Chalk Grassland: The Rainforest of Europe
‘Chalk grassland has the accolade of being the rainforest of Europe; if you threw a quadrat down you’d find a huge number of species.’
Annie Brown, Warren Valley Farm, South Downs.
You can find around 40 species in ten square feet of chalk downland. Without grazing livestock, that diversity would be lost because the grassland would scrub over.
With the South Downs National Park, we have created two films unpacking the diversity of chalk grassland and the vital role grazing livestock play in preserving and restoring it.
Watch the films here.
‘Livestock is absolutely essential for managing chalk grassland.’ Jan Knowlson, Biodiversity Officer, South Downs National Park.
Without grazing livestock, the sensitive chalk grassland species will eventually be taken over by scrub and vigorous grasses. The key is to manage the grazing to ensure that these sensitive species aren’t also eradicated by overgrazing but are given the chance to reproduce and spread. With mob grazing, livestock are moved from place to place, so that recently grazed areas are allowed to recover properly. It also allows farmers to move animals strategically to create a diversity of habitats and conditions, rather than grazing every area in the same way.
‘You want structural diversity too, so some long grass, some short grass, bits of bare ground, and scattered scrub is important as well. You want something for every species that’s going to be living in this area.’
Roly Puzey of Saddlescombe Farm is trying to provide just that, on his 450 acres of downland farm.
‘I’m trying to get a balance with moving the animals between what’s good for them, what’s good for the grassland, what works for me and my lifestyle.’
The key change was a shift away from set stocking four years ago – since then they have rotated animals more quickly through electric-fenced paddocks in a management system known as Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing (AMP), commonly referred to as rotational grazing. This has allowed Roly to provide significantly longer rest periods for pastures once they have been grazed, which allows for a much wider range of species including orchids to flower and set seed, before they’re grazed off again.
In the summer animals will generally be in an area for no more than four days, more typically two or three, to ensure they aren’t grazing the regrowth. In the winter they are moved onto fresh grazing more regularly, particularly if it’s wet, to reduce the risk of them poaching and creating too much bare soil. Puzey states that 10 years ago they were ‘tidier farmers’ saying, ‘it’s a bit of a mindset change.’
‘I get such a thrill out of the increases in wildlife we’re experiencing on the farm. […] Every farm is different every farmer is different it’s about doing the right thing for what you want to achieve in your context.’
Hugh Passmore’s family have farmed Applesham Farm since 1900. It is a mixed livestock and arable estate, with sheep and a suckler herd of cattle. There is an exceptional richness of species diversity in their chalk grassland, with over 140 species of plant counted at the most recent survey.
‘First and foremost we’re farmers, looking to produce food. But the way we farm also encourages the environment. I love seeing that as much as I love seeing a good crop of wheat. […] The traditional mixed farming practices also support a wider diversity of wildlife, including rare farmland birds such as grey partridge, corn bunting, and skylarks.’
Hugh’s arable fields lie below a bank of chalk grassland which he states ‘was only ploughed during the Napoleonic wars, with oxen.’ The arable rotation is two years of wheat, followed by three years of spring barley. Between each crop is a catch crop of forage rape or mustard for the sheep to graze, with the last barley crop undersown with grass; once this is harvested, the fields are left to a grass ley for 3 years and grazed by livestock. During the grass period of the rotation the rare chalk grassland species aren’t as visible due to the grazing. When the fields are in barley and wheat they aren’t grazed until after the crop is harvested in late august, allowing ample time for rare species including orchids to flower and set seed for several years in a row. Hugh states that the incredible diversity appeared through natural regeneration.
‘We didn’t plant any of these flowers we put in a basic grass mix, and you can see how all of those flowers have moved down off the bank and it’s just covered in orchids now. It just needed a bit of encouragement. […] I hope we can maintain and even enhance it as time goes on.’
Annie Brown is a 3rd generation farmer at Warren Valley Farm in the South Downs. Her farm runs a mix of cattle, sheep and goats, each playing a different role in the management of the grassland; the cattle eat the taller, ‘stemmy’ grasses, the sheep are a ‘lawnmower’ and the goats prefer to browse the scrub and weeds. The goats’ entire role in the farm is to manage scrub encroachment.
‘We have a programme of scrub clearance, with a flail and manually, but to follow any of that up we need livestock.’
Hugh Passmore uses his breeding ewes and suckler cows to manage his species-rich grassland, with the cattle being adept at grazing taller, tussock-forming species and the sheep picking around the shorter species. During the arable rotation, his livestock don’t get access to his species rich grassland until after the crop has been harvested in late august, meaning the plants get a chance to set seed and proliferate. During the temporary ley part of the rotation the area is grazed more fully, but the rich and established seed bank means that as soon as the fields are shut up for wheat or barley they wildflowers have the chance to thrive.
Roley Puzey at Saddlescombe Farm used to manage sheep and cattle but recently moved to cattle only. ‘Having had sheep in the past it’s very easy to see how their different grazing styles impact on the grassland.’ He finds that cattle are more likely to miss certain species such as orchids in their grazing, which sheep might have grazed. However he notes sheep’s selectivity might bring benefits in terms of managing certain weed species such as ragwort.
Roley believes the rich diversity in his fields is a ‘huge benefit to the animals’ stating, ‘variety has got to be a good thing, not just for their health, but ultimately for our health as well.’ He notes that when he moves the cattle into a new paddock they graze differently, with some choosing to browse the hedgerows and trees, while others go for the pasture plants. His perspective has shifted over the past decade, from viewing wildlife as something that happened only ‘at the edges of fields’ to now thinking about it in terms of what’s living under the soil and in the sward as well.
‘I’m noticing an increase in the diversity on the farm. More insect life, more bird life, more grass species, more wildflowers. The farm seems to be more alive, it feels like it’s kind of breathing more.’
Watch the films here.
