The
Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust has been a keen advocate of winter supplementary
feeding for farmland birds. Evidence to support the Environmental Stewardship
options (EF23 in ELS and HF24 in HLS), has come from research at our Allerton
Project farm at Loddington in Leicestershire. Dr Alastair Leake, our project
director, explained: “Our research shows that for some species you can get more
breeding birds in spring simply by providing extra food from late winter to
early spring. This new option is a fantastic move and will help support
over-winter survival of farmland birds. Farmers are already doing a great deal
for wildlife and this is another important way that they can successfully help
the recovery of bird numbers.”
The
options are aimed at seed-eating birds - such as finches, buntings and sparrows
- to help them survive over the winter and the so-called ‘hungry gap’; the
period between mid-winter and spring when naturally available seed food can be
in short supply in the countryside.
Earlier today as the rain rattled against the window again and
arable work had come to a standstill, I took the opportunity to talk to Richard
Barnes from Kings Game Cover and Conservation Crops about supplementary
feeding and management.
Phil
Jarvis; (GWCT Allerton Project) I have included
our supplementary feeding in HLS, what seed mixes are recommended and how do
they differ from ELS?
Richard
Barnes; (Kings) The HLS option requires a mixture of
wheat and oilseed rape (maximum 65%) and a selection of the following seeds:
mustard, safflower, oats, niger, hemp, sunflower hearts, red millet, white
millet, canary seed and black sunflowers. The ELS mixture is more basic with a
simple mix of 75% wheat and oilseed rape, 25% mix of red millet, white millet
and canary seed.
Phil;
What are the financial implications of these two feeding options?
Richard;
The ELS option attracts 630 points (£630) per tonne of seed used. It uses 75% wheat
and oilseed rape and 25% other seed mix and will cost between £450-550/tonne. The
HLS option offers a payment of £822/tonne of seed used, seed costs will range
from £550-650/tonne. These prices will vary, depending on own home saved wheat
and oilseed rape values.
Clearly on both ELS and HLS, you need to factor
in the labour cost and any extra feeders, especially for feeding small seeds, associated
with the supplementary feeding.
Phil; Yes... I can see some head scratching over the value(£) of bird feed, but ultimately these feeding regimes should be great for farmland birds
Phil;
I am concerned that some of these seeds may contaminate our arable crops if
they are not spread or fed in the right areas, how should I address this?
Richard;
The seed should be spread on wild bird seed plots, overwintered stubbles,
tracks or hard standing which should help to reduce any ongoing problems. All
the seeds are annuals so shouldn’t cause long term problems. There could,
however be a significant risk of introducing problematic weed species if low
grade and poorly cleaned seed is used across wild bird seed plots. At Kings we work hard to source
the highest quality seed for planting, we take the same approach for seed that
will be spread in the supplementary feeding options. In our opinion this is
vital, as low quality seed can cause problems with crop management if
the likes of rogue millets (Barnyard/Cockspur Grass and Foxtail millet) get
established.
When spreading make sure you keep the seed
mixed up! Bouncing around the farm with a spreader will see the seed settle
very quickly and you could end up with the first area of the farm covered in
millet and your last stop covered in sunflower seed!
If you are using hoppers as well, you should restrict the impact of vermin
by either moving them regularly or using cages and guards.
Phil; We have been using a thick gauge mesh guard around hoppers to discourage non-target species,
it may also provide some protection to the smaller birds from sparrow hawks that
might target feeding sites.
Phil;
I see from the rules that I have to keep a diary of the feeding from January until 30th April. What other requirements are
there?
Richard;
You need to record mixture components, amount fed and locations used. Also keep
your invoices for any additional purchased seeds – don’t forget to record your
own internal transfers of wheat. Just remember you can't use low grade tailings
from the grain store.
Phil;
A number of farmers will have missed the registration deadline this year (Dec 15th 2012), but it will be worth checking with Natural England asap because start dates etc are quite complicated.
Is there anything else farmers should do?
Richard;
Yes farmers can support a voluntary feeding approach supported by Campaign for the Farmed Environment
(CFE) and because its voluntary, you can spread some of this year’s tailings.
Oh.... and don't forget to take a pair of
binoculars with you when you are out feeding, the benefit of your hard work should
be some great birds on view!
n of the building. Work started at the end of last summer and as with all projects, particularly those involving non-standard features such as straw bale wall insulation, we have encountered our problems, but the fair weather allowed us to make up time and we were able to go ahead with a summer opening as planned.
