these intriguingly uniform vegetables can be grown, transported, clean, packaged and sold to us for so little- and yet STILL allow a bumper profit for the retailer. If we did stop and think we’d realise it’s the farmer who is forced to produce something for next to nothing and share the burden with our dwindling birds.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
So this year, lets try to make a conscious effort to think about where our food comes from, all of it. We’re getting good at being suspicious of cheap meat, and some of us have got better at checking how far our haricot beans have travelled, where our chicken was reared, or how our fish was caught. It’s good to scrutinise, in fact scrutinising your food is a good thing for UK farmers. British food is produced relatively near to you, and to a high standard.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Farmers that are paid fairly don’t have to scrape a small profit by damaging our environment. They’re also better placed to reverse this long-standing trend and help out our farmland birds. Best of all if we ask the right questions, make the right demands, and where necessary pay a little bit more we can still have inexpensive food, happier farmers, and an improved environment- something our poor mango-deprived forbears could only dream of.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-74313791881558310612011-12-27T11:29:00.000-08:002011-12-27T11:29:19.838-08:00Fox hunting as agriculture?<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boxing Day has been marked by hunt gatherings up and down the country for generations. It’s a tradition that gave the great and the good a chance to socialise and exercise their horses- all in pursuit of a species that posed a significant threat to the economic interests of a rural nation where those that didn’t own shooting estates tended to eek a living from small farm.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
It’s a notion that didn’t really sit particularly well with the majority of people in the UK in the naughties. Most people didn’t feel that a few should have the right to hunt down and kill the wildlife that we are all now entitled to call our own. As a nation we haven’t exactly fallen in love with the fox. They may be a nuisance to suburban dwellers when they rip open the bin bags or crap in the alpine border but they’re no longer a threat to the livelihoods of anyone- wherever you live.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Fox hunting isn’t a particularly efficient way of killing an animal that bothers few- in short those that weren’t upset by the perceived cruelty were indifferent due to the unnecessary nature of something that was very hard to defend. So hunting with dogs was banned in a confusing piece of legislation that left no-one fully satisfied but appeased enough to get a Labour election pledge ticked off the list.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<strong>A return for fox hunting?</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Despite this fox hunting wasn’t just going to disappear- hunting with dogs may have been banned but there was nothing to stop the same people congregating and chasing across the countryside for the hell of it- and should a fox happen to cross their path, and should it happen to be mauled by the hounds then so be it. It’s an open-ended law that is wide-open to abuse but for how many foxes actually die in this way, cruel as it may be- and whilst I agree it should probably be reviewed, I can’t help feeling that as a nation, when it comes to our environment- we probably have bigger fish to fry.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The other thing to remember is that fox hunting has it’s own supporters- still keen to see it return. Public interest in the issue of fox hunting has waned somewhat since the ban, a change that could mistakenly be perceived as public indifference by those keen to see the ban reversed. Hunt support is often based in the rural land-owning classes- a hot bed of Conservative party support. So for some the present seems like an apt time to re-open the debate.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<strong>Fox hunting as agriculture?</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
As fox hunting is increasingly seen as impractical and unnecessary way to control an animal that bothers few it became increasingly hard to justify its existence and even more difficult to justify it’s return. It seems in response the ban was repackaged and became less about the rights of the privileged and more about the rural economy and the rights of the ordinary rural man on the street (or country lane).</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Of course to tag fox hunting onto the raft of wider rural or agricultural ‘issues’ is a bit silly. Fox hunting is fine if you’re into that kind of thing but it’s not a pressing rural issue, the loss of vital rural bus services, the closure of our post offices or the struggles of the UK farming industry are the things we should focus on.<br />
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In light of this I believe it’s important that the UK farmers do not allow the lines to become blurred. Farming is about farming- fox hunting is about fox hunting. It’s a not a view shared by Agriculture Minister Jim Paice.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Mr Paice is a supporter of hunting with dogs- that is his opinon. I also understand it is within his ministerial portfolio to address the issue, and I’d rather things were discussed openly rather than hushed-up or hidden away- I just don’t understand why debating fox hunting should be the job of our Agriculture Minister and I wonder why it so high on his list of priorities when it is completely irrelevant to agriculture in the UK.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Agriculture may not employ the number of people it once did, but the amount of the UK’s land area that is farmed remains close to 80%. Agriculture is concerned with the rather vital role of feeding people, it is also has a vital role in conserving our nations biodiversity and protecting the countryside as we know it. Agriculture faces many big challenges and some even larger issues in the future- issues that will involve and affect all of us. So why is it, on Boxing Day, as millions of people lounge in front of their computers and TVs Mr Paice used this as an opportunity to have a moan about the ban on fox hunting. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Being such a controversial topic, on a quiet news day- the subject appeared on the ‘most-read’ lists of various websites, a success for Mr Paice as it drew lots of attention to his cause. But it isn’t my cause. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
So perhaps, as Mr Paice draws up his list of New Years Resolutions he could have a think about how his role as Agriculture Minister can be used to benefit UK Agriculture- there are plenty of issues there to keep him busy in 2012. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
I might also suggest that perhaps Mr Paice could afford to spend a little less time worrying about why he can’t use dogs to go fox hunting because non of those real issues facing us in 2012 have anything at all to do with the fox.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div></span>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-1741415894258455902011-12-14T14:56:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:05:15.347-07:00Badger culls: action for actions sake?<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Depending on how you see it Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman either condemned 'innocent' badgers to a death sentence or she took decisive action against an escalating and very real rural problem. Whatever you make of today's announcement, the chances are you're probably wondering what (if any) difference it can make.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As it's milk that puts bread on my table I have something of a vested interest and although I am not supportive of a cull, I am desperate for <em>something</em> to be done to bring this disease under control. Bovine TB causes a real sense of exasperation, urgency and fear within the farming community and farmers need a real solution- measures to combat bTB need to be based on solid scientific foundations.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I have already discussed my <a href="http://farmlandbirds.blogspot.com/2011/11/starting-points.html">concerns about the use of a badger cull</a> as a way of controlling the spread of bTB but that's not to say I am some sort of new-age tree-hugging farmer... I am not. I want a productive and profitable farm. I just can't help feeling that trial culls in distant pockets of the UK will do little to prevent our herd from contracting TB and certainly not in the foreseeable future. Oral vaccines may be "years away" but so is the control of bTB through widespread badger culling.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The other factor we cannot overlook is how all this affects the already fragile relationship between the farmer and the person on the street. I have discussed before <a href="http://farmlandbirds.blogspot.com/2011/11/farming-community-are-mixed-bunch.html">how farmers are perceived</a> and it must be considered. Whilst I don't believe farming should bow to pressure groups and I am infuriated by </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">the tone sometimes used towards 'farmers'. I do think we must consider how we engage and interact with the public. Any wildlife cull will alienate many people and when, as Spelman suggests, it's the farmers being asked to do the shooting how will the media portray farmers then?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The feeling within the farming community (or at least those not actively opposed to a cull) is that at least <em>something</em> is being done to tackle bTB. When it's taken so long for the problem to even be addressed at higher levels <em>anything</em> seems like progress- and perhaps that's the point of today's announcement. Politicians have largely buried their heads in the sand while the issue escalated and now they've opened their eyes and lurched towards a possible solution that <em>appears </em>most proactive.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Whilst many people are sceptical about what a cull can really achieve for those whose very livelihoods are on the line it seems that someone, somewhere is listening to them. Spelman may want to appear to be taking the bull by the horns, but I can't help feeling she's got the wrong bull.. and they aren't it's horns.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">You see, doing something for the sake of doing <em>something</em> is rarely a productive exercise. It's a knee-jerk reaction and in the short term there is little to gain (a 16% reduction in bTB at best) but a lot to loose. If (and it's a big if) the cull is successful in a 'disease reservoir' area- can it really be a workable and long lasting solution to a countrywide problem. Are we just going to spend 10 years playing with guns until either a workable solution is found or the Conservatives leave office.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My concern is that we're going to be so distracted by years of secret shooting, opposition lobbying, public protest and farmer-hating that we'll all be distracted from the fact that no-one in government is even seriously considering a Plan B (or V), and when you're not sure if Plan A will even work, you really need a Plan B. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you're dealing with what may turn into a £1 billion problem within a decade- is £250,000 annually on vaccination research enough? When even the Badger Trust and the NFU can bury the hatchet and begin working together on vaccination trials shouldn't the government be giving it a bit more thought?</span></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: justify;"></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-9674297272648404162011-12-11T15:48:00.000-08:002011-12-11T15:58:14.721-08:00Putting an end to raptor persecution...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I was younger the countryside here was a different place. There were birds that aren’t here anymore and other species have returned since then- the pace of change never ceases to amaze me.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
When I grew up there were plenty of Kestrels- they were a common sight along roadside verges or over mowed fields. We had Little Owls too, and sometimes saw the occasional Sparrowhawk or Tawny Owl- and that was it- four raptor species. All other species were so rare and confined to the more remote and isolated corners of the UK that we resigned ourselves to the fact that really there were just the four species.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Slowly, as time went by, as a nation we got a little better at tackling some of the threats to our other raptors. We clamped down on the use of certain chemicals and pesticides, and rabbit populations recovered from the myxomatosis outbreak. We became more aware of the problems caused by pollution and the loss of habitat, and we began to better understand the importance of protecting birds and their nests from persecution. With improved conditions in some areas we even began to reintroduce some species. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Some threats didn’t go away- our roads kill too many birds, particularly those whose prey favour the overgrown verges. Many habitats remain degraded and raptor persecution and egg collection are an ongoing and ever present threat to all species. The sad truth is that the species with the smallest, most fragmented and most habitat-specific populations are the hardest hit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
So there were still threats, things were not perfect but we’re moving in the right direction, and the rewards were evident all around us. Within a few short years we are now able to regularly spot Peregrine’s and Hobbys on our farm. They’re by no means common but we also get the odd Barn Owl and Red Kite over the farm, I’ve even seen an Osprey locally, and Merlins have been sighted, but no raptor better symbolises the ability for a population to recover than the Buzzard.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
There are few creatures I see in my day to day life that are more impressive than a Buzzard, as they drift on-high or launch into flight and soar skywards. At certain times of the year they gather on warm thermals and where there had been none there were now half a dozen.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The impact these predators have can be seen on the land. Rabbits are particularly problematic for arable farmers but their impact is not normally felt on pastoral farms like ours. Yet without the Buzzards, and few predators capable of controlling them their population had swelled far in excess of natural levels. I remember well walking into one of our small 2 acre pastures and counting sixty rabbits. When the Buzzards returned the rabbit population declined and the balance was restored.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
With all this progress it’s even more shocking, frustrating and infuriating when you discover, as I did a couple of years ago, evidence of the persecution of these impressive birds. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The scene I discovered in one of our fields was a sorry sight. Two adult Buzzards lying dead, either side of the carcass of a pheasant, the evidence of what had caused the death of these birds couldn’t be any clearer. Whatever the poison it was so strong it'd killed them then and there. At the time this was reported and followed up but finding the culprit is notoriously difficult.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23089"><img border="0" mda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpyQnSUx5Rr-H4DMUxW_awtyFCyxtNib8Y_csJg1mDMuDQhlNFC-r8L4VBpxZqL_QmafFDXtjRNV6-SMfFmmKMbvA76FhwL-KVwTychChF9GrxMj2TVlZHmDJnImgEYfiyzp3BYMYDZx4/s1600/bop.bmp" /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's crazy that when we've come so far that this can still happen. Of course policing such things is incredibly difficult but when this is the case the only true deterrent is a harsh punishment. I understand that the punishment has to remain proportionate to the crime so we need to look at <em>who</em> the punishment is aimed at.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We all know <em>why</em> raptors are persecuted, even if the debate is sometimes clouded by those that argue otherwise. In truth, in 2011 there are so few individuals with the incentive or motive to commit these crimes that it's pretty obvious <em>who</em> is doing it too. If we're honest there aren't a great deal of people in the countryside who feel raptors have a negative impact on their income.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's for these reasons, because some of our raptors are still being persecuted, and because of the photo above that I am asking anyone reading this blog to sign the petition found on the link below. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">The offence of vicarious liability could address a current shortfall in England's wildlife protection laws. Those who persecute <em>our</em> raptors are not acting alone, they are operating upon the instruction (directly or otherwise) of employers or others with a vested interest. The offence of vicarious liability brings the case to the doors of those in a position to prevent these crimes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There is no good reason not to make vicarious liability law. Anything that protects our magnificent birds of prey can only be a good thing. So please take a moment. <a href="http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23089">Sign the petition</a>. And help ensure a future for our raptors. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sign the petition<strong><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/23089"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a></strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Thank you.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-75273436924268852652011-12-08T14:49:00.000-08:002011-12-09T01:03:21.631-08:00Farmland birds: a global perpective<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't know about you, but whenever I think of farmland birds it's our native species that spring to mind, species such as Goldfinches, Grey Partridges and Rooks. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We often think of our birds as 'our' birds, we assume they're somehow inherently British. It's because of this it's always a surprise when you first step off the ferry at Calais and realise that the fauna there looks pretty similar to the fauna in Dover. Similarly it's also a surprise when you first discover that many of the birds on your bird table each winter are actually continental arrivals.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's not that any of this is a bad thing- it's important we maintain the unique blend of species we have. Thinking of them as 'our' birds also ensures we do as much as we can to help those that reside here or visit us, rather than leaving the conservation of a given species up to our neighbouring nations. Protecting the species we have also prevents any hypocrisy when we lecture other nations about conservation, particularly those with whom we share 'our birds'. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>The plight of our farmland birds...</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a nation we may have been a bit slow to notice them disappearing but in the last few years the plight of our farmland species has been highlighted and become the subject of much debate. We can all agree that the drive for productivity on our farms has brought about the severe declines we've seen in some species- but how we go about balancing the need for more and more food <em>and</em> ensuring the restoration and protection of the environment has been less clear.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Increasingly some farmers have felt that their role as producers has been compromised by the perceived restraints of the environmental schemes and conservation measures they must adhere to. In contrast conservation groups have aired frustration at the lack of impact and the perceived inefficiency of the same schemes and measures. Farmland species continue to decline, albeit at a slower pace, when we'd all hoped to see more results for our money.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The debate on the very role of our farmers has become somewhat polarised. I feel not enough people from either side genuinely believe that a productive farming system and farmland wildlife can coexist. The truth is they have to.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's no question about whether or not our wildlife is allowed to disappear. We simply cannot allow this to happen. The moment we resign ourselves to the fact we don't have room or the will to exist alongside our wildlife is the day the asteroid should strike. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That said, it's equally important our farming operations are allowed to remain productive and where possible prosperous. Increasingly we have come to see the role of our farmers as the guardians of our 'countryside' and maintainers of our scenery- it helps us justify the grants and subsidies but we value them far less as producers.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Their farmland birds...</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We live in an age where our milk comes from eastern Europe, our beef from South America and our butter from New Zealand- yes it's travelled a bit further, but it's cheap and it's made convenient to us, so we buy it. Couldn't we just allow other nations to produce most of our food on the cheap, then we'll pay our farmers to farm in harmony with nature and have lots of Linnets and Greenfinches? Surely everyone's a winner? Not quite.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As well as the rather enormous issues of food miles, animal welfare and the exploitation of foreign producers there is also the question of the environmental implications of the intensification of agriculture elsewhere. You see there are farmland birds the world over- not just in good old blighty.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our traditional farming practices are very old, and our birds have adapted to this environment. No doubt some species were lost from our shores in the mists of time as the land first became 'farmed' but the survivors were able to adapt to the change and today it's their principal habitat. Birds like the Grey Partridge made the transition from from birds of scrubland and steppe to birds of farmland over thousands of years.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Across the globe as farming spread; from cattle ranching and sheep herding to ploughing and paddy fields we changed the world and the wildlife that lives with us adapted. It's something scientists and conservationists have <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16000484">increasingly acknowledged</a> in recent decades, often as a switch from traditional farming practices has proceeded a decline in native species.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>All of our farmland birds...</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As consumers and tax payers this leaves us in something of a quandary- whichever way we shop something, somewhere suffers- and it's an issue we'll be faced with over and over again as the planets human population swells and our demand for food grows. So what is the solution?</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It would be very naive to think that our island home can ever be fully self-sufficient- even if global warming brings vineyards and buffalo dairies to our shores in increasing numbers there will always be something we'll need- and this is not a bad thing. We just need to be aware of what impact our weekly shop is having if we have transferred the production of 'our' food to another part of the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just as we can't write off our farmland birds we can't write off our need to be productive. This isn't simply because we'll have all those new (and increasingly old) mouths to feed- but we also need to avoid exploiting the resources of other nations and instead be able to demonstrate to them that farming and wildlife can co-exist. When we think about how to save our species we mustn't forget that there's a whole world of farmland birds out there facing problems of their own.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-52260161058897772142011-12-02T17:31:00.000-08:002011-12-14T16:31:26.862-08:00List making & loss masking: how small successes mask widespread failures<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every so often I like to count how many bird species I can spot on, around, and over our farm on a given day. I don't do anything special, I just tally up as I go about my business. It's not so much a census, just a chance to see what's around and how things are doing. It also appeals to my inner twitcher. <br />
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Yesterday was a bright, clear and mild December day, great for bird spotting, and between dawn and dusk I counted 54 different species. I admit I felt rather pleased with that, especially as one of the birds, the Crossbill, was a ‘farm first’. <br />
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It’s fair to say there doesn’t appear to be any shortage of birds, so it’s well done Government, well done Single Farm Payments, well done all and well done me. When there seem to be so many birds flying around it’s very easy to see why some farmers question whether there is a biodiversity crisis at all. It seems that around here at least something doesn’t add up. It’s only when you actually look again at the list that you realise the picture is not as rosy as it might be.<br />
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The Flyovers<br />
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I have to be honest, a few of the birds I spotted were flyovers, many of these were wildfowl that were headed elsewhere- in bird watching terms these count as ‘sightings’ but they tell me more about birds’ flight routes than they do about the success or failures of stewardship schemes- no matter how wide my field margins are they’re unlikely to attract a Cormorant or a Coot.<br />
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The Green List<br />
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32 out of the 54 species I recorded are (in conservation terms at least) ‘green listed’. This means that their populations are at the very least stable and may be increasing. This is of course a very good thing- it means 59% of the birds I saw are doing just fine. <br />
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There’s no denying this is great news, the majority of the species here are doing ok, this may be because Single Farm Payments are reaping rewards; all those measures might be working- the security of these birds’ populations is very important.<br />
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It’s equally important to remember that many of these birds, species such as Jackdaws, Great Tits, Wood Pigeons and Canada Geese- are the generalists that are doing well everywhere. These are the birds capable of exploiting various habitats including the farmed environment. We shouldn’t disregard their success but we can’t hide behind it. Perhaps we should think of these as the species that are doing well in spite of modern farming- not because of it.<br />
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The Amber List<br />
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Not all of the bird species are doing so well, 11 of them are on the Amber conservation list. This means 20% of the birds I saw are in decline. The populations of birds such as Dunnocks, Kestrels, Bullfinches and Black-Headed Gulls are declining- some inexplicably so.<br />
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To see these species is a good thing, it means at least they’re here- but whether our farm is a strong hold I do not know. Am I helping them, or are they simply here because they are widespread? It’s very hard to say. The fact remains their populations are in decline, modern farming practices may not be the root cause but they don’t seem to be the answer either. <br />
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The Red List<br />
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The bird species on the red list are those with the most drastic and alarming population declines. Some declines have been historical with little recovery but other declines have been more recent. 10 Red listed species were seen on our farm yesterday, namely Linnet, Lapwing, Lesser Redpoll, Starling, Fieldfare, Redwing, Song Thrush, House Sparrow, Tree Sparrow and Willow Tit<br />
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Given their current predicament perhaps I should count myself lucky to see these birds at all. Does there presence alone mean that Single Farm Payments are addressing and reversing species decline? - on the surface it might appear so, but break the list down yet further and it becomes clear that there is still much to be done.<br />
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I must confess that yesterday at least the Linnet and the Lapwing were seen flying overhead. It means good things might be taking place in the vicinity but these birds were not tempted down by anything here.<br />
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Similarly the Lesser Redpoll, Starling, Fieldfare and Redwing were in transient winter flocks, none are resident. I was both lucky and grateful they stopped here tempted as they were by alder cones or haws. The truth is neither of these food stuffs were put in place specifically for wildlife. They would exist whether or not we received a Single Farm Payment. We do manage our hedges responsibly but the vast majority of fruit is produced by hawthorn trees that we couldn’t afford to have laid into a hedge- not because we’re paid to keep them as such- wildlife has benefitted but subsidies haven’t necessarily made this so.<br />
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The House Sparrows are a resident bird- but this wasn’t always the case. A few years ago I noticed all of the farm’s House Sparrows had disappeared, their numbers had dwindled but it was a sad day when I noticed they had all gone. At risk of sounding sentimental I missed their familiar chirruping from the hedgerows and the cow shed. <br />
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I had always put food out for the birds but it hadn’t saved them, I began to buy better quality bird food and feed it ad lib and sure enough, they returned and their population slowly recovered. The seed attracted lots of species including Tree Sparrows which had disappeared from the area many decades ago.<br />
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This is great news, it shows that these species can return and recover, it also demonstrates that in this instance it was most likely a lack of food that caused these birds to disappear in the first place. On the down side it also demonstrates that despite the field margins and buffer strips that I am required to provide the farm still cannot provide enough natural food to maintain these species- they survive on hand outs. They are here because I want them here.<br />
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Supporting these species with bought seed isn’t cheap; it costs me around £50 per month. It may be more effective and sustainable to try to grow food for the birds but when you only have 200 acres upon which to make a living, and cattle and sheep to feed it’s simply not viable. <br />
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Whether or not is cost effective to grow or buy seed is irrelevant to you the taxpayer as the money for either would come from my own pocket. The £600 a year it costs to support many of the farm’s smaller birds is paid for by me, I am not obliged to do this and I don’t have that amount of money to spare, I do it because personally I find the alternative less desirable.<br />
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It’s a similar story with our Willow Tits too. I had seen them on the farm and when I read of their drastic population decline I responded with my own environmental measures; I fenced our strip of wet woodland to allow the scrub layer to dominate and I left all dead wood standing, the Willow Tits also readily take supplementary food. As a side effect of my efforts the Song Thrushes have also benefitted. These are not things for which I am paid a hefty subsidy.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So...<br />
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I know all this sounds a bit like I am seeking praise or payment. I am not. My reward is that I get to see the birds I see. The frustrating thing is knowing that there’s so much more we could do.<br />
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I’m also aware that dissecting good news to find the bad isn’t a very optimistic way to spend my time but I believe it’s very important we should not allow successes to make us distracted or complacent. At the very least we need to understand what constitutes a viable population and how we can achieve that.<br />
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We also need to look again at how publically-funded hand outs are being decided and distributed. Are they being put to best use? We have to keep realistic targets, the amount of money used for subsidising environmental measures may seem enormous, but it has to go a very long way- almost 80% of the UK’s land surface area is farmed.<br />
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It seems some of the measures are not a bad thing for our more generalist species but a more targeted regional, local or even farm-specific approach would truly maximise the wildlife potential of our farmland. <br />
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I’m not implying Single Farm Payments don’t make a difference, Defra figures show the decline in some farmland species has slowed if not stopped. The presence of many bird species on our farm would suggest that some good things are happening but the absence of others suggests there is a long way to go. <br />
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My little tick list of birds neatly grouped into Red, Amber and Green by conservation status can only tell you what’s around now, it makes no mention of the fact that I didn’t see Grey Partridges, Yellowhammers or Corn Buntings. <br />
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I’m happy with how things are going here, and I’m satisfied with my list. But I’m not going to make the mistake of letting increases in some species mask the declines in others.<br />
</span></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-87974288955874398342011-11-30T15:29:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:06:55.207-07:00George Osborne's true colours...<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been quite a week for our farmland birds; today <a href="http://www.defra.gov.uk/statistics/files/Wild-bird-populations-in-England-1970-2010-National-Statistics-Release1.pdf">Defra published an overview of wild bird populations in England from 1970 to 2010</a> confirming continued population declines for many of our once common species. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It doesn't make for cheerful reading- and if you don't fancy reading it the descending red line on the graph tells you all you need to know. Despite reports like this I try to remain positive and take heart (perhaps naively) in the small shreds of evidence I see around me that it's not ALL bad news.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I also take comfort in the fact that after a period of transition and soul-searching by many farmers- that we are resigned (reluctantly or otherwise) to the fact that environmental considerations are going to play a big part in our farming future. Yes some farmers drag their feet and understanably aren't keen on what they perceive as excessive red tape. But many farmers are aligning their ideas and practices with those of the conservation groups, members of the public and policy makers who are keen to help build a sustainable countryside.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether or not you feel farmers are helping drive these changes or are simply towing a line in return for subsidies is irrelevant. One by one, whether by carrot or stick, increasingly we're pulling in the same direction.</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Given all this, given the tireless work by so many to steer the farming industry to a more environmentally-aware approach to food production and given the changes made by countless farmers it seems particularly frustrating that our Chancellor, <a href="http://www.conservatives.com/People/Members_of_Parliament/Osborne_George.aspx">George Osborne</a>, is more than happy to have a rethink about the protection of 'things like habitats' to push for the perceived 'growth' this would bring.</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am at a loss for words. What sort of message does undermining the Habitats Directive send out to our farmers? What good can come from rubbishing the 'endless social and environmental goals' they have been duped into pursuing? How can they be expected to sacrifice their production potential in favour of farming for wildlife when Osborne is removing obstacles to large-scale 'developments' on environmentally important areas. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I know the Chancellor is referring specifically to Major Infrastructure Projects when he spouts this contradictory crud but his rhetoric reveals his attitude to the wider countryside. In short it's all well and good unless you can think of a better use for it. It seems measures put in place to protect the countryside for us all make a great scape-goat for our faultering economy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">I understand that continued growth is required, but short-sighted, misguided, desperate and destructive attempts to breath life into our economy are not the answer. I honestly assumed such attitudes had long been consigned to the history books- this is after all 2011 and in my view the silver-lining of this economic 'situation' was the chance to rebuild our economy on more sustainable foundations. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So where does that leave our farmland birds? They've had 20 years of sharp population declines followed by 20 years of slowing population declines, and they already face an uncertain future. Continued declines might see that decending red line disappear off the bottom of that graph in the not too distant future- a terribly sad thought.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">One thing is for sure; the 'Greenest Government ever' is sending out just the right amount of mixed-messages to ensure our farmland birds and any hopes of an environmentally sustainable farming system face an equally uncertain future.</span></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-26816637560760834192011-11-27T15:07:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:06:41.112-07:00Felling for the future<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Earlier today I discovered a fallen Alder. Last night's strong winds and brought it crashing down onto the damp wet woodland floor. The little patch of woodland on our farm is full of trees like this one: lank, overgrown and unmanaged.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Years of grazing had meant the delicate woodland floor was trampled, the important middle layer of shrubs and young trees had been eaten off and the mature trees grew tall, lean and weak as they competed for light. Effectively the wood was slowly dying.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-8WSmbEmSM-R0Ik2A5EBO1YI-ST5cwW478yQ1XcJ77fYPqZfo8txzug9gcD9qwf85tUWV5F2iKgwcaSPbMeYGN9OZa35npXeuir7sMp-bO9uiDl_BGj1LY2bp_nAD_sk5HSHHCpBKMs/s1600/IMG_4001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_-8WSmbEmSM-R0Ik2A5EBO1YI-ST5cwW478yQ1XcJ77fYPqZfo8txzug9gcD9qwf85tUWV5F2iKgwcaSPbMeYGN9OZa35npXeuir7sMp-bO9uiDl_BGj1LY2bp_nAD_sk5HSHHCpBKMs/s320/IMG_4001.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A recent report by Plantlife has highlighted the problems caused by our lack of woodland management. It's a problem that's seen up and down the country. We have trees- lots of trees- more than we had 20 years ago, yet our woodland bird species are struggling. As Plantlife pointed out- when it comes to trees woodlands need quality not quantity.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The slow death of the Alders in my little strip of woodland hasn't been all bad news; Great Spotted Woodpeckers and Willow Tits have excavated nest holes in the rotting wood and Treecreepers love the peeling bark, but it was unmanaged and unsustainable.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">5 years ago we took the step of fencing livestock out of the wood, a large Ash, a Rowan, and an Oak were brought down and sunlight poured through the canopy. A shrub layer of young Ash, Rowan, Hawthorn, Holly and Elder is springing up thanks to presence of light and the absence of grazing. Our Wood Anemones and Bluebells seem to be enjoying the changes.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There is lots of coppicing and felling to be done before this woodland will become what I want it to be. This got me thinking, even though there is method in my madness, woodland management can seem a bit destructive and at odds with what we think of as conservation.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Are we a too precious about our woodlands?</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It's perhaps not surprising that as a nation we're cautious of woodland management practices. Media coverage of the deforestation of the Amazon Basin and the disappearance of our once extensive woodlands have had us planting trees left, right and centre to compensate- which is great. It's also made us extremely wary of taking a saw to our trees.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We too often assume the best landscape for wildlife is one untouched by human hands- a wilderness. In many habitats around the world this is absolutely true, but for much of the UK this isn't the case. We're a small island and our countryside has been shaped by human activities- the wildlife we have now consists of the species that were able to thrive in this environment.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Trees are very special to us- their lifespan stretches across many human generations. They are given names, become landscape features and are associated with human legacy. We use them to commemorate events, people and places.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We have come to see 'a tree' as the quintessential lofty chestnut or the ancient oak and not the coppiced Beech or Hazel. It's been so long since our woodlands were 'managed' that we've forgotten what they <em>should</em> look like.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Not too far from me is an area of woodland managed for wildlife, about 25 years ago tens of thousands of native saplings were planted and are now under a 50 year management plan. Each winter a different swathe of the woodland will be coppiced- it's a cycle that is just beginning and should see the area in phases of constant growth which will be great for wildlife. It's already reaped impressive results attracting a range of species and acting as a wildlife reservoir from which many species have gone on to recolonise the surrounding area.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It's incredible conservation in action, yet each winter when the chainsaws are fired-up many members of the local community take great objection. The irony is that those who object the most are doing so with the best intentions and with concern for the environment as their motivation- but it doesn't make the strongly worded letters and angry reactions any less misguided. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In recent winters posters have been put up to appease and inform the opposition- but still the objections continue. I've heard this conservation work referred to as 'deforestation' and the results compared to the cleared rain forests- but the Amazon this ain't.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I think Plantlife are absolutely right- we do need to think again about our woodlands. There is a place for giant trees with dense canopies and dark dank woodland floors deep in leaf litter- it's a habitat required by many species. But we also need to learn to occasionally cut back the younger trees, let the light flood in and allow verdant rejuvenation and regrowth.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm not suggesting you take a ladder and bow saw to your Gran's memorial tree or the village centre piece. But next time you see a new plantation think about the legacy we'd create if we manage it properly and ensure our grandchildren see plenty of the woodland birds we know and love.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-39698026391861381692011-11-24T12:48:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:04:29.611-07:00Bringing about change...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It seems to me that the key to a farming system that benefits wildlife is to create a mosaic. A farmed landscape pieced together from smaller constituent parts that creates a diverse and living environment. These small scale activities are what ensure that somewhere within a relatively small area there is always a suitable habitat for bird species to make a nest, find a supply of food for growing chicks and find a source of food during the lean months. These are often referred to as the ‘big 3’ when it comes to the conservation of farmland birds.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">I know I have a habit of banging on about the farming of days gone by but when small and medium farms dominated the industry this mosaic was maintained. Looking back may not provide all the answers, but it provides us with an example of a farming system less harmful to the natural world.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Go back several decades and Farmers A, B and C all earn most of their living from milking cattle, farmers A and C have a flock of sheep, and Farmer C even has pigs. Farmers A and B might well grow silage, but Farmer C would maintain a hay meadow and besides, Farmer B always mowed late in the year anyway because her fields were less fertile. Farmer A’s farm may have been a model of tidiness but Farmer B was a bit more messy and Farmer C was near retirement and didn’t lose any sleep about the weeds or the small size of his fields. It may sound like a complicated mosaic but that was good thing for the individuals and a great thing for wildlife.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Today Farmer D (a perfectly nice person by the way) farms the area that was once farmed by Farmers’ A, B & C, and in order to make a profit Farmer D has to grow silage on most of the land and get at least two crops per summer, the rest of the land is grazed intensively. They have only cows and they must milk far more cows than Farmers A, B and C combined.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Of course I understand as well as anyone that there was plenty wrong with farming in days gone by, it wasn’t ideal for all wildlife but it suited most. I also understand that the way the industry works now means that farming on that size and scale won’t be seen again but this means we have to try to recreate elements of that landscape within a modern farming system.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<strong>‘Re-Mosaicing’ </strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Thinking of the changes that have taken place made me realise that all the conservation measures we put in place these days are effectively attempts to re-mosaic the countryside. Whether it’s <a href="http://www.ukagriculture.com/crops/setaside.cfm">set-aside</a>, <a href="http://www.gwct.org.uk/education__advice/english_entry_level_stewardship/habitat_issues/345.asp">buffer strips</a>, <a href="http://www.gwct.org.uk/education__advice/english_entry_level_stewardship/habitat_issues/337.asp">beetle banks</a>, <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/farming/advice/details.aspx?id=222883">Skylark plots</a>, <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-chl/w-countryside_environment/w-nature/w-nature-orchard-restoration.htm">orchard restoration</a> or <a href="http://www.defra.gov.uk/food-farm/land-manage/landscape-features/hedgerows/">relaxed hedge flailing cycles</a>- it’s all about trying desperately to shoehorn some habitat variation into a near-monoculture. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
This in turn got me thinking about just how reactive farming and indeed conservation are being- they are effectively picking up the pieces left behind from a system operated by the powers that be. Trying to solve a problem using only what’s left behind is a bit like putting a bucket under a leaking tap and declaring it fixed- you’re not solving the problem you’re tackling the mess. The conservation of farmland birds is about root causes and the answers lie in the bigger picture. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<strong>The bigger picture...</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">We the public demand our cheap food, we care where our food comes from- but only if it is at a price we can afford. We all want the standard of living we feel we deserve- and there's nothing wrong with that.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">In order to appeal to us the supermarkets and their suppliers want to sell us our daily bread as cheaply as they can- they want us through their sliding glass doors in droves- there's nothing wrong with that either.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Supermarkets and suppliers are keen that they shouldn't have to bear the burden of this bargain food, after all they have bumper profits and world domination to fund. So how do they sell cheap food and yet make bumper profits? It's simple, they pay the farmer less- there's nothing wrong with that... well actually...<br />
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By transferring the cost cutting to the producer the farmer has two choices. Either grow more food for less <strong>or</strong> quit farming, and let another farm absorb your land in order to make more food, for less. Our demand, and the need for supermarkets and suppliers to make profit from our food is what drives the intensification of British agriculture.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">There are lots of issues arising from a more intensive farming but the three key issues are:</div><ul><li>Issues of animal welfare</li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">Biodiversity decline</div></li>
<li><div style="text-align: justify;">The loss of small/medium farms</div></li>
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The public are right to be concerned about these issues, they're things that people feel strongly about and there are lots of ways these problems are addressed.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tax payers money (in the form of subsidies) is used to reward farmers for farming in a more environmentally sensitive way to help offset biodiversity losses. We join charities and make donations to support those working to help our farmland species and we support organisations that lobby governments and policy makers to bring about changes in animal welfare standards or address biodiversity loss. In short, a lot of people pay a lot of money to put these things right.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">We argue about these issues, with heated debates throwing the blame back and forth. We pit farming against the environment and production against biodiversity in an increasingly polarised debate that doesn't really benefit anyone. Sometimes it feels like we're arguing for argument's sake. </div><br />
</div><div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">All the time we're doing this we pass the blame up the chain. For many of us we see the intensive farming systems that increasingly dominate our countryside and the buck stops there. Farming causes biodiversity decline- it's true, it's a simple answer and it means we have our culprit, but farming is the product of our demand. The argument gets a bit more messy when we look at the bigger picture but until we do we're just trapped in a vicious cycle of eating cheap food, species decline and blaming farmers.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I know what I say is sometimes idealist and I don't have the answers. I understand that economic systems and market forces make the world go around. I realise that if milk companies paid us a few more pence per litre for our milk that we wouldn't somehow be thrust back into some golden age where hedgerows groaned under the weight of <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/y/yellowhammer/index.aspx">Yellowhammers </a>and <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/b/bullfinch/index.aspx">Bullfinches</a>. But having said this if farmers weren't forced to produce food for such little reward they wouldn't be forced to transfer their loses onto the natural world in order to make a living. We need to acknowledge that the causes of biodiversity loss are many, varied, and a result of the way our society works. </div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It's absolutely right that we the public should question where our taxes are spent. Some may feel the UK farming industry is something of a black hole when it comes to the millions and millions of pounds in publicly funded subsidies- particularly as farmland bird species continue to decline. <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;">So where is this money going? I can't speak for the big landowners or the 'grain barons' but it's certainly not into the pockets of the farmers around here. Maybe when we're scratching our heads and pondering where this money goes, we should have a think about the bumper profits those supermarkets are enjoying. Money handed over by the public and squeezed from the producers. It sometimes feels like they are the only ones doing well out of the farming industry.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I'm not suggesting we should march on our nearest Sainsburys, but you have to ask yourself if when you're reaping the benefits of that cheap food at the checkout- maybe you're helping pay for it with your taxes. And who benefits? It's not the farmer and it sure isn't the wildlife. A cheap pint of milk means short term gains for long term losses.<br />
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<strong>What to do next...</strong><br />
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When we look for accountability in the decline of biodiversity in our countryside we need to think more about where our food comes from, the journey it takes beyond the farm gate and who makes the most money from this process. There are issues here that cannot be solved simply by switching to the Tesco Finest range.<br />
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I know supermarkets make commitments to help British farmers, they are working on the traceability of their food and the welfare standards under which it is produced. They are working on these welfare issues because their consumers demanded it. This is a good thing- it shows they <strong>will</strong> respond to public pressure. Therefore we also need to ask our supermarkets and their suppliers what they're doing to help address the other issues arising from intensive farming: biodiversity decline, disappearing habitats and the loss of our small/medium farms.<br />
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Showing off publicity shots of the happy cattle that are minced into their premium range products is all well and good, but we mustn't become complacent, we must not forget that there are other problems the supermarkets need to help us address.<br />
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So when it comes to halting the decline of farmland species the millions in subsidies, cooperation between the farming and conservation communities, and the tireless work of wildlife charities and organisations are all vital- but, they're all about tackling issues on the ground, from the bottom-up. Equally important, but massivly overlooked is the opportunity to tackle things from the top-down. We can do this by looking to those companies that pass food from the farmer to the consumer and make billions of pounds in the process.<br />
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We all have a responsibility to help us restore that lost habitat mosaic and try to save our farmland birds, we just need to ask those who are in a position to implement real changes on our behalf.<br />
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<div></div></div><div></div><div></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-23044781387216677062011-11-21T12:04:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:01:10.994-07:00Welcome back (sort of)...<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The decline of farmland biodiversity is a bit of a sorry subject- a stream of headlines regarding species' declines may be accurate but they do not make for cheerful reading. It matters not whether you’re a farmer, a conservationist or just someone that likes a quick stroll through the countryside at the weekend- the decline of some of our best loved species is obvious, and depressing.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
There are successes and reasons to be hopeful- the <a href="http://www.cornwall-birding.co.uk/cirl-buntings/cirl-buntings-on-the-increase/#more-14342">Cirl Bunting Project</a> is going well, the work of the <a href="http://www.gwct.org.uk/">Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust</a> continues, the <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/">RSPB</a>’s aptly named <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/farming/hopefarm/">Hope Farm</a> reaps rewards on many fronts and the positive and cooperative attitudes of many farmers are just some of the little rays of sunshine in an otherwise cloudy sky. But they can all seem a long way away when you reach the end of the summer and realise you hardly heard the <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/skylark/index.aspx">Skylark</a>.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
In terms of the bird species on our small farm there are lots that have dwindled and some that have disappeared but there are positives too. We must not become in any way complacent but equally we must celebrate our successes. So far in 2011: the hard winter brought <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/snipe/index.aspx">Snipe</a> to the boggy patches and open ditches in good numbers, a <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/c/cuckoo/index.aspx">Cuckoo</a> was heard this spring, <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/reedbunting/index.aspx">Reed Buntings</a> bred here for the first time, <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/t/treesparrow/index.aspx">Tree Sparrows</a> returned, <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/goldfinch/index.aspx">Goldfinch</a> and <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/willowtit/index.aspx">Willow Tit</a> numbers continued to climb, and a <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/woodwarbler/index.aspx">Wood Warbler</a> visited us as it headed Southwards this Autumn.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
All of these are small triumphs- but for me the best wildlife news so far in 2011 came last weekend- less than a mile from the farm someone reported seeing a <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greypartridge/index.aspx">Grey Partridge</a>. I have to admit at first I was sceptical we have <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/r/redleggedpartridge/index.aspx">Red-Legged Partridges,</a> and <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/p/pheasant/index.aspx">Pheasants</a> by the dozen but sadly I haven’t seen a Grey Partridge on the farm for over a decade.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<strong>Here today, gone tomorrow...</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The decline of our Grey Partridges was shockingly rapid. Fifteen years ago we had a regular covey of between 8 and 12 birds that wintered with us on the farm then dispersed each summer, but five years later they were gone. They didn’t really dwindle they just disappeared never to be seen again. The problem didn’t just affect our farm; unknowingly we must have had some of the last- they disappeared from our countryside as a whole.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
The call of a Grey Partridge is for me an evocative sound- admittedly we’re not talking song of the <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/n/nightingale/index.aspx">Nightingale</a>, more a raspy cry, but it takes me back. The birds themselves may not be the showiest or the most colourful but there is great beauty in their subtle hues, and they are delightful in their modest and unassuming habits.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
Thankfully the individual who spotted this bird was a birder and a photographer who managed to spot <em>and</em> snap the bird. The partridge was a youngster somewhere in the middle of the messy moult to adulthood. A couple of other people managed to see it when it occasionally emerged from the fog and long grass. Who just fifteen years ago would have thought a partridge would have caused such a fuss.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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<strong>Here today, back tomorrow?</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
I admit I am getting a bit carried away. One adolescent partridge seen a half a mile from the farm might not herald the triumphant return of a lost species. Sitting where they do in the food chain and with winter approaching, for this particular little bird Spring 2012 is a long time and a lot of luck away. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
That said, I’m sure you can understand my excitement, after a complete absence a single bird IS a return of sorts. It’s also true to say that compared to this time last year Grey Partridge numbers in this neck of the woods have increased by...well, it doesn’t even work as a percentage. Mathematically speaking they have arrived.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
There’s also comfort in the fact that Grey Partridges don’t typically travel far from their natal grounds- so this young bird means that someone, is doing something right, somewhere not too far away. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
We may well not see another Grey Partridge around here for another 10 years. In many cases the return of farmland bird species can never be as fast as their decline, but when the day comes that there are partridges scratching in our fields and hedgerows again (and that day <em>will </em>come) it’ll be like they never went away.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul><li><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For more information about the Grey Partridge, it's decline and how to manage land to aid it's recovery see <a href="http://www.gwct.org.uk/research__surveys/species_research/birds/grey_partridge_bap_species/default.asp">here</a>.</span></div></li>
</ul>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-66943206928688591872011-11-19T13:49:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:03:47.833-07:00Less of the 'us' and 'them'...<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There have been a lot of strong opinions flying around lately, largely in condemnation of the comments on biodiversity made by NFU President <a href="http://www.nfuonline.com/About-the-NFU/Who-s-Who/NFU-President---Peter-Kendall/">Peter Kendall</a>. I too have had <a href="http://farmlandbirds.blogspot.com/2011/11/building-blocks.html">my say</a> on the matter and we must be wary not to take his words out of context. Kendall's comments and the reaction to them has caused polarisation on an issue that requires measured and rational debate. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">As President of the NFU Peter Kendall <em>is</em> an elected representative of the farming community-but whilst I'm sure there are many issues upon which you, I and Peter Kendall might agree it doesn't mean we will agree on everything, that is to be expected.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The nature of these comments has led to a flurry of blogging, commenting, writing and tweeting on the matter- many people were outraged and in the exchanges that ensued some accusations have been unfairly aimed at the wider farming community. I am writing this to ask people to consider whether some of the more loaded responses to the initial comments are any less shortsighted than Kendall's.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Some of the reactions have included expressions such as "we as tax payers" and "we as consumers", farmers who have spoken out against Kendall have been called "dissenting". Dissenting from what exactly? The National Farmer's Union isn't the National Farmer's Army- let's acknowledge that farmers are a little more diverse and independent than they're being given credit for. Farmers don't tow a line based on their profession anymore than a nurse, a conservationist, a builder, a stripper or a florist.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We should also acknowledge that farmers too are consumers. They shop in the supermarkets you do, buy the brands you buy and like you they buy the best food they can afford with the budget they have. We must try to avoid the notions of 'us' and 'them'.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It's also important we take our hands from the reigns of power. Subsidies are publicly funded money and many members of the public (which includes farmers) gladly acknowledge the role this money has in maintaining the countryside we love, and we all crave sustainability.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Let's openly talk about biodiversity loss and animal welfare but the tone of insistence and demand that a few have taken following Kendall's comments have carried hints of an anti-farming sentiment. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Such comments are just inflammatory. Public money should of course be spent how the public dictate but if you want a cheap loaf and an affordable pint of milk (and many of us do) then what we need to do is sit down and work out how we can achieve a wonderful ecologically rich countryside as well. Make sure your opinions and your shopping habits are aligned.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I find that implying that farmers should down tools and farm to the whim of a vocal view is what drives farmers away from negotiations and towards the perceived independence that farming for production alone could bring.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Farming on a small scale might not be economically viable for food production alone but it is we as consumers who have helped make this so with our demand for those cheap loaves, imported beef and suspicious sausages. Just as we don't blame the fishermen for the scarcity of cod in the oceans- let's not blame the farmer for the decline of the Corn Bunting. We need to share the blame for ecological decline and let us share the responsibility of finding a workable solution.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So whatever your views on farmers and farming- feel free to air them, but think about what you say. And if you really want to be heard let your purses and wallets do the talking. If you want organically-reared rare breed beefburgers then buy them. Buy fair trade, buy red tractor, buy meat/don't buy meat, buy what you can afford, buy what you believe in and where possible buy British.</span><br />
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</div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-61147297506731500762011-11-18T00:36:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:03:24.577-07:00Biodiversity vs Productivity?<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Who can save the Turtle Dove?</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We all know there is a biodiversity crisis in the countryside; twenty years ago our farm had <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greypartridge/index.aspx">Grey Partridge</a>, <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/l/lapwing/index.aspx">Lapwings</a> and <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/y/yellowhammer/index.aspx">Yellowhammers</a>- now it doesn’t, it’s very clear that the environment has suffered. To deny what is so obviously true seems a bit odd. To acknowledge species decline isn’t to accept blame or slash productivity it’s simply the first step in reversing the downward trend.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reversing the decline is a complex business. I can't save the <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/t/turtledove/index.aspx">Turtle Dove</a>; Lord knows I would if I could. The reason I know I can't save them is because I've never seen one on our farm. Whether or not my ancestors saw Turtle Doves as they farmed this land I don't know. We live in a very different world now and all the evidence from my time here would suggest that these 200 acres of Derbyshire aren't really what a Turtle Dove is looking for.</span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's the same story for <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/y/yellowwagtail/index.aspx">Yellow Wagtails</a>, we get the odd one drop in on passing, they usually favour feeding among the very short grass after the cattle ground has been winter grazed by the sheep. But the grazing habits of our dairy herd and the pressure for a good silage crop mean our fields don't have the varying sward heights, the bared patches or the presence of standing water that really benefit the Yellow Wagtails- for that these birds have to head down to lowland wet grassland.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The farmland species that are thriving here are birds like the <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/goldfinch/index.aspx">Goldfinches</a>, the <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/g/greenfinch/index.aspx">Greenfinches</a>, the <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/j/jackdaw/index.aspx">Jackdaws</a> and the <a href="http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/s/stockdove/index.aspx">Stock Doves</a>- the 'generalist' species that are doing well everywhere. Our farming operations crawl onwards and some of the commoner farmland species seem ok with that- but I am helpless to save the 'specialist' species such as the Turtle Dove and the Yellow Wagtail.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Listing the birds I can't help may seem rather defeatist, but sometimes we all need to use our common sense. Of course the neighbouring farmers and I could switch our whole farming system to arable and leave nice big field margins, or we could raise the water table, tear up our drainage and graze a few cattle at very low stocking rates. We may attract the odd Yellow Wagtail to stick around but it would be financial suicide. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Biodiversity vs Productivity</span></strong><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course no-one is suggesting for one moment that we should carry out these measures- but there is a general consensus among farmers that too much emphasis is being placed on farming for biodiversity while farming for productivity is expected to play second fiddle. </span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This sentiment has been particularly prevalent since last months announcement that the European Commission was looking to 'green' the Common Agricultural Policy. Of all the proposed criteria the requirement by farmers to leave 7% of their land fallow has perhaps produced the most comment.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many farmers are not opposed to rewarding sustainability- but for some this will come at great cost to productivity- for them this is a case of being paid hand-outs to 'farm badly' a notion that doesn't sit too comfortably with their aims as business people. In effect they see this as being forced to come back to the EU cap in hand (no pun intended) when really they would like to be allowed to boost productivity in an economically viable, competitive and profitable way.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Equally there are other farms, farms like ours, which are trying to make ends meet on a small acreage. We understand that the halcyon days of booming profits and growing productivity have long gone. Small farms tore up their hedgerows, fitted shiny new milking parlours and doused the land with new fertilizers but our time at the forefront of a post-war productivity drive was short lived. Economies of scale and a strong pound meant larger holdings and foreign farmers were able to do things much more efficiently. Although average farm size had increased- we were soon struggling to compete. Farmers who share our position acknowledge that we rely on the subsidies to allow us to keep 'maintaining' the countryside, and we accept the conditions that come with this payment.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here-in lies the problem: as a rule the farms opposed to the CAP reforms i.e. those that feel they stand a chance of being able to make a profit without the 'restrictions' of a greener policy are in many cases the ones that are best placed to help specialist species like the Turtle Dove and the Yellow Wagtail.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's hardly a surprise that nationally the species with more specific habitat requirements are fairing much worse than the more generalist species- but the problem is being compounded by the fact that the specialists inhabit the parts of the UK with the largest, most industrialised farming operations- the areas that could make a living from farming. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a bit of a conundrum isn't it. </span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farming with environmental restrictions means these larger (typically arable) farms could become less economically viable while smaller (mostly pastoral or mixed) farms may be less affected. Numbers of both the more specialist and the more generalist farmland bird species that inhabit these two farming models respectively should fair better.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turtle Doves and a farming future?</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can’t deny that coming from a small fa</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">rm and enjoying seeing the farm's birds as I do- I am perhaps biased towards a more sustainable, less intensive way of farming. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And it’s not just our farm. Pastoral farming covers vast swathes of the UK. It’s intensive farming by historical standards but not by modern standards. Our farming operations are always going to be limited by the land we farm so being paid to ‘maintain’ the countryside might not be the future many pastoral farmers had hoped for, and nobody enjoys being dictated too by bureaucrats, but it is a means to an end.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can sympathise with those farmers that are responsible for growing the majority of the food, fodder and fuel we as a nation consume, and I can understand why they oppose the CAP reforms. In light of spending cuts it does seem that the economic scales are being balanced by taking away from the one side rather than adding to the other. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our farm can provide the Goldfinches and the Jackdaws, but these are the men and women that can save the Turtle Dove- we just have to find a way of helping them do that without causing too much damage to their businesses. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's important our farms remain as productive as possible and it's vital we don't allow species to disappear from our countryside. It's not an easy trick to pull off but can achieve both. Our smaller farms may be more accepting of environmental restrictions but we need to actively work with our larger and more productive farms to ensure compromises are seen to come from all sides. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farmer's must accept that all businesses will increasingly face environmental restrictions and as a result productivity potential will be affected- subsidised farming will always come with terms and conditions. Equally ministers and conservation groups must acknowledge that frustrating as it may be, measures to help the Turtle Dove and our other farmland species will be slow, at times difficult, and must (where possible) work around a productive farming system.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><br />
</strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-53459540580644343432011-11-15T15:47:00.003-08:002012-03-14T14:06:21.178-07:00Mycology: Stepping into the unknown...<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing...</strong></span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I like to think of myself as a lover of all wildlife, even the things that at times can be hard to love- but for me (as the blog's title would imply) it's all about the birds. That's not to say I'm an expert by any means- a Mealy Redpoll and a Lesser Redpoll are basically one and the same, the only difference being I am more likely to see one and less likely to see the other, but I know enough to get by.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm also not too bad on mammals and trees, and simply because of the limited number of species and the infrequency at which I encounter them I can also just about cope with reptiles and amphibians. Clever old me.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border: currentColor;"><div style="border: currentColor;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the more I thought about it the more I became aware of all the other things I'm not very good at identifying. Being able to recognise and therefore appreciate the big stuff, the rare stuff or the stuff that flies overhead is well and good, but why is it I draw the line there. It seems I'm missing out on the majority of the species I encounter because either I hardly notice them or because identifying them is a bit tricky.</span></div></div></div><div style="border: currentColor; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border: currentColor;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took this thought to bed with me, and this morning I awoke determined to learn a little more about the things I had previously overlooked. As I scanned the farm on this mild, damp, foggy November morning I was feeling rather uninspired- and then it came to me. Fungi.</span></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border: currentColor;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Equipped with my phone I snapped some of the species I encountered as I went about my daily routines. I know this has been a bumper year for fungi (I've eaten more field mushrooms than you would believe) but the diversity and beauty of what I encountered surprised me.</span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="border: currentColor;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Below are the photographs I took today. I have labelled the ones I could name (i.e. the easiest ones). Identifying the rest is my aim for the week, I have numbered them and any suggestions would be much appreciated...</span></div></div><br />
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<div style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Field Mushroom</strong><em> </em></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Agaricus bitorquis)</em></span></span><br />
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<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAk025kQf-vDG_Qkp_yJUyPsKa3mnVdVgHsRjUIlJuUPnUZ1a0YS8uD2wW1p28x1HSrW37lT0aNlSOdtl3cLHUwdgvHsuk-_XYvHo0qn32J_rK8-WNfIr9UnqP-zSsAIDL0YGv5iWkNdE/s1600/IMG_3789.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAk025kQf-vDG_Qkp_yJUyPsKa3mnVdVgHsRjUIlJuUPnUZ1a0YS8uD2wW1p28x1HSrW37lT0aNlSOdtl3cLHUwdgvHsuk-_XYvHo0qn32J_rK8-WNfIr9UnqP-zSsAIDL0YGv5iWkNdE/s320/IMG_3789.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor; text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Dryad's Saddle</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Polyporus squamosus)</em></span></span></div><div style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBYafbJU9Xpbi_Kq-8ED0zm5UmkfuKaQ4bUGKGcoDqBiGRFXca7r3eZdZhBBcwOuunrlA1xKBEQwJ5hMueXstBYcYEBQxutCXDLsFEs9OqyTrTMe2kd28CmKCgTK_OxXfS5Ap0p-slbBU/s1600/IMG_3799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBYafbJU9Xpbi_Kq-8ED0zm5UmkfuKaQ4bUGKGcoDqBiGRFXca7r3eZdZhBBcwOuunrlA1xKBEQwJ5hMueXstBYcYEBQxutCXDLsFEs9OqyTrTMe2kd28CmKCgTK_OxXfS5Ap0p-slbBU/s320/IMG_3799.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Yellow Brain Fungus</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Tremella mesenterica)</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTSt6aUKu8ZP-PCF2QOPhpblhrChb_xglRDXsbFyocrwYBxIiBL58-cGZBdL17QMEP3Dhih_Rs9f1b-BliE2WK938mEbwkk37f0ldmDfMe7u0rlLs6oskKHJkuJlG7SI5XWwMCSAv9BgU/s1600/IMG_3723.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTSt6aUKu8ZP-PCF2QOPhpblhrChb_xglRDXsbFyocrwYBxIiBL58-cGZBdL17QMEP3Dhih_Rs9f1b-BliE2WK938mEbwkk37f0ldmDfMe7u0rlLs6oskKHJkuJlG7SI5XWwMCSAv9BgU/s320/IMG_3723.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
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<div align="center"><div style="border: currentColor;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>Many-Zoned Polypore</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">(<em>Coriolus versicolor</em>)</span></span></div></div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrS7E7OPljQBcsrp-z4OMHRjDTz3p80GlNP-WvK8hss05ynbw61numOOasUavUwsyQJFNqRclvvhBbMo3qXdPPwH9cC-bo4bjnsdsr6lh-0hzev_-0tqgeEf556vvIbwR6ogX0M-5kes/s1600/IMG_3759.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrS7E7OPljQBcsrp-z4OMHRjDTz3p80GlNP-WvK8hss05ynbw61numOOasUavUwsyQJFNqRclvvhBbMo3qXdPPwH9cC-bo4bjnsdsr6lh-0hzev_-0tqgeEf556vvIbwR6ogX0M-5kes/s320/IMG_3759.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6D1itH7fQehz74Nd9HPCmxzrONhpPHR8Iqw-ATGrbYRuL09A49J1ZV1Q0TrHoSl5jc_f-9Vg3c0WtVqP2X-24jt3ApdjOMSb0JftVHKDyIwfMK8bXAndNjS2u-qPdFfHqR0ObRlQlng/s1600/IMG_3742.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6D1itH7fQehz74Nd9HPCmxzrONhpPHR8Iqw-ATGrbYRuL09A49J1ZV1Q0TrHoSl5jc_f-9Vg3c0WtVqP2X-24jt3ApdjOMSb0JftVHKDyIwfMK8bXAndNjS2u-qPdFfHqR0ObRlQlng/s320/IMG_3742.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Honey Fungus</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Armillaria mellea)</em></span></span></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OJ8u0xCkomBFSs_f1jBskjb4A9n4IKmZl5wjxXS1k6BAgLcM82G9N1mH-H0cEn6rXhaMftRdwHvK-cLlNDMvQyPuwtnIXaURkdYV-l9DTKAp10wNc_mIwiYNJqNvuFjFgxeQVE3DWnU/s1600/IMG_3803.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9OJ8u0xCkomBFSs_f1jBskjb4A9n4IKmZl5wjxXS1k6BAgLcM82G9N1mH-H0cEn6rXhaMftRdwHvK-cLlNDMvQyPuwtnIXaURkdYV-l9DTKAp10wNc_mIwiYNJqNvuFjFgxeQVE3DWnU/s320/IMG_3803.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Ear Fungus</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Hirneola auricula-judae)</em></span></span></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJToD32uWFx0JOxiUzm9F_mi45XdJTGl31GOlYLm1tvJ_OEsYTA7ysdWo3Ytn69aJneewU7qpZtENrBDeVg-t1Kzsu1Fv0nS7ScNQP4DSvFh-PFsbozN-c0Wd11tC4zbH4yJDwLUytOY/s1600/IMG_3743.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNJToD32uWFx0JOxiUzm9F_mi45XdJTGl31GOlYLm1tvJ_OEsYTA7ysdWo3Ytn69aJneewU7qpZtENrBDeVg-t1Kzsu1Fv0nS7ScNQP4DSvFh-PFsbozN-c0Wd11tC4zbH4yJDwLUytOY/s320/IMG_3743.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8I-PSLq-qZuh70LxzAgqDywpdFyXhyAOqNHvUl8sjw3uDjfahRTDIGv8-4auELQtMwuwlJBmlYQ4TDM62VYWythGuHmmuk1D8Cj3k24MJfPcbDgr6eXG6Qu9dyy2oF5lCnQ3q9c5r3Ao/s1600/IMG_3744.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8I-PSLq-qZuh70LxzAgqDywpdFyXhyAOqNHvUl8sjw3uDjfahRTDIGv8-4auELQtMwuwlJBmlYQ4TDM62VYWythGuHmmuk1D8Cj3k24MJfPcbDgr6eXG6Qu9dyy2oF5lCnQ3q9c5r3Ao/s320/IMG_3744.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div align="center" style="border: currentColor;"><br />
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<div style="border: currentColor;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Candle Snuff Fungus</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Xylaria hypoxylon)</em></span></span></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviLfY5MyVemjbByT5FQsvniYFwKNxqoaX5BrzW_zkGUNzzq8VEWXfgedIf-jkG0jWJWIkK_e_Wj-HSOcKlh9TkGphDgDS_pH29RYnByuxbIY82UgDX0wSTJuclslRkeThSd_5pdCFD-o/s1600/IMG_3737.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjviLfY5MyVemjbByT5FQsvniYFwKNxqoaX5BrzW_zkGUNzzq8VEWXfgedIf-jkG0jWJWIkK_e_Wj-HSOcKlh9TkGphDgDS_pH29RYnByuxbIY82UgDX0wSTJuclslRkeThSd_5pdCFD-o/s320/IMG_3737.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor;"></div></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Glistening Ink Cap</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Coprinus micaceus)</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhULe4PZJ7fgluRj-FuNCEOso3b2vNF3v7A_dA0AFXJwZJ5XpvL3SgwXokuJS5JKQDVCNeKdNyTRn1I6Ek3cqSpKFbT_wrZWTIJEGJIZfmulZ8qQBTvdjfp4SaU6EV-CjHMB0t_cKmvVcU/s1600/IMG_3724.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhULe4PZJ7fgluRj-FuNCEOso3b2vNF3v7A_dA0AFXJwZJ5XpvL3SgwXokuJS5JKQDVCNeKdNyTRn1I6Ek3cqSpKFbT_wrZWTIJEGJIZfmulZ8qQBTvdjfp4SaU6EV-CjHMB0t_cKmvVcU/s320/IMG_3724.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>The Miller</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Clitopilus prunulus)</em></span></span></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYeXx3oqiTeY5HAesCPAOm7RJGmAO-6RXpy2Q96ZlqQp3z_CNVJyFyU8TLy5Ln56CTm0FTDEUPv9-9N9NTI8zG7dIqGfM8tgCt1t-6XG0MCnetFIBs-_XnuPY63OQnfWYG2_R213H6EU/s1600/IMG_3751.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYeXx3oqiTeY5HAesCPAOm7RJGmAO-6RXpy2Q96ZlqQp3z_CNVJyFyU8TLy5Ln56CTm0FTDEUPv9-9N9NTI8zG7dIqGfM8tgCt1t-6XG0MCnetFIBs-_XnuPY63OQnfWYG2_R213H6EU/s320/IMG_3751.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Unknown 1</span></strong></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02Tpd0hj9MEQU7LDNU4fuKHWDl71bNPnH94TsXPv-xo_AlxvP0_Fq0u-vuJlHXbSi7pUwb5eSgfw0oQePHG_p5vtT3hvHygBrzkLv_kPTGZPyDO9ehh0q81FD5kpdB-D5rQCjHHqv0cA/s1600/IMG_3786.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02Tpd0hj9MEQU7LDNU4fuKHWDl71bNPnH94TsXPv-xo_AlxvP0_Fq0u-vuJlHXbSi7pUwb5eSgfw0oQePHG_p5vtT3hvHygBrzkLv_kPTGZPyDO9ehh0q81FD5kpdB-D5rQCjHHqv0cA/s320/IMG_3786.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><div style="border: currentColor;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Unknown 2</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></strong></div></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiprRaS-28iePTS2AaM51mNdz8oDQQDbx9wBkgKw4aCKHP2v3yyYXIdAvN0vx_AOg-cFNFKWczkTdH-W8zUABXQhyGEHJWSwXQi1TyU8CkppxYvqZlte0RVPV_Are4gNkCw3R-DlqJoEEw/s1600/IMG_3795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiprRaS-28iePTS2AaM51mNdz8oDQQDbx9wBkgKw4aCKHP2v3yyYXIdAvN0vx_AOg-cFNFKWczkTdH-W8zUABXQhyGEHJWSwXQi1TyU8CkppxYvqZlte0RVPV_Are4gNkCw3R-DlqJoEEw/s320/IMG_3795.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmh369SLEI79ipO3DpUAGMGhiLDL5WfpPoXcS7Zjq5GOkdsROABXQdOVyJDxpX0RYORZLjHsmp2SicofGqPiSnr5n_tF3PBi3UM26VGd8UFp03h5c9IRhOy92iGpXys9qCSVwZtD6GExY/s1600/IMG_3753.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmh369SLEI79ipO3DpUAGMGhiLDL5WfpPoXcS7Zjq5GOkdsROABXQdOVyJDxpX0RYORZLjHsmp2SicofGqPiSnr5n_tF3PBi3UM26VGd8UFp03h5c9IRhOy92iGpXys9qCSVwZtD6GExY/s320/IMG_3753.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unknown 3</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9y8L0_8SwC2Ri42cA1b3zeV5RFMFXaOV9NDK9TajNm0CTD0MAwIiLiqQ3p6Vsd6oes4mDkD1h7eKwZzY32E2TPMkMhyWPoi7NfNzFHGstokArOH6Ywf_J-FdyaGRB98vl9cvExiHHB0/s1600/IMG_3796.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj9y8L0_8SwC2Ri42cA1b3zeV5RFMFXaOV9NDK9TajNm0CTD0MAwIiLiqQ3p6Vsd6oes4mDkD1h7eKwZzY32E2TPMkMhyWPoi7NfNzFHGstokArOH6Ywf_J-FdyaGRB98vl9cvExiHHB0/s320/IMG_3796.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Unknown 4</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWHsMP3nBozE2l43DZu7yuNr3uivELM64F1YuSjA5eEseWQBIZ07d8TWPnhHaKppBZMi4ko6sxuGpC-1HX1NHUZoNazy7gFvWqfjBwd34EueLmRAdkmFM9zGZMHkXkbMy8r9mfLXCE2A/s1600/IMG_3794.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioWHsMP3nBozE2l43DZu7yuNr3uivELM64F1YuSjA5eEseWQBIZ07d8TWPnhHaKppBZMi4ko6sxuGpC-1HX1NHUZoNazy7gFvWqfjBwd34EueLmRAdkmFM9zGZMHkXkbMy8r9mfLXCE2A/s320/IMG_3794.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Wood Blewit</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Lepista nuda)</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadK6AXCWm_M1u4KTSysOiJXcj5G9MFHzdY_8XA5b5XUvhAnn3GPjDGOIQpCqkFdvbAytqf7pnG3H6YBpqup__mocv4YEm1Yr-HK4bwP_P_k62HzTNHhMHMyOqcuuHMugjUGmhA8AJs4M/s1600/IMG_3772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadK6AXCWm_M1u4KTSysOiJXcj5G9MFHzdY_8XA5b5XUvhAnn3GPjDGOIQpCqkFdvbAytqf7pnG3H6YBpqup__mocv4YEm1Yr-HK4bwP_P_k62HzTNHhMHMyOqcuuHMugjUGmhA8AJs4M/s320/IMG_3772.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unknown 5</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqY3UmQrRoB2Q4tsURSc0T_qfecrV6AldZ8x8DeQPSKB4gkIFrbbwWKJQtCxk2lLvc7SvMYYOZCAst09nduPVfLzueZCAgwO6ybwKQgGKu_gYrAM17di_zosgN8qMiQycFR3DRmVGT-ms/s1600/IMG_3779.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqY3UmQrRoB2Q4tsURSc0T_qfecrV6AldZ8x8DeQPSKB4gkIFrbbwWKJQtCxk2lLvc7SvMYYOZCAst09nduPVfLzueZCAgwO6ybwKQgGKu_gYrAM17di_zosgN8qMiQycFR3DRmVGT-ms/s320/IMG_3779.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>Panaeolus sphinctrinus</em></span><br />
<em><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><br />
</em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXPCMLKH-uPaklgxtecEh168YWAaFc9vwQRcD4pdizhD3y2RfZjp-pkYz2oJgLYnmNe7wViMplLkSTikz5RWtm-Rtv6OODutTFlN43NkghErQFxqLDljyQ3yVMMjCSV9FWuCBDIKg-WE/s1600/IMG_3768.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCXPCMLKH-uPaklgxtecEh168YWAaFc9vwQRcD4pdizhD3y2RfZjp-pkYz2oJgLYnmNe7wViMplLkSTikz5RWtm-Rtv6OODutTFlN43NkghErQFxqLDljyQ3yVMMjCSV9FWuCBDIKg-WE/s320/IMG_3768.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><em>Mycena galopus</em></span></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHoqVYGkEUmAdDX-S2f4b1sP7S1X4Wrl1cirEDbwsd-a2fymkVjzNfyZxNs1KwbLubzd6bvu0PnUdex3Uq6QfU-iu3Gr5omWyTLgSnwHGa_skWh7nMssobiqTxV6eBEGAdHfqUZVRaL6g/s320/IMG_3754.JPG" width="239" /></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unknown 6</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ESAD0gqIVlMCia_SWz7ydhf8PLyKbziP9N_1h0T4fJpyWWlxZluAk00Vqz4t7NrV_MYmsP5nBYyIPcNGpCm4RfNpJh5a1gK-sPvZ07jYGWmfHu4e9yXW5ZG4RIvNckYi-VarctcDkBs/s1600/IMG_3776.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5ESAD0gqIVlMCia_SWz7ydhf8PLyKbziP9N_1h0T4fJpyWWlxZluAk00Vqz4t7NrV_MYmsP5nBYyIPcNGpCm4RfNpJh5a1gK-sPvZ07jYGWmfHu4e9yXW5ZG4RIvNckYi-VarctcDkBs/s320/IMG_3776.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unknown 7</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunp2mu_2CAEctUmRmA3d2TKSdtmusWuUGdDrLlN3Fr2WCkxvj-TywYgJTSof-2aABQyQNJA7iyFNaIWXYsSws6JZ6CGzfdWAy1z89u57s4W95bCilbGslWl1fIS4z9gSdtkqnDfb-y7w/s1600/IMG_3812.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunp2mu_2CAEctUmRmA3d2TKSdtmusWuUGdDrLlN3Fr2WCkxvj-TywYgJTSof-2aABQyQNJA7iyFNaIWXYsSws6JZ6CGzfdWAy1z89u57s4W95bCilbGslWl1fIS4z9gSdtkqnDfb-y7w/s320/IMG_3812.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Fairies' Bonnets</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Coprinus disseminatus)</em></span></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8-CGWpVbC0eN84iBDJ5z6pMULcEoIyT9UtlGZejLUBxKKrdX-ECwUPZS00GvQ0O5xUFV3tSvMdbbFBNKsxioEgObZAv2c6cMYQYUznx3WleycEbeoXQEVe2nMee2tBSXAXhdCM3EAQQ/s1600/IMG_3806.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZ8-CGWpVbC0eN84iBDJ5z6pMULcEoIyT9UtlGZejLUBxKKrdX-ECwUPZS00GvQ0O5xUFV3tSvMdbbFBNKsxioEgObZAv2c6cMYQYUznx3WleycEbeoXQEVe2nMee2tBSXAXhdCM3EAQQ/s320/IMG_3806.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Unknown 8</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3oXRMNUTpdwzLsHVebRkhCSNJHVPxcVYQ1grEnvuAPUtS7WYx6_5vkPh4ootuR_MpAzH_G6_Oln8K2wvGJ9MAgKcrgVxF8SvksDoIF-o9Ly0CkSY8oXCmnI0D0SIKCyIeU6Uchez89s/s1600/IMG_3798.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="cssfloat: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc3oXRMNUTpdwzLsHVebRkhCSNJHVPxcVYQ1grEnvuAPUtS7WYx6_5vkPh4ootuR_MpAzH_G6_Oln8K2wvGJ9MAgKcrgVxF8SvksDoIF-o9Ly0CkSY8oXCmnI0D0SIKCyIeU6Uchez89s/s320/IMG_3798.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRf12RvVX2isKremiTphngSV7_SAx4vos02Gi31YiEoraD4b5NlGbKt46hRhJjM9GBp3YsPNGVxAbVrnLyD-kIpOtg0VDDGuFBqr7fu-PCXArZQKFA9PDoo9Y7cEcq39sMsCNfglnqKvM/s1600/IMG_3727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRf12RvVX2isKremiTphngSV7_SAx4vos02Gi31YiEoraD4b5NlGbKt46hRhJjM9GBp3YsPNGVxAbVrnLyD-kIpOtg0VDDGuFBqr7fu-PCXArZQKFA9PDoo9Y7cEcq39sMsCNfglnqKvM/s320/IMG_3727.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong> Meadow Wax Cap</strong> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><em>(Hygrocybe pratensis)</em></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsIKl_-mOp_JFwSv12x9n5z3nyToJV1SiRY1-yCfN95JEE3fbtkCGkAsAuk0zbPQZEcX0jzc3q8H0sGICZc6ij_dejB73XNiNH7b6F56VDQo2VExTZ4p-MC6oK07nPC2q1X8Bi5IpC1Q/s1600/IMG_3762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhsIKl_-mOp_JFwSv12x9n5z3nyToJV1SiRY1-yCfN95JEE3fbtkCGkAsAuk0zbPQZEcX0jzc3q8H0sGICZc6ij_dejB73XNiNH7b6F56VDQo2VExTZ4p-MC6oK07nPC2q1X8Bi5IpC1Q/s320/IMG_3762.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidaSCDqPwl7JJSum-u-_y2vamNLVs7fQGbYGfFbOwCFBL70OYtiHvrDeRF0rSF8SvLgJHWU9BKQh6zGAeCBOf6DmFeg-QbicFHkqnuWEjS-U5n1jIlDsIqn-EuKtbOwmnPwxe0Lfn6OIw/s1600/IMG_3763.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidaSCDqPwl7JJSum-u-_y2vamNLVs7fQGbYGfFbOwCFBL70OYtiHvrDeRF0rSF8SvLgJHWU9BKQh6zGAeCBOf6DmFeg-QbicFHkqnuWEjS-U5n1jIlDsIqn-EuKtbOwmnPwxe0Lfn6OIw/s320/IMG_3763.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><strong>Brown Roll-rim</strong> <em>(Paxillus involutus)</em></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-B1Thmq4M10EWqXWSFmpTI9IaUUAEbdnFsgKTLfbymTkdcjZPvDd9L5GesvRqs68vndlNhzq8YDaUZW5_Z2ohl1xRhtFJMBKk_BNmStEYH8qIMhyZgSFKezoI1x0ysI6z6XonvheaWU8/s1600/IMG_3830.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-B1Thmq4M10EWqXWSFmpTI9IaUUAEbdnFsgKTLfbymTkdcjZPvDd9L5GesvRqs68vndlNhzq8YDaUZW5_Z2ohl1xRhtFJMBKk_BNmStEYH8qIMhyZgSFKezoI1x0ysI6z6XonvheaWU8/s320/IMG_3830.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhD_YWa_-dSmMKP0xkSnOKqwNI14Ub0SE8HTAkfnSRDdZ94iILnqXJ_5VsOehSweTfbgTwyPDMYs_1nERAimNxdfHKEnh6sAfwldCA0kql3yOGYwX9t1kgCzfPZW-JMCRykbqCqzMnsQ/s1600/IMG_3832.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzhD_YWa_-dSmMKP0xkSnOKqwNI14Ub0SE8HTAkfnSRDdZ94iILnqXJ_5VsOehSweTfbgTwyPDMYs_1nERAimNxdfHKEnh6sAfwldCA0kql3yOGYwX9t1kgCzfPZW-JMCRykbqCqzMnsQ/s320/IMG_3832.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Unknown 9</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHLkFMI1BQ5WsLqMaooBgyWS35oj4hLfENd6M5ht6VOXtUewrWQqE-ofYjSzyGIr4bQrPuQkgjI0pOlEQBtRKYospcwY9ZVl137WFofKAEIA_YCE_puMqaXOACGpDB_6i-lShGj0NIj30/s1600/IMG_3774.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHLkFMI1BQ5WsLqMaooBgyWS35oj4hLfENd6M5ht6VOXtUewrWQqE-ofYjSzyGIr4bQrPuQkgjI0pOlEQBtRKYospcwY9ZVl137WFofKAEIA_YCE_puMqaXOACGpDB_6i-lShGj0NIj30/s320/IMG_3774.JPG" width="238" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Unknown 10</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYh8oafdCBpMO7IVJ7CbNBP-o8Y-oO1CtraWTinEA3DnYukqqPwm9XuPGlw_snX5xPCOqOc1LsMzu076hJ9RZK2zX1NwsqZb6pFSnYbxn2OTU-kMbJPZ4t_pnKne1ju6FRyUYHffcP2_s/s1600/IMG_3781.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYh8oafdCBpMO7IVJ7CbNBP-o8Y-oO1CtraWTinEA3DnYukqqPwm9XuPGlw_snX5xPCOqOc1LsMzu076hJ9RZK2zX1NwsqZb6pFSnYbxn2OTU-kMbJPZ4t_pnKne1ju6FRyUYHffcP2_s/s320/IMG_3781.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRp70YBnLuTFZe_AVytTN0rw0cWbqdTOw_avo7M1Zd6zguNTbslX2eaHDFwBfhroUzh9JaqxXEsb0ZerYaT_Zsittk8HAsZxML7HtFFbvahDg7qZCFeEohz2G6UflND_xmwSoYM2qYjDQ/s1600/IMG_3782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRp70YBnLuTFZe_AVytTN0rw0cWbqdTOw_avo7M1Zd6zguNTbslX2eaHDFwBfhroUzh9JaqxXEsb0ZerYaT_Zsittk8HAsZxML7HtFFbvahDg7qZCFeEohz2G6UflND_xmwSoYM2qYjDQ/s320/IMG_3782.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial;">Unknown 11</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMWVVI6vUdd72paLFQNFFRafVzHfqiyt6u-SeniVShM7ciqnGaY0rDv8vPaYTzSV-EXiAesLsd7TxiYAS1SUryaXExQP8IZDS5GxbbT-ltHHGlN89RhJfdIbpxTHydJijtFawDQbaGV4/s1600/IMG_3791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBMWVVI6vUdd72paLFQNFFRafVzHfqiyt6u-SeniVShM7ciqnGaY0rDv8vPaYTzSV-EXiAesLsd7TxiYAS1SUryaXExQP8IZDS5GxbbT-ltHHGlN89RhJfdIbpxTHydJijtFawDQbaGV4/s320/IMG_3791.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQdpwiEUjBiNlomwuPoyY_EntBqXeI3dUXwZaX6lunGhSIGxGZ65pRV2BFzvszviLHMPxcmkC6YmsTm8XGo75j_A9Sz85Wn9ncdjWSrF7x0RPcUrZHOAy9Ye6kd5gynqj6XYhUis3iMY/s1600/IMG_3792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQdpwiEUjBiNlomwuPoyY_EntBqXeI3dUXwZaX6lunGhSIGxGZ65pRV2BFzvszviLHMPxcmkC6YmsTm8XGo75j_A9Sz85Wn9ncdjWSrF7x0RPcUrZHOAy9Ye6kd5gynqj6XYhUis3iMY/s320/IMG_3792.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Unknown 12</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrTTD3mWhuC4oDHhAQaNFicyxOvKgoKlRrBtbsTUUSI848rl0dqxKE1Cvz2OEzISGFiuOCVBniaAGCvycU9wwE1oN7OEfeRHUzFTQgi1tndwzos8vlicWQ8iZV_wQfUrFeM58VAPPCDEA/s1600/IMG_3809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrTTD3mWhuC4oDHhAQaNFicyxOvKgoKlRrBtbsTUUSI848rl0dqxKE1Cvz2OEzISGFiuOCVBniaAGCvycU9wwE1oN7OEfeRHUzFTQgi1tndwzos8vlicWQ8iZV_wQfUrFeM58VAPPCDEA/s320/IMG_3809.JPG" width="239" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy23Nv9VFgL3IIoduO88dZlJ0I0BLvIcRse-kSwhzKSlUI7l8Js5ZNQXbFN5RSB-4MI1gLk27CCNqaZ8np8KHvYYTH03l-aG8qiqqw49Z93sDycsOhmLi2vtGj6mV5uhCJBZYpfEJ-gHA/s1600/IMG_3810.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" nda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy23Nv9VFgL3IIoduO88dZlJ0I0BLvIcRse-kSwhzKSlUI7l8Js5ZNQXbFN5RSB-4MI1gLk27CCNqaZ8np8KHvYYTH03l-aG8qiqqw49Z93sDycsOhmLi2vtGj6mV5uhCJBZYpfEJ-gHA/s320/IMG_3810.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div style="border: currentColor;"><br />
</div><div style="border: currentColor; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Unknown 13</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV12C3VvtUCTWX3EF_axP6ezq1sTqXyBDOFs1RjCheGG6XiTzxE-ezBhHTwXWA1bG72ohtVk_8DKqHq_Ah4dqzp8EFjQX2oa-rDBNB81NsNtAoPeavzRNg4ZhIvJibqBYAi6hRt63F7eQ/s1600/IMG_3815.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV12C3VvtUCTWX3EF_axP6ezq1sTqXyBDOFs1RjCheGG6XiTzxE-ezBhHTwXWA1bG72ohtVk_8DKqHq_Ah4dqzp8EFjQX2oa-rDBNB81NsNtAoPeavzRNg4ZhIvJibqBYAi6hRt63F7eQ/s320/IMG_3815.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Unknown 14</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VQaJqQ_85wPKdEKjtbrf65x4xKiFAjcEU9VFT3yQd1Oq3avmzwya7R8q8LiAxisf48t-Sl_GInYdVgx8HwedbkqX-GNVITeOfjIvFSSridVaHRuqO_d9bo9lAa-cCUYERpUqbE2_32M/s1600/IMG_3819.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3VQaJqQ_85wPKdEKjtbrf65x4xKiFAjcEU9VFT3yQd1Oq3avmzwya7R8q8LiAxisf48t-Sl_GInYdVgx8HwedbkqX-GNVITeOfjIvFSSridVaHRuqO_d9bo9lAa-cCUYERpUqbE2_32M/s320/IMG_3819.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Unknown 15</strong></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFSc0-ewjp2qiRVi3DNm5n93Z76FrmKfsXcBPkoLM-3DpGYJGMoIqnZfBFND5UDpI46QD8eJeZqQ3adGDftCEta5ldjJ7-zuOWE-vOrzL-wzlqxpRLLUGtkJqF9Wx6rZmvOPAbrNFbkg/s1600/IMG_3820.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjFSc0-ewjp2qiRVi3DNm5n93Z76FrmKfsXcBPkoLM-3DpGYJGMoIqnZfBFND5UDpI46QD8eJeZqQ3adGDftCEta5ldjJ7-zuOWE-vOrzL-wzlqxpRLLUGtkJqF9Wx6rZmvOPAbrNFbkg/s320/IMG_3820.JPG" width="239" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zOwKl45JjFpF1TzK_BocXKtTs1vDz6AD1jJhaGh_YlJ1bECnWJs8tiBnXjdDwWstzHKA4mBYqKoWGAjQnTz3tc5yO2hBi8nOZjw9NuqIdJ4WwfBZ_nF8beYhdqYFKUKAeUckX6bhJg8/s1600/IMG_3822.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" hda="true" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9zOwKl45JjFpF1TzK_BocXKtTs1vDz6AD1jJhaGh_YlJ1bECnWJs8tiBnXjdDwWstzHKA4mBYqKoWGAjQnTz3tc5yO2hBi8nOZjw9NuqIdJ4WwfBZ_nF8beYhdqYFKUKAeUckX6bhJg8/s320/IMG_3822.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border: currentColor; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><img height="96" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh6D1itH7fQehz74Nd9HPCmxzrONhpPHR8Iqw-ATGrbYRuL09A49J1ZV1Q0TrHoSl5jc_f-9Vg3c0WtVqP2X-24jt3ApdjOMSb0JftVHKDyIwfMK8bXAndNjS2u-qPdFfHqR0ObRlQlng/s320/IMG_3742.JPG" style="filter: alpha(opacity=30); left: 412px; mozopacity: 0.3; opacity: 0.3; position: absolute; top: 1870px; visibility: hidden;" width="71" />Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-62123536211402547602011-11-10T13:24:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:05:36.726-07:00Farmers boring? Who told you that?...<div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The farming community are a mixed bunch. Describe each and every one of the UK's farmers in 3 words and you'll struggle to find any with a matching description. They truly are a cross section of society but despite this the media seems keen to come up with a stereotype of 'a farmer' and of what being a farmer means.</span><br />
<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A <a href="http://www.fwi.co.uk/Articles/10/11/2011/129980/Survey-shows-teens-think-farming-is-boring.htm">recent survey</a> of 1000 teenagers has shown that farming is suffering from something of an image crisis. Farming topped the 'least liked' jobs category, and was voted fourth in a list of jobs teens see as 'most boring'. Hardly a ringing endorsement of a career in agriculture. It seems the youth of today are more drawn to careers in the media, creative services, sports, leisure and IT.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before we get too worried it's probably wise to sit down and think about what 'being a farmer' means to these kids. As the surveys were carried out in London, Birmingham and the southeast it's safe to assume that many of these young people are not directly in contact with farming so their ideas will be based upon what they <em>perceive</em> farming to be about. But what has 40 years of television taught these young people about farming life...</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farmer 1... Old MacDonald</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Open a children's story book or watch a TV programme from the <strong>1970</strong>'s and a farmer is probably a jovial character who can be found sucking a piece of straw as he drives his tractor. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When he's not tractor driving he's leaning on a gate smiling or passing the time of day. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This farmer will have cows, sheep, pigs, hens, ducks and even a horse- his life is a series of animal related calamities interspersed with lots of head scratching. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's a stereotype from a previous generation that's pretty hard to shake off as it's the one we're all taught as children. Despite being something of a myth it's a lifestyle that is believed then adopted by television chefs and misguided small holders who give 'being a farmer' a go.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farmer 2... Bogis, Bunce & Bean</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the least flattering of the stereotypes this is the 'townie'-hating, subsidy-grabbing farmer of the <strong>1980</strong>'s suburban middle classes' perceptions- <em>this</em> is Mr Get Orf Moi Land. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This farmer was invented at a time when Europe was a place of butter mountains and wine lakes. Farmers were believed to have lined their pockets with public-funded subsidies and all while Africa starved. This was also a time when the environmental impacts of pesticides and post-war 'modernisation' were being felt and from all directions fingers were pointed at the farmer. This greedy, grumpy, bloated stereotype was last seen persecuting the cast if an 80's sitcom in an episode set in the 'countryside'.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Farmer 3...</strong> <strong>Mr Hard-Done-To</strong></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <strong>1990</strong>'s and the <strong>2000</strong>'s were undoubtedly a hard time for farmers; food scares, competition from overseas and the growing demand for cheap food hit the rural economy hard. The public were shown slow-motion footage of BSE infected cows stumbling in mucky yards and later giant pyres burned across the countryside- topped with the bloated corpses of Foot and Mouth infected herds. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farming became about poverty, hardship, danger and loss. Thousands of farms were driven out of business, and thousands of young people sought work elsewhere. The average age of a farmer rocketed and rural suicide rates soared.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps the most horrible thing about this image of the farmer is that is rooted in truth- I know this as I was 11 when in 1996 the then-Conservative Government confirmed that BSE had jumped the species barrier. This and the 15 or so years that followed have not been great times to be a farmer in the UK.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farmer 4... The 'Modern' Farmer</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As we have moved into the <strong>2010</strong>'s (is that what we're calling this decade?) some areas of farming saw a slow recovery. Farms are now different places as those that survived the last couple of decades did so through self-sacrifice and/or diversification. The farming community felt ready for a new label but finding one was difficult. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Perhaps in an attempt to move away from the depressing truths of the past and to appeal to the non-farming rural community (many living in the converted cowsheds of yesteryear), the media has switched its focus to a more general rural economy not so centred on food production. This may explain why Countryfile is now a Sunday evening show about smiley young presenters paragliding over the Malverns or taking nut-picking mini breaks in Cornwall- all while wearing brightly coloured outdoor gear.</span><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The farmer himself is now equally at home on the laptop as he is strolling through his organic Dexter herd which he will later mince into premium burgers. This is the farmer that looks on as Jimmy Doherty crouches down smells a handful of restoration meadow hay and talks about the future of farming.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So who is right?</span></strong><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Is it any wonder young people aren't drawn to farming- they have no idea what farming actually is. All of the above may be true of a tiny minority (I've met all four on different occasions) but none are representative.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 'rural economy' the media now features is about leisure and retreat. Food production has become about the peripheral rather than the mainstream. When the public aren't jotting down the recipe for Hugh's wild chestnut and saddleback stuffing they're rallying to Jamie's fight against intensive chicken production- but what about the vast majority of farmers producing food somewhere in the middle ground? I suppose they'll just keep quietly farming on.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And as for those teenagers, I totally understand their misconceptions of 'farming'. They're just another generation we've failed to teach the truth about British agriculture. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reality is they were never going to be farmers anyway. I just hope they find all the excitement they require from a life in IT.</span><br />
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</div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-62582888638421303642011-11-09T16:59:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:02:15.346-07:00Field barns: can we afford to save them for the birds?<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A lush green valley or rolling hills criss-crossed with dry stone walls and dotted with field barns. It’s a quintessentially English scene. One you can find across the Yorkshire Dales, the Peak District, and beyond. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These unassuming little barns are a relic of a bygone age, when farms were much smaller. In centuries gone by transporting things was much more laborious and four walls in which you could lamb the sheep in spring, store the hay in summer, house geese in the autumn or chain a couple of cows in the winter was vital.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Field barns strategically dotted the landscape between other settlements, making far flung meadows and high grazing much more farmable. They were never the hub of daily life- that took place around the farmyard- but they served an important purpose for storage and occasional use. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the centuries their usage changed- reflecting the social and economic needs of the rural population of the day. Some became milking parlours, blacksmiths or labourers’ dwellings, others became chapels and schools, but the vast majority retained their original purpose.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Farming went boom...</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s very easy to idealise the past as some golden yesteryear</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The reality is that as soon as tractors, and barbed wire, big asbestos sheds, concrete blocking, silage production and continental breeds of livestock became affordable farmers understandably embraced these innovations to increase profits. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It didn’t happen overnight, farms changed over hundreds of years, one by one the field barns fell out of use and it’s only within the last couple of decades, as most of the remaining small farms and traditional farms were squeezed out of business, that we’ve seen many of our field barns become truly redundant.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Field barns for wildlife...</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These quiet little buildings, maintained but isolated, provided a unique habitat for a variety of species able to exploit them. The creature perhaps most associated with our quiet farm buildings is the Barn Owl. In today’s landscape of vole-less silage meadows, fast roads and illegal persecution it is evermore vital that Barn Owls offset their high mortality rates with large broods.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With a lack of suitable nesting sites and specialised boxes supporting such a large proportion of the population today they’re crying out for somewhere safe to nest.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there are the bats. All UK bat species have been recorded using buildings to roost and many species use suitable buildings such as field barns readily. Brown and Grey Long-Eared Bats, Natter’s Bats, Greater Horseshoe and Lesser Horseshoe Bats all need flight space and flying access to their roosts so particularly favour the hollow space an old barn provides.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many bird species readily use buildings as nesting sites- some nest almost exclusively in and around buildings. Field barns can be particularly useful for those species that feed on insects or small mammals as barns are typically sited in meadows and grazed pastures where their food supply can be found. As well as Swallows, House Martins and Swifts, House Sparrows, Tree Sparrows, Starlings, Kestrels, Blackbirds, Wrens, Robins, Spotted Flycatchers, Wagtails, Tits, Pigeons, Doves and corvids will all use a suitable building as a nesting site.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s not just that it would be a nice option for these birds- some of them have experienced marked population declines over recent decades. The causes of such declines are many and varied but for some of them a lack of suitable nesting sites can be a contributing factor. House Sparrows have experienced a 62% population decline in the past 25 years- a lack of suitable nesting sites has been highlighted as a key factor in this decline.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many terrestrial species will also take advantage of the additional shelter a field barn can provide hedgehogs, reptiles and amphibians are particularly drawn to them</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What we’ve lost...</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Field barns fell out of use as farming changed- in many cases keeping them standing was no longer viable. Their roofs sagged and fell in, their walls bowed and they became empty shells. The problem accelerated as the farming industry (rocked by food scares and cheap imports) stagnated then declined. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">In recent years farms have diversified and sought other forms of income. Tourism and a housing shortage have driven up the demand for rural accommodation and hundreds of remaining barns (like the farmyards they once served) have been converted into dwellings. <span style="font-family: Arial;">In some parts of the country grants have been offered where field barns have been used for business purposes in a bid to save the barns and boost the rural economy- quite canny I'm sure you'll agree.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Neither of these are bad things, such developments keep the barns standing- they find a use for them and they help supplement the farming income- in short they make them viable again but with roof lights, gravel driveways, plumbing and leylandii they have become a suitable habitat for just one species. It simply means that whilst many thousands of barns crumbled and fell, the remaining hundreds have been converted- often unsympathetically- and we now have very few barns that function as barns.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Now I'm not suggesting that money should be provided to keep barns standing just in case a barn owl may want to nest in one- it'd make for some pretty expensive chicks. But when you consider their history, their aesthetic charm, their role as landscape features, and their increasing rarity in their original form- then suddenly they have a significance and a purpose.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I say save them before it's too late. I'm not entirely sure how we should go about doing this, perhaps we could include their upkeep as agricultural buildings into the requirements of ELS stewardship schemes. Give farmers a reason and an incentive to maintain them and maybe, just maybe, our little barns will be protecting wildlife and adorning teatowels for years to come.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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</div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-9608630254414486222011-11-06T11:15:00.001-08:002012-03-14T14:04:56.858-07:00Farming and Conservation: It's about doing what you do best...<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our farm is by no means a glowing example of conservation in action. When the land is your only source of income sometimes you have to put your own needs first. The economic viability of small and even medium sized farms is questionable so we’re not talking boosting profits, we’re talking damage limitation.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not all farming models suit all farmland species, we are a small pastoral farm at around 700ft above sea level so we’re never going encourage the sort of species that enjoy vast tracts of open arable land or heather moorland. When planning realistic conservation measures farms should be encouraged to play to their strengths and one of our farm success stories is the <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/41280/0">Brown Hare</a>.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The hares breed on the farm and despite high mortality among the leverets (as is typical of the species) by late summer up to 8 hares have been counted at one time.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How our farm works...</span></span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The farm is over 200 acres: just over 100 acres is in small blocks away from the farm and just under 100 acres sits in a ring-fence with the farmyard at the centre.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The land <b>away</b> from the farm itself is used for four purposes:</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul><li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Growing the vast majority of winter feed (predominantly silage with a small amount of hay) for cattle during the winter, particularly the milk cows and young calves that are housed indoors from November till April.</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grazing and fattening sheep (excluding the few weeks they’re moved onto farm itself for lambing).</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grazing young stock (the future dairy cows) throughout the summer- and the winter if the conditions allow.</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Grazing and fattening a handful of beef cattle- their calves being sold annually to supplement income.</span></span></div></li>
</ul><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The land <b>on</b> the farm is used for three purposes:</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><ul><li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The land is grazed by the milk herd from April until November, the land is divided into two blocks. The southern block is grazed in the day (prior to the evening milking) and the northern block is grazed at night (prior to the morning milking).</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Some of the better fields are used to provide a single cut of silage early in the year- they are then grazed by the milk cows as part of the daily rotation. As the sheep graze this ground well into spring the cut can be later than is typical.</span></span></div></li>
<li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In-lamb sheep graze some of the land from November till April (during which time the cows are housed indoors). Following lambing they are moved to out-lying land.</span></span></div></li>
</ul><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How it benefits the hares that live on the farm...</span></span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">1.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">We have a patchwork of 16 small fields that make up the 100 acres immediately around the farm. These fields are farmed in a cycle meaning they are grazed by cattle and sheep, or occasionally mowed. Not all of the fields are used for the same purpose at any one time.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">2.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">The majority of the land around the farm is pasture land and is not mowed regularly. Most of the land that is subject to the high demands of early and repeated silage cuts is found in the 100+ acres that are in blocks away from the farm. This land has fertilizer and manure applied regularly and therefore has a higher denser sward.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">3.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">As well as a seasonal rotation- the daily and nightly milking cycle means that during the day (approximately 11 hours) the northern side of the farm is stock-free and during the night (approximately 13 hours) the southern side of the farm is stock-free. For various reasons the hares prefer to graze on land without livestock present. As a result the hares graze in a cycle opposite to that of the cattle. Being <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crepuscular">crespucular </a>allows for more efficient grazing.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">4.<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; line-height: 115%;">The farm has other features that hares favour. There is a small woodland block, hedges between all the fields and patches of rush and scrub. There are also steep slopes upon which it is not possible to apply fertilizer or manure, and as a result wildflowers grow well.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So...</span></strong></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The success of the brown hare on this site is more a side-effect of the farming model we practice. A model is determined by the type of land, it’s distribution, it’s features and capital (or lack thereof) invested in the land for farming purposes.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I strongly believe that for conservation and farming to work effectively together we should be looking at what a particular farm can do. That’s not to say farms shouldn’t be encouraged to change the way things are done occasionally- but let us all play to our strengths.</span></span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To force an unworkable conservation strategy onto a farm is as destructive to the business as practising an unsympathetic farming strategy is to it’s wildlife.</span></span><br />
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</div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-16795818418129350562011-11-04T16:07:00.001-07:002012-03-14T13:59:57.812-07:00Mr Fawkes: Inadvertently raising hedgehog awareness since 1605<div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It’s bonfire night: the night upon which we gather around in our warm coats, scoff jacket potatoes, parkin & toffee apples, and admire beautiful fireworks and sparklers- all by the flickering orange glow of a roaring pyre topped by Mr Fawkes himself.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course this being Britain we end up standing in the drizzle, behind safety barriers half a mile from the bonfire- which is made out everyone’s unwanted furniture and garden debris. The fire either half-heartedly expires or roars out of control causing concern to nearby houses- all while someone sporadically lets off an underwhelming and overpriced selection of fireworks. But like so many of our ‘celebrations’ we go through the motions ‘for the children’.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now despite this I actually rather like bonfire night- save for the two weeks of fireworks and the launching of <a href="http://networkedblogs.com/pv9Pf">Chinese lanterns</a> (I will come to these in a later, more grumpy post). I find it a uniquely British tradition that ties together something of our history and culture without getting <i>too</i> gimmicky. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But the thing I like perhaps most about bonfire night- is how it inadvertently manages raise the profile of one small and reclusive insectivore in the wider public consciousness- I am talking of course about <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/29650/0">Hedgehogs</a>. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hedgehogs are a species we see little of at the best of times- but given the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13612991">recent population decline</a> their absence from our gardens and hedgerows has become ever more pronounced. For the vast majority of us the only time we see one is as road kill which is very sad and regrettably true of many of our native mammals.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And yet for the days prior to bonfire night concerned adults and a chorus of children remind the rest of us to ‘check the fire for hedgehogs’. What a unique and quirky little message that carries practical and important advice but also makes the wider population more aware of both the presence of these secretive creatures and a tiny part of their behaviour.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you know that there is such a thing as Hedgehog Awareness Week- a week in early May promoting awareness of all things ‘hedgehog’ and organised by the good people at the <a href="http://www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk/">British Hedgehog Preservation Society</a>- presumably to coincide with lots of hedgehog activity following their emergence from hibernation. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am not a marketing man (save for the cattle market) but why not shift this week to the one time of the year when suddenly we are all aware of hedgehogs? Yes I know it’s slightly odd to be raising awareness of hedgehogs and their plight as the whole nation simultaneously burns lots of hedgehog habitat but when you think about it all those children eating toffee apples while we burn a 461 year old terrorist is a bit weird too.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As for the farm- like most people I don’t bother with our own fire anymore. I have a lot of unburned brash from the hedges we had layed last winter which is still heaped around the fields. I tried burning it earlier in the year- but I’m about as good as Mr Fawkes when it comes to ignition. Instead I’ll be gathering it all up on the next available dry day, loading it onto a trailer and taking it to the woods. There I’ll make an enormous bonfire, and when it’s done and heaped high and wide I’ll just leave it... for the hedgehogs.</span></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9103504931677189211.post-23482592869811956522011-11-03T09:18:00.001-07:002012-03-14T13:48:26.104-07:00Starting points...<div align="justify" class="SandboxScopeClass ExternalClass" id="mpf0_MsgContainer"><br />
<div dir="ltr"><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the farming community culling badgers is a reasonable solution to the bovine tuberculosis (bTB) problem. I know this because of just how much I fear a reactor in our herd. The days between the tests and the results are an anxious time.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You see a herd of cows is much more than <i>just</i> a herd of cows. To discover bTB in your herd is not simply about the 100, 200 or even 500 cattle being shot. It’s also about the loss of your income, your livelihood, your heritage, your hobby, your woes, your life’s work, and everything that kept you going when the alarm went off at 5 am. In short to discover bTB in your herd means an irrevocable change to your life and livelihood as you know it. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In my opinion farming today is often thought of as being at odds with the natural world and the debate over bTB could be seen as proof of this. In our subconscious we have separated our ‘food production’ and ‘our countryside’ when really we should consider them as one and the same.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let us also not forget that most farmers delight in the wildlife on their farms, they welcome the return of the swallow as a sign of winter’s end and they mourn the loss of the skylark’s song on summer days- but they understand better than anyone that idylls come at a cost. To put it bluntly if culling a few badgers, somewhere far away could prevent the terrible fall-out of this disease reaching your life might you be in favour. You may well.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where we think we’re at...</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Badgers are one of a handful of species that can catch and spread bTB. The disease is a growing problem among cattle and whether you feel that cattle graze on badgers territories or badgers forage on cattle ground the truth is the two species share habitat and share a disease. It is also true that we have to do <i>something</i> about the spread of bTB- we can’t just turn a blind eye whilst thousands of cattle are slaughtered and people’s lives unravel just because the questions raised are a bit tricky. The most frequently touted options are to vaccinate wild badger populations- or to cull them.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The pros and cons of these two options have been discussed, tested and debated in great depth, for some time, and by people much more informed than me. What I do know is that such controversial issues raise a great deal of comment. I also know the loudest voices are not always the most informed, and equally that having a bigger soapbox does not make your opinion anymore valid or correct. All I know is that living where I do, and leading the life I lead I am simply aware of the impact picking the wrong measure could have.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether you’re pro-vaccination or pro-cull it seems all too readily assumed that the situation in which we find ourselves is somehow ‘natural’. We are treating the current distribution and movements of badgers as if they are at some wild base-level determined only by Mother Nature. At the risk of making a controversial topic <i>even</i> more controversial this is just not so- and these are the foundations upon which big decisions with big implications are being made.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Badgers are protected by law- to kill one is a crime, so too is disturbing their setts and it is perhaps because they are afforded this official protection that we so readily assume their population is ‘uncontrolled’.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Where we’re at...</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The way I see it the vast and ever-more complex place that is the British countryside is home to a myriad of different user-groups, different individuals, different voices, opinions and attitudes- and on the whole it’s a better place for it. On the downside this means controversial species such as badgers can find themselves on the receiving end when some of the more agitated attitudes turn to actions.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our small farm may not be representative but it is the only example I have. We once had two active setts, the largest of which with about 15 adult badgers in residence. Save for a bit of digging in the cow pastures they were little trouble- they’re shy and elusive and you wouldn’t know we had them. Over the years the badger population seemed to dwindle and some of the sett entrances fell out of use. Then one day we noticed the distinctive sign of human activity- someone had dug the sett- and the badgers were gone.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was furious, not just at the intrusion but also because our bTB-free badger’s territory sat rather nicely in the middle of our bTB-free farm. It was comforting to think that <i>my</i> badgers would see-off any wandering individuals- obviously territories don’t run strictly in line with farm boundaries and my peace of mind was perhaps born of naivety but regardless of this I was happy with the way things had been.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I began to think about why <i>my</i> badgers had dwindled and then been dug- and the fate of other badgers in the locality. It became clear that life as a protected animal wasn’t one of guaranteed safety:</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><ul><li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are often approached by individuals or groups looking for somewhere to go shooting. With few exceptions they are polite and genuine and just after pigeons, rabbits or corvids, some after foxes or hares- but others are after whatever they can hit and a few will offer to “rid anything we don’t want”- and these are just the ones that ask.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The country lanes here are plagued by illegal lamping- the lights scanning the fields in the early hours is so prevalent and so hard to police that it is largely ignored. I’ve got no idea how many animals are shot, or of which species- I doubt that anyone does.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there are pheasant shoots- two locally- and keepers charged with protecting hundreds of docile captive-bred poults from the natural world into which they have been released. I have no doubt that the vast majority of keepers- like farmers- contribute much more to the countryside than they take away. But there are always others, working in the remote countryside, made more remote by the hours they work- and with a long list of native species that are perceived to pose a threat to the birds they’re tasked with protecting.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The way game keeping is carried out here has also changed; large estate shoots have given way to small private affairs run by individuals across land that belongs to a number of separate holdings. The gamekeepers here are not employed full time- but are people with guns and a quad that willing to look after the pheasants on a part-time basis. Game keeping here has become more detached and less labour intensive- and as a result is driven to be more efficient.</span></div></li>
<li><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then there are those landowners ‘in the know’- conversations in which advice and insinuation are interwoven. Its common knowledge in the countryside that slurry or diesel will drive badgers from their setts. We all know that disturbing a sett is only a crime <i>if</i> it’s discovered, that being discovered on private land is unlikely, and that you’re only really disturbing a sett with intent if you <i>knew</i> it was there. You’re not killing the badgers, you’re persuading them to leave.</span></div></li>
</ul><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All of the above represent the thoughts and actions of a few. They do not represent the thoughts or actions of the vast majority of landowners, farmers or gamekeepers. But all of the above is true of some. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now the story of the badgers on our farm may not be typical of half, or a third, or a fifth, or a tenth of farms across Britain- but just supposing it were. If this were true then the size, distribution and population of badger clans and territories would seem to be at least in part dictated by the actions of our landowners as too would the dispersal rates of groups or individuals.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If a good habitat is cleared of its badgers it will doubtless attract others badgers- displaced animals will move in- or neighbouring territories will expand. I’m not for one moment implying that unhindered badger populations are static but if the distribution and movement of these animals is caused by the actions of a minority then it may well be enough to add momentum to the spread of bTB. Are we already in a vicious cycle of fear, reaction and ultimately the further spread of bTB?</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So...</span></b></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is justified concern about the spread of bTB. </span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Badgers are afforded protection <b>because</b> they are perceived as a threat to rural business interests. This is compounded by concern about the spread of bTB.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think Britain’s badger population is already <i>controlled</i> by us and this is bound to have an effect on the current spread of both badgers and bTB.</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div class="ecxMsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Because of this I am sceptical but not fully opposed to a cull of badgers.</span><br />
<br />
</div></div></div>Farmland Birdshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457574139490576364noreply@blogger.com0