Chris Tomson - RSPB agricultural Adviser

The November speaker was Chris Tomson who until June was running the Peak Birds project, and is now the RSPB's Agricultural Adviser for their Yorkshire, Humber and Peak District region. His background is in farming rather than ornithology, and his job is as a negotiator and facilitator: he encourages farmers to work in a more environmentally friendly way, and helps them to obtain the grants and subsidies that are available. (There is a huge amount of paperwork involved, so help in dealing with it is very important.)

 The Entry Level Stewardship Scheme offers funding to all farmers to manage their farms for the benefit of wildlife. The Higher Level scheme is for farmers who have the potential to help some of our most endangered species such as Cirl Bunting, Corn Bunting and Stone Curlew, or who wish to do more for the environment, for example by recreating lost habitats. The Entry Level scheme compensates farmers for loss of income if they adopt less intensive practices, and is a big improvement on the older subsidies which encouraged over-production. Unfortunately there have been problems with implementing the scheme in England (Wales and Scotland have fared better) and long delays in making payments have caused hardship for many farmers. Problems have been partly caused by Defra overspending due to preparations for Bird Flu.

Chris began his talk by summarising the changes that have taken place in farming over the last 60 years (the intensification dates from 1947 and the drive to increase food production). All areas of farming have been affected: arable, grassland, dairy, and upland sheep. Although an emerald green sward may look neat and tidy, and be good for milk production, it is no good for Skylarks who cannot raise their broods in a crop that may be cut four times a year. Furthermore, it is devoid of weeds and insects, so provides no food for birds. It is hoped that the new Stewardship schemes will help to at least partially reverse these trends.

An important aspect of the work done by the RSPB is their collaboration with landowners and others. For example, United Utilities (formed by the merger of North-west Water and Norweb, formerly North West Electricity Board) is a major landowner in northwest England, including parts of the Peak District such as the Goyt Valley and Longdendale. RSPB has been working with some of their tenant farmers, and has also helped United Utilities to obtain some £9m from OFWAT to improve water quality and biodiversity.

In the Peak District, as elsewhere, it is not easy for farmers to survive financially. The National Park Authority knows that farmers have to make a living, but is cautious about the introduction of new crops, such as wild bird mixes. They have to consider other issues such as local archaeology, biodiversity, and the appearance of the landscape.

Farmers often try to encourage Lapwing and Snipe to nest on their farms, but it is less easy to enthuse them about the less charismatic Twite, which continues to decline. Twite are ground nesters who nest on moorland edges, and will fly up to 3 Km to flower-rich hay meadows for food. Farmers are encouraged to delay cutting their meadows until after 15th July to give the birds a chance to complete their breeding cycle. These flower-rich meadows attract Stewardship grants as it is well recognised how important they are to farmland birds. In the Yorkshire Dales about 90% of farmers with the option to join the Pennine Dales Environmentally Sensitive Area Scheme have done so, and this will protect important flower rich meadows.

There are some misconceptions about the status of species such as Lapwing: people see them displaying in spring and assume that all is well, whereas in fact the numbers are declining. Furthermore, it is believed that there are only 3 or 4 pairs of breeding Redshank in the whole of the Peak District. RSPB did a wader survey in 2002 and will be repeating it in 2007 in order to see what is happening. There are many reasons for the decline of waders, including the move from arable to grassland (for silage), the draining of land, the reduction of dairy farming, and the abandonment of farmland. Lapwings like cattle because their feet leave muddy indentations in the ground for feeding, and create a generally uneven surface where chicks can take cover. Sheep, however, graze the sward into a smooth short surface unsuitable for feeding or hiding.

When land is abandoned it can go back to rushes, and this is also unsuitable for waders. In some places, RSPB has identified areas that are potentially best for birds, and has paid contractors to control the rushes. They are cut in late autumn, at which stage they stop growing, and are sprayed in spring to remove them entirely. A few rushes are good for Snipe, so a small patch is usually left for them. Digging out scrapes with muddy margins is also beneficial for waders.

Chris gave several examples of good practice. A farmer in the Chatsworth area replaced his dairy cows with 200 water buffaloes. These create muddy scrapes and pools, and are very good for Lapwings. The farmer is keen to make his farm a 'showcase' for good practices: he sells both meat and milk from his buffaloes, and plans to encourage the public to visit. It is very beneficial when farmers are able to run a farm environmentally and cost effectively, as it encourages other farmers much more than theoretical ideas can ever do. Another example is a farmer in the Yorkshire Wolds near Malton. He has flower-rich margins around many of his fields, grows wildlife-friendly crops, for example quinoa which provides winter food, and comfrey and mustard which can also be used for green manure, putting structure back into the soil. He has six pairs of Barn Owl on his farm, as well as Grey Partridges and a good population of hares.

Most of the Forest of Bowland is owned by United Utilities or the Duke of Westminster, and is farmed by tenant farmers. RSPB and United Utilities are working on a five-year Sustainable Catchment Management Programme (SCaMP) to improve water quality and encourage biodiversity. It will be achieved by: restoring blanket bogs by blocking drainage ditches; restoring areas of eroded and exposed peat; restoring hay meadows and heather moorland; establishing clough woodland; providing new waste water management facilities to reduce run-off pollution of water courses; fencing off livestock from rivers and streams and from special habitats etc.