Pasture Champions: Andy Rumming 3/4

Rich flood plain hay meadow Rich flood plain hay meadow

What are the benefits to the farm?

Having really rich biodiversity makes the farm a really interesting and fulfilling place to be, live, work and explore. There is always something new to find, study and research, even when you were not looking for it. Also the biodiversity underpins our PFLA accreditation as so our beef sales.

Our beef customers want to know what wildlife we have, what we are doing to improve it and they want to come and see it.

They want beef from a farm that is not giving token gestures, but making biodiversity a key farming objective. We have recently set up a small off grid glamping enterprise, and getting back to nature with real wildlife encounters are what our customers want (and expect). Our farming system means we can deliver this. In 2020 retail income from direct sales overtook non retail income, with an associated increase in profitability – so for us the environmental approach pays as well as being fulfilling personally.

How do you monitor it?

  • Birds – I carry out a monthly bird survey and have 5 years of data. We also have an independent bird survey (Redlist Revival) in April and June walking fixed transects.
  • Trees – I have carried out a hedge by hedge tree survey to look at diversity and age
  • Plants – I am a Flood Plain Meadows Ambassador and work with the Flood Plain Meadows Partnership to carry out botany surveying in our hay meadow. At North Meadow SSSI where we make hay we work closely with Natural England and Cricklade Court Leat who do highly detailed botany assessments.
  • We run a moth trap as a family and compare records with other local moth enthusiastsIndividual species – we have yearly visit from the Barn Owl Conservation Trust to record our barn owl productivity, and have had PhD studies on our bats and dung beetles
  • Mammals – we work with the Cotswold Lakes Trust to monitor and control mink and assess water vole numbers

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