The Trust manages wildlife across some 750 acres (304 ha) of arable land.  This is used to grow a variety of crops in rotation, including winter wheat, spring wheat, oil-seed rape, field beans, spring barley and linseed. These are produced in accordance with two independently audited assurance schemes – Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) and the Assured Combinable Crop Scheme (ACCS).  Most of the wheat is of the ‘soft biscuit’ type and is sold to Allied Mills in Tewkesbury. Oilseed rape is crushed for its oil, which is used to make margarine, cooking oil and bio fuel.  Beans are a protein crop and are either crushed or fed to cattle. Barley is usually grown as a winter cattle feed.  Both the straw from barley and from wheat is and used as bedding and forage for stock in winter.

Arable field margins    

Many once-common plants are threatened by modern farming.  Arable wildflowers, which have evolved to grow in crops, have been devastated by the use of modern herbicides.  The Trust has instituted a range of measures to protect and encourage these beautiful and increasingly rare plants.  In particular, it pioneered (and championed) the now widespread practice of leaving 6m or 12m ‘wildlife strips’ untreated with agro-chemicals at the edges of fields.  This innovation has led to a dramatic increase in the numbers of rare plants on Trust land, such as rough poppy, shepherd’s needle, corn buttercup, Venus’ looking-glass, field penny-cress, corn salad and the fluellens.  Increased plant diversity has a knock-on benefit for other wildlife, providing food for invertebrates, and in turn for birds and small mammals.  Arable field margins are now a BAP priority habitat, and in addition to their botanical interest they provide habitat for BAP priority species such as grey partridge and quail.  Where flower-rich headlands adjoin public footpaths, they also provide walkers with a spectacular display of colour in the summer months.  For a more detailed discussion of this subject please see our wildflower conservation study.

Fertiliser and pesticide use

Inorganic fertilisers and pesticides are used on most of the Trust’s arable land to maintain output and quality.  The Trust seeks to ensure that best practice is followed by farmers with regard to their use.  Levels of nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous are regularly measured so that fertilisers are only applied where they are required.  Herbicides, fungicides and insecticides are applied only after a careful assessment has been made of the pest problem. Threshold targets are used to determine whether treatment is required and at what rate. Insurance spraying does not take place. Equipment is well maintained and regularly calibrated to ensure that pesticides and fertilisers are only applied to the crop target. All major watercourses on Trust land are protected from accidental contamination by ‘buffer zones’, consisting of 6 meter wide strips of long grass.

Crop rotation   

Crop rotation is the standard method for minimising inputs of inorganic fertiliser and pesticide.  A typical crop rotation is based on trying to grow as much ‘first wheat’ as possible. This is the first crop of wheat grown after a ‘break’ crop of rape or pulses, and is generally the most profitable. It tends to be higher yielding because soil fertility builds up during the break, and because there is a reduction of soil-based pathogens such as ‘take all’, that affect the roots of second and subsequent wheat crops. Break crops make it easier to control grass weeds like blackgrass and wild oats, which are difficult and expensive to eradicate in cereals. Crop rotation has the additional benefit of spreading risk and allowing the more even use of farm labour and machinery during sowing and harvesting periods. 

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This Page Revised: March 10, 2009.

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