Danny Green/2020VISION
Warwickshire Farming Clusters
A network for nature
Farming clusters are an amazing opportunity for farmers and land managers to come together to share best practice on how to improve their farm for wildlife, whilst maintaining a productive business. This enables them to collectively deliver greater benefits for soil, water and wildlife at a landscape scale. Creating climate resilient farms and helping to bring our wildlife back.
Due to the success of our pilot farming cluster, the Arden Farm Wildlife Network, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust has collaborated with Warwickshire Rural Hub and Severn Rivers Trust to set up 2 new sustainable farming groups, the Leam and Upper Avon and the South Warwickshire. Together these 3 groups cover the entirety of Warwickshire, Coventry and Solihull and provide an opportunity for all farmers to be involved in a local cluster group.
The groups are farmer-led with members deciding what they want to learn more about. Our facilitators then work hard to make that happen, bringing in specialists to deliver training and organising visits to see practices in action. Some fantastic events have been organised including looking at new ELMS funding opportunities, use of cover crops, improving soil health, and habitat management for species including the Brown Hairstreak butterfly and the much-loved Barn Owl.
Bringing groups of local farmers together also provides opportunities to apply for joint funding grants for landscape scale projects and initiatives as well as creating potential for involvement in farmer led research and in-field trials which continue to push the boundaries of regenerative and nature-friendly agriculture.
The Arden Farm Wildlife Network has been established since 2017 and now has 46 members covering 10,400 hectares, working collaboratively at a landscape scale. Local independent farm environment advisor Zoe Bell has helped to facilitate over 70 events so far, including bird, butterfly and mammal surveying; practical hedge laying; and learning how to improve soil health. There have also been many successful landscape scale projects run through the group helping to:
- Restore over 30 hectares of wildflower meadows
- Create tree sparrow villages with 120 nest boxes
- Provide habitat for barn owls with 20 barn owl boxes erected
- Supply 23.5 tonnes of supplementary bird seed for feeding during the winter months
- Distribute over 20,000 trees for hedgerow and woodland planting and restoration.
The Leam and Upper Avon Sustainable Farming Group was established in 2021. Membership started at 21 farmers covering 3595 hectares and continues to grow. Events have looked at a variety of subjects including hedgerow management, estimating your farm carbon footprint and regenerative farming.
The South Warwickshire Sustainable Farming Group was also established in 2021 and has 25 members covering 6977 hectares and continues to grow. Members have attended events on cover crops, Sustainable Farming Incentives and Countryside Stewardship, and the benefits of woodland planting.
Join a Farming Cluster
If you would like to become a member of any of the farming cluster groups, please contact Jane Hampson at Warwickshire Rural Hub who supports with administration of the groups (info@ruralhub.org.uk). Upcoming events and the latest newsletter can be found on the Warwickshire Rural Hub website.
Agricultural Advice from Warwickshire Wildlife Trust
The groups are supported not only by their own facilitator but by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust’s agricultural land advisor, Sally Eadon, who is on hand to provide one to one advice to farmers on managing their farm for wildlife and implementing the practices they have learnt about at events.