Our county and culture have always been intrinsically linked with farming. We consume the food produced from the land, we attend fetes and church services dedicated to farming, the start of the school year was even planned around the end of harvest. Nowadays, we have become more and more removed from farming, but we can still associate the time of year with the activities in the fields. As we mindlessly drive from A to B, the fields around us metamorphose. Brown-green-yellow-gold.
In Oxfordshire, agricultural land represents 74% of our landmass. Farmland plays a key role for many species with the faming community maintaining, restoring and creating vital habitats. Amongst the crops, Yellow Wagtails, Corn Buntings and Skylarks nest. Field margins and hedgerows are important habitats and corridors for invertebrates, mammals and birds. Ponds and brooks provide key water sources for wildlife. Grazing livestock support dung beetles and flies which in turn feed other species. Brown hares patiently sit unnoticed in the grass.
However, this romantic view of the countryside is not completely accurate. Changes in farming practices following post Second World War policy, combined with the introduction of synthetic products to boost performance and efficiencies has caused the decline in many farmland habitats. We have removed hedgerows, grass strips and ditches to create bigger, easier to manage fields. Grasslands have been converted to arable to feed a growing population. Ponds that were once used to water livestock have become redundant then disappeared. The associated wildlife has vanished.
These changes as well as unpredictable weather patterns caused by climate change has led to concern throughout the farming community. Since 2012, groups of farmers have been coming together to deliver nature conservation at a landscape scale. These groups, also known as clusters, often start by focussing on a specific iconic species or a particular aim such as water management, but they can grow into something much more. They create opportunities for joined up thinking; they act as a support system for farmers and land managers by meeting likeminded people who understand the challenges of farming and enabling knowledge from shared experiences to be exchanged; they can fund training opportunities and purchase shared equipment that farmers would otherwise not be able to afford. These clusters can empower farmers and landowners to work together and deliver landscape scale projects benefitting soil, water, wildlife, people and their businesses.
At Wild Oxfordshire, we are proud to be facilitating two Farmer Clusters; The Clumps Farmer Cluster, which is funded by the Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund, and the Ridgeway Farmer Cluster which has been supported by the North Wessex Downs Farming in Protected Landscapes fund. Wild Oxfordshire is supporting these Clusters to deliver workshops and events that meet the specific needs of the local farmers. These workshops have covered a huge range of topics from soil health and hedgerow management to understanding changes in government grants and farm diversification.
We believe that since we started working with these clusters at the end of 2023, we have formed the strong relationships and foundations of trust that are needed for successful partnership and we are excited to support them to start delivering on their group ambitions.
By working together, we can create a more natural, resilient, and biodiverse Oxfordshire with multiple benefits for a variety of outcomes including wildlife, food supply and local communities. Farmers and land managers are a key player in nature’s recovery; Wild Oxfordshire is here to support them on their journey.
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