Arable farmers need help to hone skills

Independent agricultural advisor Stephen Harrison of South West Agronomy has championed the Operation Bumblebee initiative on his farms. He highlights that the environmental areas need to be managed as effectively as any cropped area, if they are to be successful. “It is definitely not a case of putting in the seed mixture and walking away. Arable farmers certainly have the necessary skills and, in most instances, the enthusiasm, but they do need the help and guidance to make it work.”

Mr Harrison had undertaken a two-day training course with the Wildlife Farming Company in Yorkshire, as part of the Operation Bumblebee initiative, to find out more about the benefits of the Pollen & Nectar mix for the environment, and learn the practical aspects of effective management.

He believes a clean cut achieved with a grass mower, and immediate round baling to remove the grass cuttings, helps the fescue grass species to recover very quickly and tiller strongly. “The small legume seedlings were not smothered by the cuttings and there was no opportunity for the Black-grass to set seed. It would appear to be far more effective than the rough cut achieved with a topper.”

Mr Harrison advocates sections of the Pollen & Nectar mix area should be mowed at different times of the season, to prolong the flowering period and pollen source right through the summer and early autumn. Operation Bumblebee research has shown cutting in April and May can have the most beneficial results for insects, although he highlights that growers including their Pollen & Nectar mix in the ELS scheme will have to abide by Defra guidelines that only permit mowing in June and October.

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