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| Training the trainers - a good practical way of learning - out on the farm |
Yesterday I spent the day at the GWCT farm at Loddington in
Leicestershire discussing pollinators and in particular the role that hedges
and field boundaries play in helping to deliver the habitat requirements for this
multitude of insects, namely pollen & nectar, breeding sites and over-wintering
quarters.
Jim Egan, who heads up GWCT Training & Development and is based at the farm, organised a very
instructive day for the Campaign for the Farmed Environment (CFE) advisers, of
which I am one.
We had an up-date
from Natural England’s Mike Green on the new Stewardship scheme with particular
reference to the new pollinator package, although there are still a few “tweaks”
to be made!
This was followed by
talks from two experienced hedgerow managers, Rob Wolton and Nigel Adams both
representing Hedgelink (details below), who gave interesting presentations on
the practical ways of managing hedges and the wildlife that depends on them.
Then it was out
onto the farm to discuss various management regimes for the different types of
hedges. The farm manager Phil Jarvis was on hand to give his perspective on
hedges – always a good leveller to have an experienced guy like this around to
stop the conversation getting too fanciful!
We looked at and
debated such topics as coppicing, laying and trimming programmes and the best machinery
and tools for the job. The pros and cons of hedge shape, height, width, choice
of species and if gaps in hedges are good or bad – were all chatted about! CFE
advisers are an experienced lot, so the discussion was lively and robust, as
you would expect from people genuinely interested in the subject.
These days are
important if CFE advisers are to go onto farms and hold events to bring farmers
across the country up to date. They can now do this knowing that they have the
latest details and practical methods to get the job done correctly and more
importantly farmers can rest assured that they are getting the best advice.
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| Unmanaged hedge on right, coppiced in the middle and laid on the left - great to study it all in one spot! |
For more info on hedge management go to: www.hedgelink.org.uk
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