Environmental Crops

In recent years farming in the UK has been undergoing change in response to pressure from both political and public standpoints, with the demand for an agricultural industry which is less dependent on production-driven support.
 
The countryside of the future is going to provide the cornerstone of a wide range of activities. Clearly, these will not only include food production but also the supply of several renewable raw materials for the bio-energy sector of the market. Then in addition to these there will be more emphasis on recreational and leisure time facilities.

One of the key tasks in this attempt to re-connect the countryside (and therefore the farming industry) with 'consumers' is to increase and enhance the habitats of various bird species, insects, mammals and wild flowers.  This will be achieved by a combination of factors – including management practices which protect the soil, landscape, water and all other natural resources.  As well over 80% of the British countryside is farmland it goes without saying that minimising any negative impacts on the environment will become a fundamental goal for all farmers - be they livestock or arable orientated.
 
The various agri-environment schemes which have been introduced in recent years have certainly begun to pay dividends and hopefully the new initiative – “The Campaign for the Farmed Environment” – will also play a major role in the months and years ahead.  One of the targets set by the CFE organisers is to increase the current national level of voluntary environmental management by at least 30,000 hectares.

We have just issued a new 16 page booklet called “Enhancing the Countryside” and you will find that this highlights many of the options for CFE and Entry Level Stewardship.  The new booklet provides comprehensive data on each of the mixtures and individual species that we offer as well as background information on the trial work which we have undertaken in recent years.

You can download a copy of the new booklet by clicking on the PDF box at the top of this page.