OUR WORK IN SCOTLAND | Counting on sheep in Scotland


ill sheep farming is not popular with some contemporary commentators on the environment. They say it denudes natural habitat, triggers soil and water problems downstream and demands subsidy payments to keep the sheep and the farmer in place.


H


And yet for many it is, alongside keepering, stalking, fishing, forestry and tourism, an economic and social driver for many rural hill edge and hill areas in the UK. It produces world-class lamb and the wool for our tweed. When integrated into these activities it is an effective and useful way of managing semi-natural habitats like moorland and thus supporting wildlife like wading birds and black grouse. And of course, sheep farming is a pre-requisite for a ’sheep mop’, that unique way of controlling ticks on moorland that carry disease to animals and people alike. Better understanding these differences of opinion is one reason why in November 2014 the Trust took on the management of a Scottish hill farm, the Game and Wildlife Scottish Demonstration Farm (GWSDF) Auchnerran. The same objectives apply at the Allerton and Auchnerran projects: a profitable farm using game shooting and farmland conservation practices to deliver habitats, wildlife, clean water and healthy soils. We are tenant-farmers at Auchnerran, working with barley, rotational grass and forage turnips, permanent grass and rough grazings. The ‘engine room’ for Auchnerran is black-faced sheep, and our aim is a 1,500 ewe flock on 5,000 hectares of farm and moor. If a sheep flock is to be a net benefit to our hills it needs to be productive on low


The relationship between sheep farm and heather moor is a key facet of the project at Auchnerran.


inputs and manageable so that its relationship with habitat and land can be constantly adapted. To this end we have focused on sheep health (nutrition, disease) age- structure and behavioural problems in the hefted sheep flock. Improving sheep nutrition over winter was critical because there has been historically very low productivity. But for each farming activity there is an environmental benefit. Two examples are: we grow grass for silage and grazing, and forage turnips. So far we have spread 610 tons of lime on the farm, primarily to improve the soil conditions, but which new research suggests could benefit the wading birds’ ability to feed. Nevertheless, we hope it improves our farming as well; this year’s 147% scanning rate is impressive, almost too much so if we are to manage our grass (and thus winter stock of silage) effectively.


Deterring pests with lasers A


s reported in the last Gamewise, we are undertaking the LIFE Laser Fence Project at Auchnerran. It runs until March 2020 and is led by Liverpool John Moores University in conjunction with partners in Spain and the Netherlands. The project deploys technology that is already in use in Europe, where lasers are successfully used to deter birds at sensitive sites, such as at airports. The project aims to understand whether lasers can be used to deter and disperse pest and predatory mammalian species such as rabbits, rats,


www.gwct.org.uk/scotland


weasels, stoats and foxes. If successful, lasers may provide an alternative to the use of chemicals on the farm to prevent damage by rodents to land and crops.


We have started by identifying where we can most effectively use this technology. Camera traps have been set up to ascertain the routes and pathways used by certain species, with track tunnels placed nearby. Across both methods we have so far recorded pine marten, fox, badger, otter, rabbits and deer. In addition, and before we set up our fixed laser units, we have been


using portable, hand-held devices, which are the size of a large torch, to begin testing around field and woodland edges. Auchnerran makes an eminently suitable location for this work because a range of pest and predator species have different impacts on the farm and its biodiversity. Rabbits for example are attracted to the grass that we are systematically improving to increase the quality of our sheep flock. The plentiful wader populations, including lapwing, curlew and woodcock, are also susceptible to loss of their clutches of eggs to predation.


GAMEWISE • SUMMER 2017 | 29


Secondly, in the spring, the hoggs (last year’s lambs that grow on for a summer before going to the ram this autumn) are turned out to graze the 5,000 hectare heather hill of Dinnet grouse moor, saving us feed costs. They’ll be going out treated against an early tick rise and will graze an area well known for its curlew and black grouse, keeping the grass and heather from becoming too rank at this critical lekking and breeding period. The relationship between sheep farm and heather moor is a key facet of this project. Both benefit from each other and demonstrating the nature of those benefits is critical to the long-term success of the project. As we face the challenges of Brexit and agricultural subsidy reform, the Trust is well placed to contribute to the debate about how we maintain our landscapes, game and wildlife on the hill edge.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60