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WILD SEEDS AND FARMING |
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| Since the motivation for the conservation of wild plants derives largely from the
excesses of intensive agriculture it is easy to overlook the heritage handed down by generations of hard working
farmers.
The pattern of fields, hedgerows and stone walls, pollard trees and coppice woodlands, and all the complex semi-natural plant communities associated with the farmed countryside are the legacy of farming.
Now that support for production-based agriculture is easing it may be expected that increasing value will be given to wildlife, landscape quality, tourism and pollution control. This shift in support will bring a return of some traditional land management skills and an increase in the area that is farmed extensively.
Agri-environment schemes are now the main way in which agricultural support is used to improve the wildlife and landscape quality of farms, and under these schemes there are various opportunities for using wild seeds.
SET-ASIDEIf the set-aside land is largely weed free and has its own interesting flora it is probably best to let the fields green up naturally. Avoid sowing ryegrass as this can become a serious and persistent weed in following cereals. If the set-aside is naturally weedy, then if left unmanaged it can become unsightly. Consider sowing a Cornfield Mixture, Meadow Mixture or Wild Grass Mixture, perhaps at a low seeding rate of 2-10kg per acre. These mixtures do not contain any species that could be a weed in a following conventional cereal crop, and are good for wildlife and game.
COUNTRYSIDE STEWARDSHIPUnder this scheme wild seeds can be used to create flower rich grassland on former arable land, to enrich species poor and over sprayed grassland, and to create broad headlands and margins around arable fields. These and other activities are supported by Countryside Stewardship, with specific payments to encourage the use of native British seed rather than agricultural cultivars or seed of foreign origin.
If the farm already has some good quality wild grassland this may form the basis of a Stewardship Special Project, perhaps as a source of ‘brush harvested’ meadow seed, or as a source of ecotypes for further propagation.
ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE AREASThe ESA Scheme supports extensive and traditional farming practices that benefit wildlife and the landscape in selected regions, such as the Cotswold Hills ESA. Here also there are many opportunities to use wild seeds, for example in arable reversion and improving the species diversity of impoverished grassland.
Each ESA has its own distinct flora, and therefore there are opportunities for farmers within an ESA to become involved in the production of seed of species and ecotypes from their particular region.
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Emorsgate Wild Seeds |
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