THE ALLERTON PROJECT - INNOVATIVE FARMING - 25TH ANNIVERSARY | 2008
HRH the Princess Royal visits and
Allerton staff surpass 200 published papers
2010
Water Friendly Farming starts studying water quality across three
catchments 2011
Songbirds de- cline to only 30% higher than the baseline. Game management recommences
2012
Award-winning eco-build visitor centre opens and a 20 year report Fields for the Future is launched
2013
Direct drilling is used to improve soil health and farmers are paid to feed their birds in the hungry gap
2014
The Project wins contracts working with companies such as Kellogg’s and Sainsbury’s
“ Farmers
sometimes ask me, rather colloquially: “Do you want me to produce food or birds?” The Allerton Project has shown us that there neither need be or should be a choice. For that alone it has earned its place in history.
Sir James Paice, former Minis- ter of State for Agriculture and Food & Allerton Project Chairman, 2015-ongoing
”
management, including predator control, habitat management and supplementary feeding at the farm the following year. In 2001, we stopped controlling predators to monitor the effects on game and non-game species, and in 2006 winter feeding was also stopped. Habitat management was kept as consistent as possible throughout this period. Pheasants increased four-fold in response to the full game management system, but then declined from 2001 such that no further shoots could be held. Songbird numbers doubled in the first phase of the project to 2001. They then declined so that by 2011 they were only 30% higher than the baseline, suggesting that in the early phase of the project habitat management was responsible for this proportion of the increase. This demonstrated that where there is sufficient existing habitat, game management can contribute to increasing songbird abundance without diverting land from food production.
From plough to no-till
When the project launched, the cultivation system used a plough, disc and power harrow, but since 2013 we have moved towards direct drilling, with tracks replacing tyres on the combine and a trash rake used to assist weed germination. With attention to detail on tractor tyre pressures and a low disturbance subsoiler to keep water moving towards our drains we should continue to improve the health of our soils.
Water Friendly Farming
Water Friendly Farming is a landscape-scale research and demonstration project to improve water quality. Since 2010, we have collected baseline data on water quality and ecology across three catchments to see what happens to the quality of water ‘exported’ from the base of each catchment to the rest of the river basin where it influences Water Framework Directive targets and flood risk.
Our role in the community
In 2012 we opened our award-winning eco-build visitor centre, and last year hosted almost 4,000 visitors –
2015
The Allerton team are recognised for their contribution to the redesign of pesticide containers
2016 Songbird
numbers are up 93% following the return of a gamekeeper
2017
Andrea Leadsom, Defra Secretary of State visits and the Project celebrates 25 years
including local residents, schools, colleges, other farmers, commercial partners, journalists and politicians. We also have a small community orchard and the shoot provides a focus for the local community, through the employment of beaters and pickers up, provision of meals and accommodation, and sale of shot game.
Sharing our understanding
We work closely with companies who feel they can use Allerton as a best practice example of how to move forwards in farming. These include Kellogg’s, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Nestlé, BASF and Syngenta, among others. A number of training courses are also held, including the BASIS Certificate in Conservation Management for agronomists, farmers and landowners.
The future
Visit our farm today and you’ll see a wider range of crops being grown than ever before and a record area of spring crops. The fields destined for spring drilling are direct-sown with winter cover crops, thereby retaining the stubbles, which help protect the soil from erosion, take up nitrate that might otherwise be leached and add organic matter to the soil when they are destroyed. The farm is divided up with beetle banks and wildlife strips, while the riparian zones and ditches are all buffered with grass strips. In all about 11% of the land is now actively managed for the benefit of game and wildlife. With the uncertainty of how the UK’s agricultural policy will look post-Brexit, the research we undertake could become even more important. If we are to keep farmers on the land, stewarding our wildlife and countryside, then we will need to find ways to reward environmental goods and services that only land managers can provide. We believe the work done at Allerton – past, present and future – can go a long way in supporting that.
Join us for our 25th Anniversary open day on Wednesday 28 June at the Allerton Project, Loddington. Book at
www.gwct.org.uk/allerton25.
(L-R) We host almost 4,000 visitors a year including school children, farmers and politicians; our research means that farmers are now paid to feed the birds, such as yellowhammers, during the hungry gap; 11% of the farm is now actively managed for the benefit of game and wildlife.
www.gwct.org.uk/allerton GAMEWISE • SUMMER 2017 | 17
Yellowhammers. © Laurie Campbell
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