f=Farmers not to blame for bird decline - NFU
Blaming farmers’ land management practices for declining numbers of certain farmland bird species is too simplistic an approach which ignores the real issues, the NFU in the East Midlands said today.
Responding to the new Defra Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies’ call for renewed action on farmland birds, NFU’s senior policy adviser, Simon Fisher said: "Here in the East Midlands, farmers are pledging their support for the environment and habitat management by placing almost 850,000 hectares of farmland in voluntary agri-environment schemes*, protecting and enhancing biodiversity of the region.
"To put the blame for falling farmland bird numbers solely at the door of farming practices is to ignore the two successive wet summers in 2007 and 2008, which will have had a devastating effect on fledgling survival, plus the growing threat to smaller bird species by predators such as magpies, carrion crows and sparrowhawks. To blame the declines on the removal of set aside** is unbelievable.
"Defra announced that it would be considering further changes to the agri-environment schemes, just for farmers in England, because the set aside requirement was removed last year. But the decline in bird numbers, if correct, has taken place whilst set aside was still a requirement."
The NFU’s regional Combinable Crops Board which met last week is asking all members to lobby their MPs over the next three months on this issue. The call comes as Defra Secretary of State Hillary Benn presses ahead with plans to introduce measures to reduce the effect of the loss of set-aside on farmland bird numbers. The Defra proposals would take the form of additional cross-compliance requirements for the 2009/10 cropping year. These would be required across a percentage of arable land, perhaps as high as 5%. It would only apply to England, not Scotland or Wales or any other EU member state.
The Crops Board plans is to ask all NFU local branches to invite their local MP onto a farm to see what environmental work we already do so more direct pressure can be brought to bear on the Minister.
Simon Fisher added: "A clear message has to be sent to Defra Ministers that if they want to persist with these ideas then they could damage the success and popularity of the existing agri-environment schemes as farmers decide whether the additional measures mean the difference between a profitable, sustainable arable enterprise and extra costs that make their harvest unprofitable."
