West Riding hill farm hosts RSPB visit

Photo: David Airey; Russell Toothill (NFU West Riding County Vice Chairman); Pat Thompson and Chris Tomson.

The unique contribution that upland farmers make to managing a range of important wildlife habitats came under the spotlight when the RSPB's Uplands Conservation Officer visited the West Riding farm of Swaledale specialist, David Airey.

The visit was organised to help give the RSPB an insight into the work carried out by Yorkshire hill farmers to maintain and enhance the traditional moorland landscape that's home to a wide range of key bird species from lapwing to curlew, red grouse to birds of prey such as merlin.

The Uplands Conservation Officer, Pat Thompson was accompanied by local RSPB officer Chris Tomson and they spent more than four hours looking at the different management techniques used on the 2,200 acre farm that's 1400 feet above sea level.

David Airey uses his flock of 700 Swaledale sheep to manage around 2,000 acres of heather moorland at Keighley and thanks to his longstanding involvement with the Environmental Stewardship Scheme the area provides a breeding habitat for dozens of bird species including the rare Ring Ouzel.

According to David, managing the superb heather landscape is tricky because it's all about achieving the right balance. "No two bits of the moor are the same so the 'one size fits all' approach is never going to work effectively," he said.

"In-depth knowledge of the land is vital and as my RSPB visitors were the first to accept, that's where hill farmers can offer a wealth of experience and expertise to get the land management just right.

"And it's not just a matter of using the sheep to achieve the right level of grazing, it's also about knowing how to use techniques such as heather burning for best effect and controlling rushes to deliver the perfect wildlife-friendly habitat."

Pat Thompson is charged with developing an RSPB Vision for the Uplands across the whole of the UK. He says the role of the upland farming community must not be underestimated.

"The RSPB is obviously interested in encouraging the development and maintenance of important bird habitats and the farming community delivers much of what is important," he said.

"My job is to understand the role they have, their aspirations and the difficulties they face as we look to develop workable solutions for the future."

As part of the visit, the impact of recent farming reforms was discussed. According to the RSPB, there is serious concern about the number of upland farmers leaving the farming industry.

"As I travel round the country, farm visits not only give me an opportunity to exchange ideas but also provide an important reality check," added Pat. "There's no doubt it is tough making a living from an upland farm and in my view farmers deliver a huge amount for the support they get.

"We need to keep farmers working on the uplands looking after our special places and there is real concern that if too many farmers quit, we will lose vital skills, knowledge and skills that will be hard to replace.

"Without constant maintenance these habitats can quickly deteriorate and they are then difficult to restore."