West Town Farm - Conservation

Although the main purpose of any farm is food production, this can co-exist with management of the land for conservation. Organic farming is already kinder to the environment than conventional farming, and this can be further improved when farms take part in environmental schemes.

Environmental Stewardship

Environmental stewardship is an agri-environment scheme run by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

The scheme is composed of two levels:-

The Entry Level Scheme (basic financial support for environmentally friendly land management)
The Higher Level Scheme (more support for more active and environmentally beneficial management practices).

West Town Farm is part of the Higher Level Scheme or HLS. We started our ten-year HLS agreement on 1st August 2008.

The payment received from DEFRA for HLS agreements depends on the land management options that the farmer chooses in consultation with a Natural England advisor.

Objectives

Higher Level Stewardship has a number of objectives, which include:-

Wildlife conservation
Protection of water and soil
Promotion of public access and understanding of the countryside
Maintenance and enhancement of landscape quality and character
Conservation of rare traditional breeds and varieties

What does the HLS agreement mean for West Town Farm?

At West Town Farm habitats for threatened farmland birds such as the cirl bunting and hawfinch have been identified. We can help these birds to survive by maintaining and improving the environments they use for food and shelter. In terms of the agreement, this can mean management practices such as grazing management to keep the grass sward at an optimum height. Details are agreed at the outset and monitored over time.

We will receive payments from DEFRA in return for carrying out a mix of management practices over the ten year period

These include:-

Maintenance of our traditional orchard
Establishing two new orchards in two of our fields, using traditional local varieties of fruit trees
Planting new hedgerows
Restoration and management of old hedgerows (hedgerows provide food and cover for wildlife as well as important wildlife corridors)
Restoration of species rich semi-natural grassland (this means grassland with at least 15 herb species per square metre)
Creation of scrub (supporting invertebrates, voles, birds of prey)
Creation of beetle banks
Establishing wild bird seed mix plots
Growing spring cereal to re-create an arable mosaic (providing seed mixes for birds throughout the year)
Producing an Education Pack
Creating a new footpath through the farm (watch this space!)

Some of these will create extra work and others will mean that some areas of the farm may become less productive. The financial support received by farmers is intended to compensate them for this.

All the management options can co-exist happily with beef production - in fact the diversity of the species rich grasslands actively benefit from grazing by cattle.

West Town Farm