Can environmentally-friendly farming also

be productive?

James Bullock

NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology

jmbul@ceh.ac.uk

Agri-environment schemes

• Implemented in the EU through the CAP (but also

elsewhere in the World)

• Targeted primarily at wildlife, but also other

environmental benefits – reducing pollution, storing

carbon, increasing soil health, etc

• Budget in the EU ca €2.5bn per year

• Payments compensate farmers for “profit foregone”

Agri-environment schemes do work

Arable plant survey (20-km)

Bumblebee survey (10-km)

Bird - assemblage studies#

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0 100 20050

Kilometers

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0.0

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35

Control General Evidence

Control General Evidence Controlvs.

General

Evidencevs.

General

Evidencevs.

Control

a) Plants

b) Bumblebees c) Birds

Common species

Rare species

-1.0

0.0

1.0

2.0

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5.0

No

. co

mm

on

sp

eci

es N

o. rare

spe

cies

No

. co

mm

on

sp

eci

es N

o. rare

spe

cies

He

dge

s’ d

• Although they need to be well designed

But are AES simply a cost to productive farming?

• Encouraging wild bees as crop pollinators?

y = -1.8621x + 558.56R² = 0.202

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

0 50 100 150 200 250

Po

llin

ato

r d

en

sity

(in

di.

ha

-1)

Distance from field boundary (m)

Wild_bees

Worldwide – wild pollinators enhance crop fruit set

• Wild insects more important for crops than honeybees

Ch

ange

in f

ruit

set

co

mp

ared

to

no

inse

ct p

olli

nat

ors

But are AES simply a cost to productive farming?

• Encouraging natural pest control?

Nu

mb

er

of

adu

lt a

ph

ids

Might AES enhance crop yields?

• Studies of blueberries in the US & of mangoes in S.

Africa show wildflower patches increase pollination and

fruit yield

The Hillesden Project

• Quantify effects of agri-environmental measures on

biodiversity, beneficial species & crop yield

• 1000ha commercial arable farm

• Three treatments applied to 50-60ha patches:

- Cross Compliance (0% land removed)

- Typical Entry Level AES (1% land removed for

two wildlife habitats)

- Entry Level Extra AES (6% land removed for six

habitats)

• Habitat location in awkward/low yielding margins

/corners

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Design

Hillesden: monitoring

• 10 years of monitoring

• Crop yield & inputs

• Beneficial species associated with

crop production (pollinators, pest

control)

• Declining farmland species (e.g.

birds, butterflies)

0.90

0.95

1.00

1.05

1.10

1.15

Cross Compliance

ELS ELS Extra

Yie

ld a

s R

atio

of R

egi

on

al a

vera

ge

Cropped area

0.90

0.95

1.00

1.05

Cross Compliance

ELS ELS Extra

Yie

ld a

s R

atio

of R

egi

on

al a

vera

ge

Whole field

a) Cropped area

b) Whole field

Effects on yield (6yrs): all crops (wheat, OSR, beans)

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00

1.10

Cross Compliance

ELS ELS Extra

Yie

ld d

efi

cit

as r

atio

of n

atio

nal

av

era

ge

Beans - cropped areaEffects on yield: Beans a) Cropped area

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

0.80

0.90

1.00

Cross Compliance

ELS ELS Extra

Yie

ld d

efi

cit

as r

atio

of n

atio

nal

av

era

ge

Beans - whole field

b) Whole field

a) Cropped area

b) Whole field

Effects on yield: Wheat

0.8

0.9

1

1.1

1.2

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Yie

ld d

efi

cit

as r

atio

of

Re

gio

nal

/Nat

ion

al a

vera

ge

Whole fieldCross Compliance

ELS

ELS Extra

Yield trend with time

0.8

0.9

1

1.1

1.2

1.3

1.4

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Yie

ld a

s R

atio

of R

egi

on

al/N

atio

nal

av

era

ge

Cropped areaCross Compliance

ELS

ELS Extra

a) Cropped area

b) Whole field

Using AES more broadly for sustainable farming?

BLOCK2

11a

10

9

7

6

5

4

3a

3

2

1

11b

11c

13

14

A41 Grass

Corral

CranwellSpeeds

GreatSpeeds

CowHouse

Browns

0 130 26065 Meters

Waddesdon Estate Expermintal LayoutENHANCEMENTS

Treatments

Control

Enhanced

Enhanced Options

OptDesc

Ditch

EF2/HF2 Bird

EF22

EF4/HF4

EJ9

EK2/3

Early Annuals

Fences

HF1/HK8

HF10 Sandwich

HF10 Shop Window

HF10 Wildflower

Hedge

Leave Existing

Other

PC

Racehorse Paddock

BLOCK 2Disc

FeedSlot Wildflower

strips for crop

pollinators &

pest control

Legumes into

grassland/

arable

reversion for

carbon capture

and decreased

flooding/erosion

Cover crop,

buffer strips &

sediment ponds

for water quality

Wildflowers,

rare plants,

birds for

cultural value

• Sustainable Intensification Research Platform

• A multi-partner research project funded by Defra to investigate approaches to more sustainable farming.

• 3 projects:

• SIP 1 Integrated Farm Management for improved economic, environmental and social performance

• SIP 2 Opportunities and risks for farming and the environment at a landscape scale

• SIP 3 A scoping study on the influence of external drivers and actors on the sustainability and productivity of English and Welsh farming

• Platform aims to develop more integrated and collaborative ways of funding, conducting and applying agricultural research around sustainable intensification.

Farmers have a very important role

• Farmers with longer and more intense experience in

AES produce better quality margins

• And so they have more birds, bees & butterflies

Improving agri-environment

schemes

The FarmCat project