GWCT Wales was successful in tendering for a new three-year project in North Wales. The project, called the Welsh Farmland Bird Initiative, aims to boost farmland bird numbers on two pastoral farms in North Wales.
The European Innovation Partnership (EIP) Wales project, funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development and the Welsh Government, will implement wild bird seed cover crop mixes and supplementary feeding on both farms, with the aim of increasing farmland bird numbers.
A traditional Welsh hill farm and a lowland organic dairy farm make up the two demonstration sites, with both supplying their fair share of crop establishment challenges such as altitude, soil fertility and organic weed control to name a few. However, these sites were chosen with these challenges in mind, with the project designed to show that the farmland bird conservation measures can be successfully replicated on most pastoral farms in Wales.
With the future sustainable farming scheme currently in development for Wales, we are aiming to showcase the flexibility needed for such varied farms, and the realistic cost involved, including the use of contractors which are needed on these pastoral farms.