100 species doomed as farms 'sterilise 'land

[bovrill]

i'm not arguing with that....i loved buzzards when they first appeared...now they eye the nesting birds and leverrets i'm not so sure...and as for bloody sparrowhawks and peregrines

That can't be right, just before the weather on Countryfile earlier, a bird expert said buzzards don't hunt, they only eat slugs!
(I don't know what it is that comes out of our wood with the buzzards and catches the rabbits and partridge then!)

 

[Exfarmer]

That can't be right, just before the weather on Countryfile earlier, a bird expert said buzzards don't hunt, they only eat slugs!
(I don't know what it is that comes out of our wood with the buzzards and catches the rabbits and partridge then!)

They also said buzzards control rabbits without blinking!
The original Times article also suggests cattle infect deer and badgers with TB

 

[Cowabunga]

They also said buzzards control rabbits without blinking!
The original Times article also suggests cattle infect deer and badgers with TB

I'm sure that infection is transmissible both ways. However, the infected cattle are culled without mercy and all are tested at least annually. The wildlife reservoir is unrestricted, untreated and unchecked with a right to roam and multiply at will.

 

[Old Boar]

"The Earth does not belong to man,
Man belongs to the Earth;
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors,
We borrow it from our children;
Man did not weave the web of life,
He is merely a strand in it,
Whatever he does to the web,
He does to himself." Chief Seattle 1780-1866

 

[Pilatus]

"The Earth does not belong to man,
Man belongs to the Earth;
We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors,
We borrow it from our children;
Man did not weave the web of life,
He is merely a strand in it,
Whatever he does to the web,
He does to himself." Chief Seattle 1780-1866

I am sure the planet and nature will survive long after mankind has destroyed it self through greed ,but who am I to make such a statement, as I am only a rural peasant without a "Degree".
Brains and commonsense do not seem to run hand in hand from what I have seen during my 65yr old life, uups I have gone off topic. Cheers .,

 

[Cowabunga]

They also said buzzards control rabbits without blinking!

They literally don't blink. They do probably have a nictitating membrane that sweeps horizontally though.

 

[The Agrarian]

My landscape would be a bit like the duck's. Green, damp, plenty of hedges. Little actual woods or forestation though, as virtually every scrappy little corner was cleared at one time to make way for farming.

In terms of wildlife, what we do have are plenty of badgers, crows and pigeons. Certainly a disproportionately large number of crows. Sometimes I think they make up 50% of the bird population.

 

[Paddington]

Birdsong around here consists of woodpigeons first thing, buzzards midday and crows in the evening.

 

[Brisel]

Unfortunately they need do no such thing. 'They' can stop you farming at the stroke of a pen.
It is not a good business to be in within the UK. Food production that is.

"They" have to get it through both Houses in Parliament plus the regional ones where applicable. Not as simple as a stroke of a pen.

 

[4course]

these articles and the pressure groups pushing them will become more and more vociferous as uk agriculture post brexit is in a difficult place in relation to funding and votes, not that it wasnt before but will get worse and without being too radical we are actively looking to reduce our businessmodel to have less reliance on producing primary food as until there is a shortage/famine we are not needed and ive come to realise that my pride in having well run productive and farm producing food and keeping up with technological advances has , is, and looks like being somewhat misplaced, the only thing I can see that may benefit me is slowdown in the acceptance of uk growing gm crops as that will finish the small and by that i mean below 4/5 hundred acres family cereal farm

 

[Robigus]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dbc3b36a-6716-11e6-8639-a8ec19d372cc

100 species doomed as farms ‘sterilise’ land
Jonathan Leake, Environment Editor


August 21 2016, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

Attenborough: report will warn of a ‘crisis’ facing wildlife

Britain’s wildlife is losing the battle against intensive agriculture, with 123 farmland species facing extinction and hundreds more at serious risk, a significant report is to warn.

The State of Nature 2016 report is being drawn up by more than 50 of the country’s leading conservation groups, who say the industrialisation of agriculture is sterilising Britain’s countryside.

In its foreword, the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough is expected to warn of a “crisis” facing wildlife in Britain.

The report will blame the common agricultural policy — the EU’s subsidy system — and suggest the decision to leave the EU has created a one-off opportunity to reform Britain’s farm subsidy system.

“We have assessed the status of 4,000 British wildlife species, looking at the threats and pressures they face,” said Richard Gregory, who is leading the project.

“What emerges is that there are many threats to Britain’s wildlife but by far the biggest is the steady intensification of farming, which leaves no room for wildlife and is driving many species towards extinction.”

The report, to be published next month, will say farmland covers 75% of the UK’s land area, making it essential that wildlife can survive there.

However, detailed statistics on 600 “marker” species will show almost all are in decline. Farmland birds, such as skylarks, rooks and turtle doves, will be shown to have declined by 54% since 1970, leaving some close to extinction.

The wryneck, a woodpecker found in woodlands and around farms, may already be extinct. No breeding pairs have been seen since 2002. The golden oriole has not bred since 2009 and skylark numbers are down 60% since 1970.

Butterfly numbers have also plummeted, with the abundance of farmland species down 57% since 1990. The wall butterfly, once a common sight on farmland, has suffered an 87% decline in abundance since 1976 and is extinct across much of southern Britain.

“We assessed 1,118 farmland species, including birds, mammals and plants, finding that 123 are facing extinction in the UK, which is a terrible statistic,” said Gregory, head of species monitoring and research for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Gregory is leading the project for a consortium of science-based conservation groups, along with organisations such as the National Trust, Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

“Individual farmers are not to blame for this destruction,” said Peter Nixon, director of land, landscape and nature at the National Trust. “The real problem is the industrialisation of agriculture driven by subsidies. Brexit means we have a chance to change this.

“We still need subsidies but directed to wider public benefits, including food production, but also protecting wildlife and the environment. Farmers should be paid for this.”

The complexity of the impacts of farming on wildlife is highlighted by research from the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, part of the consortium. It shows how cattle infected with bovine tuberculosis have passed the disease to deer as well as to badgers, meaning the disease could be more common in wildlife than thought. The findings may raise new doubts over government plans to control the disease by culling badgers.

The launch of the State of Nature report will include the first speech on wildlife issues by Andrea Leadsom, the new environment secretary.

The report will examine other British species, including those found in woodlands, the uplands and in freshwater and marine environments.

The National Farmers Union said providing a secure food supply was just as legitimate and important to the public good as maintaining the environment for wildlife. It said: “There is no hiding the uncertainty in farming with the Brexit decision but this creates a fantastic opportunity to reshape farming’s relationship with the economy and society . . . We want to be less reliant on support payments and get greater respect for our environmental role.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Protecting our environment and supporting our world-leading farmers, a cornerstone of our economy, will form an important part of our EU exit negotiations.”

@jonathan__leake

 

[Robigus]

I didn't have time to comment on this article yesterday as I was busy cultivating a twenty four acre field in Suffolk.

On that one field there were three half grown leverets as well as at least four adult hare. There were skylarks and I had to stop and drive a partridge and her eight young chicks out of the way - probably a second clutch. In the hedge at one end was a tree with an owl box where a barn owl successfully raised her chick this year.

This is no organic nature reserve but a large commercial farm.

Almost daily you will hear reports blaming something on the change in farming practices. The last major change in farming practice was in my grandfather’s time – 1960’s and 70’s- when, due to government incentives, farmers changed from mixed livestock and arable to specialise in one or the other. This also led to a switch from spring cropping to more winter cropping.

The only change in the last generation has been that in England alone there are now 6.35 million hectares of agricultural land in environmental schemes.

 

[rob1]

We have skylarks here but never had any twenty years ago and as for rooks being in short supply are they joking. And as usual the no effing use brigade put out some rubbish why dont they point out the huge rise in predators and ask what do they live on it isnt fresh air

 

[Pond digger]

I didn't have time to comment on this article yesterday as I was busy cultivating a twenty four acre field in Suffolk.

On that one field there were three half grown leverets as well as at least four adult hare. There were skylarks and I had to stop and drive a partridge and her eight young chicks out of the way - probably a second clutch. In the hedge at one end was a tree with an owl box where a barn owl successfully raised her chick this year.

This is no organic nature reserve but a large commercial farm.

Almost daily you will hear reports blaming something on the change in farming practices. The last major change in farming practice was in my grandfather’s time – 1960’s and 70’s- when, due to government incentives, farmers changed from mixed livestock and arable to specialise in one or the other. This also led to a switch from spring cropping to more winter cropping.

The only change in the last generation has been that in England alone there are now 6.35 million hectares of agricultural land in environmental schemes.

Yes, you've hit the nail on the head there: the loss of mixed farming is a major factor in the decline of wildlife. Effective control of arable weed species is another one. But the question is, what do we do about it? We can't just turn the clock back and abandon the hard won scientific and technological advances: and the economies of food production aren't going to change overnight: it's a real dilemma.

Whatever else, many of these species are almost exclusively associated with farmland, and that requires management by farmers; so we ain't going to be redundant, if the public really do value these things.

 

[spin cycle]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/dbc3b36a-6716-11e6-8639-a8ec19d372cc

100 species doomed as farms ‘sterilise’ land
Jonathan Leake, Environment Editor


August 21 2016, 12:01am, The Sunday Times

View attachment 386516
Attenborough: report will warn of a ‘crisis’ facing wildlife

Britain’s wildlife is losing the battle against intensive agriculture, with 123 farmland species facing extinction and hundreds more at serious risk, a significant report is to warn.

The State of Nature 2016 report is being drawn up by more than 50 of the country’s leading conservation groups, who say the industrialisation of agriculture is sterilising Britain’s countryside.

In its foreword, the broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough is expected to warn of a “crisis” facing wildlife in Britain.

The report will blame the common agricultural policy — the EU’s subsidy system — and suggest the decision to leave the EU has created a one-off opportunity to reform Britain’s farm subsidy system.

“We have assessed the status of 4,000 British wildlife species, looking at the threats and pressures they face,” said Richard Gregory, who is leading the project.

“What emerges is that there are many threats to Britain’s wildlife but by far the biggest is the steady intensification of farming, which leaves no room for wildlife and is driving many species towards extinction.”

The report, to be published next month, will say farmland covers 75% of the UK’s land area, making it essential that wildlife can survive there.
View attachment 386504
View attachment 386506
However, detailed statistics on 600 “marker” species will show almost all are in decline. Farmland birds, such as skylarks, rooks and turtle doves, will be shown to have declined by 54% since 1970, leaving some close to extinction.

The wryneck, a woodpecker found in woodlands and around farms, may already be extinct. No breeding pairs have been seen since 2002. The golden oriole has not bred since 2009 and skylark numbers are down 60% since 1970.

Butterfly numbers have also plummeted, with the abundance of farmland species down 57% since 1990. The wall butterfly, once a common sight on farmland, has suffered an 87% decline in abundance since 1976 and is extinct across much of southern Britain.

“We assessed 1,118 farmland species, including birds, mammals and plants, finding that 123 are facing extinction in the UK, which is a terrible statistic,” said Gregory, head of species monitoring and research for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Gregory is leading the project for a consortium of science-based conservation groups, along with organisations such as the National Trust, Wildlife Trusts and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

“Individual farmers are not to blame for this destruction,” said Peter Nixon, director of land, landscape and nature at the National Trust. “The real problem is the industrialisation of agriculture driven by subsidies. Brexit means we have a chance to change this.

“We still need subsidies but directed to wider public benefits, including food production, but also protecting wildlife and the environment. Farmers should be paid for this.”

The complexity of the impacts of farming on wildlife is highlighted by research from the People’s Trust for Endangered Species, part of the consortium. It shows how cattle infected with bovine tuberculosis have passed the disease to deer as well as to badgers, meaning the disease could be more common in wildlife than thought. The findings may raise new doubts over government plans to control the disease by culling badgers.

The launch of the State of Nature report will include the first speech on wildlife issues by Andrea Leadsom, the new environment secretary.

The report will examine other British species, including those found in woodlands, the uplands and in freshwater and marine environments.

The National Farmers Union said providing a secure food supply was just as legitimate and important to the public good as maintaining the environment for wildlife. It said: “There is no hiding the uncertainty in farming with the Brexit decision but this creates a fantastic opportunity to reshape farming’s relationship with the economy and society . . . We want to be less reliant on support payments and get greater respect for our environmental role.”

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Protecting our environment and supporting our world-leading farmers, a cornerstone of our economy, will form an important part of our EU exit negotiations.”

@jonathan__leake

well the nfu take is interesting....translated?....'we don't mind support payments going as long as our big members can continue to pick off smaller farmers' @Guy Smith

 

[Guy Smith]

That might be translated in a way you understand but I'm afraid I haven't got a ruddy clue what you are on about.

 

[exmoor dave]

Cattle giving badgers etc TB?!! WTF!

Isn't it common knowledge that badgers are the TB multiplier, by the way they pee it out to be caught by everything else, wildlife and cattle alike.


Love the bit about meadows being destroyed since 1930,
Has this jurno imbecile bothered to find out how many meadows were ploughed out in the period 1940-45..... I.e. when the country was at real risk of starving!


What hedges are being pushed out by farmers?
The only people I know of pushing hedges out these days are developers!

 

[4course]

That might be translated in a way you understand but I'm afraid I haven't got a ruddy clue what you are on about.

come on Guy whilst i agree with your views on many aspects of the industry and have defended you on this forum if you cant see that the vast majority of the movers and shakers in the nfu do not reflect the grass root member I despair

 

[spin cycle]

That might be translated in a way you understand but I'm afraid I haven't got a ruddy clue what you are on about.

oh dear

 

[rob1]

That might be translated in a way you understand but I'm afraid I haven't got a ruddy clue what you are on about.

come on Guy the NFU et al need to fight this misinformation NOW people believe this crap and the longer it is allowed to continue the worse it will become, farming is being portrayed as the destroyers of the countryside and those who are meant to represent us are rolling over and allowing this bull to become accepted