25 years of RSPB Hope Farm sees bird populations soar

Much of the UK is farmed – about 70% – and most of East Anglia, where I was born and bred, is dominated by farmland. Farming in East Anglia varies with changes in climate and soil type, and that in turn lends itself to supporting a diverse range of farmland species too.   

As you go to the lighter land of the Brecklands, you can grow sugar beet and potatoes. This landscape also supports rare Stone Curlews and Turtle Doves, and specialist arable plants.  In North Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, we have the fenland soils that are the best in the country for growing onions, carrots and other fresh veg! These lands support Lapwings and other wading birds, while Corn Buntings and Skylarks thrive in the big open fields like we have in South Cambridgeshire. These fields are typical of the land at Hope Farm, where wheat is our main bread-maker, literally.  

UK-wide changes in farming practices means that many farmland birds are now struggling, as the way we manage the landscape has negatively impacted on the habitats they need and their ability to find food.

One major change is an increased use of pesticides – and the use of pesticides that didn’t even exist 50 years ago. Although introducing artificial inputs to our systems has vastly improved our ability to grow higher yielding crops that we couldn’t achieve before, there’s lots we can learn from the farmers of the past who had to contend with pest and disease issues before pesticides. These farmers adopted diverse strategies to overcome pest and disease issues, and ensure the health of the soil.  

Their techniques – such as wider rotations (planting a greater variety of crops and spreading them out over more years), leys (sowing grass or grass-clover mixes to improve the soil) and use of livestock – still work today and shouldn’t be totally replaced with the use of artificial inputs such as pesticides. These methods also provide additional benefits to soil health, diversification of farmed habitats and income, and can reduce reliance on pesticides.  

Nature-friendly farming isn’t about going back to the old days where our wheat yielded 30% of what it can now, requiring us to import more from other countries to feed the UK, potentially from land that is farmed in a less sustainable way. It’s about making use of modern practices where appropriate, and also using strategies that work with nature. It’s also about growing habitats in strategic places to enable wildlife to thrive – the birds, bugs and other wildlife that these areas support can positively impact farm productivity such as through pollination and as natural pest control.  

The balance is hard to get right, and requires an evidence-based approach, as well as practical and financial support to work. But it can be done.  

It’s now 25 years since we started our mission. Thanks to support from our members, we took over RSPB Hope Farm with an ambition to see if we could stop wildlife declining while running a productive farm. We also wanted to monitor the impact of different techniques such as growing habitats for wildlife on around 10% of the farm, changes in hedgerow management, and using government funded stewardship schemes to deliver for wildlife and the farm business. 

The results have been overwhelmingly positive for wildlife, with increases in breeding farmland birds, wintering farmland birds, and also other wildlife such as butterflies and bumblebees. For example, Linnets, Yellowhammers, Reed Buntings and Skylarks have at least doubled in number. Meanwhile, Lapwings, Grey Partridges, Corn Buntings, and Yellow Wagtails have all returned as breeding species. 

We now have some of the most comprehensive biodiversity monitoring of any farm in the country. This is a rich resource and gives us a great opportunity to look critically at the impact of our farm management on wildlife, crop production and profits. We will continue to look closely at the data, to see how we might further refine our management and improve outcomes for nature and the business.  

We will also use this data to continue to strengthen the evidence of the impact of nature-friendly farming on our environment and food production, and to support other farmers through advice, and asking the government to better support nature-friendly farming, so we can all manage the land more sustainably.  

Finally, we’re only able to do what we can do thanks to the support network around Hope Farm – and the ongoing support of many RSPB members. Thank you! 

Farming is fundamental to our lives – we all need food to exist – but it is also vital that we farm in harmony with nature. RSPB Hope Farm proves that this is possible. We hope that by telling others about nature-friendly farming and the successes we have had on Hope Farm, that others will recognise this too. It’s through this that we can raise an awareness of what farmers need to farm better for wildlife, their business, carbon emissions, and for the people eating our produce. 

I’ve been the Farm Manager at RSPB Hope Farm in the claylands of South Cambridgeshire since 2018. We farm this 181-hectare farm with our contractors, MT Lines & Partners, growing wheat, barley, beans and oilseed rape alongside conservation habitats, sheep grazing, and cover crops. I work with our contracting team to farm the land in a way that delivers good, profitable food, whilst helping nature and reducing our climate footprint. I also work with various science teams who investigate farming techniques to restore nature and protect our climate. Plus, we host visits throughout the year, talk at events, and share practical lessons learned alongside science-based evidence that we contribute to.