One of the main drivers of declining pollinator populations across Europe is the loss of traditional hay meadows in favour of more efficient and more productive silage making - another negative result of striving to achieve "economies of scale", or in other words, for farmers to make a profit, or at least make ends meet.
First cut of silage in May 2020 - grass is cut, baled and wrapped in plastic for storage for winter feed for the herd of suckler cattle. Fertilizer is then applied to replenish nutrient levels, encouraging faster grass growth for another cut or two of silage during the summer months, depending on rainfall - this year could be a struggle.
This system means that sufficient winter fodder can be produced from a much smaller area (i.e. more efficiently) compared to traditional hay-making, which only enables one cut of grass much later in the summer, usually July or August. The earlier cutting of grass for silage means that flowers do not have the chance to flower and seed, and the application of artificial fertilizer and selection of productive varieties of grass mean that native wildflowers are soon out-competed and disappear from the sward. As a result, essential habitat for many pollinating invertebrates has been lost from large swathes of UK farmland.
I'm not sure of the original source, but an often-quoted statistic is that the UK has lost 97% of its hay meadows since World War II (https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/learn/conservation/gardens-and-landscapes/meadow-conservation/). This is quite staggering, and even more so when you stand in the middle of a newly established, or restored, meadow brimming full of life. It is then that the ecological impacts of removing huge areas flower-rich grasslands really become clear.
This realisation struck me again today, while inspecting some of the flower-rich plots (option AB8 in the Countryside Stewardship agreement) on the farm. Despite the lack of rain this spring (10 mm since the start of May) these plots have done well and are now fulfilling their important ecological role of providing nectar for pollinators. Although today's weather wasn't ideal for insects (thankfully, as we desperately need rain) bees such as red-tailed and white-tailed bumblebees were busy feeding on the yellow flowers of birdsfoot trefoil and several day-flying moth species flitted about among the meadow grasses. Less welcome were the huge numbers of aphids on the knapweed plants which are about to flower, but I'm sure they will provide food for some other invertebrate - perhaps lacewing larvae or the many spiders spinning their webs through the vegetation. Rather than trying to describe how full of life these plots were, here's a video and some photos to get a feel for it:
The video shows red-tailed bumblebees feeding on birdsfoot trefoil. Other flowers include red clover, ribwort plantain, knapweed, black meddick and meadow grasses. Other species such as wild carrot will flower later in the summer.
This plot is in a field corner that was difficult for the arable contractor to reach and make productive. Although there were already a few wildflowers such as self-heal and ribwort plantain amongst the meadow grasses, scattering wildflower seeds from the back of the ATV 4-5 years ago gave the meadow a massive boost in terms of flower density. The area was included in the Countryside Stewardship Mid Tier agreement which started in 2018. The meadow is cut after mid-August, with 10% left uncut over the winter. The most visible flower species in June are oxeye daisies, birdsfoot trefoil, red clover, black meddick, vetches, with knapweed starting to flower too.
Knapweed
Aphids on knapweed
So this is a snapshot of just one of the "flower-rich plots" included in the Countryside Stewardship scheme, with approximately 3 hectares in total across the farm. Although this is a great start, especially in combination with the other options such as the nectar flower mix, this still only represents 1% of the total farm area. In my opinion we have a long way to go before getting anywhere near to "restoring lost meadows", but the following photos show a positive start: a field corner taken out of arable production and converted to a flower-rich plot. Currently only in its second year after sowing, this plot is already bursting with flowers and invertebrates and will only improve with time, left relatively untouched compared to its time producing arable crops.
This plot was drilled into arable land (barley) after harvest in 2018 and required regular cutting in summer 2019 (topped approximately six times) to suppress weeds and prevent the grasses dominating over the wildflowers.
This publication shows how restoring meadows can quickly benefit pollinating insects:
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