Ladybirds, where are they all?

MrNoo

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Cirencester
I remember the last very very dry year we had in 76, we had swarms of Ladybirds, remember it being on the Beeb News, hardly seen any this year, thought there would have been a Ladybird explosion with this fine weather but seems not the case?
 

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
IIRC in '76 we had cart loads of ladybirds 'cos they were eating the even bigger number of aphids - perhaps the aphid population is controlled more efficiently nowadays:scratchhead:
 

Lincs Lass

Member
Location
north lincs
Unlike 76 when there was millions of ladybirds ,,not seen many butterflies to be honest ,,a few cabbage wites and the od peacock but certainly not the amounts we usually get
 

TheTallGuy

Member
Location
Cambridgeshire
Had a lot on my cherry trees earlier when the aphids were in full swing, but only seen a handful in the last couple of weeks. I've seen a lot of bumble bees recently (including one that followed me around all this morning), but not many honey bees and virtually no wasps thankfully. Butterflies and moths are up on last year, but still a long way off what I used to see as a kid in the late eighties/early nineties. The one beastie that is thriving out of control though is ants - they're everywhere & the woodpeckers are loving it as they are just picking off the juiciest ants rather than decimating the nests.
 

Ormond

Member
On the front mower tonight
IMG_20180724_2132322.jpg
 

andybk

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Mendips Somerset
a few cold wet summers havnt done insect life much good , crickets and grasshoppers have been silent last few years as well , lanes around here were alive with them when i was a kid .
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 42.0%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 66 35.1%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.0%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 7 3.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,291
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top