A Week on the Estate: Harvest Home, Boosting Pollinators & Organic Progress

At South Ormsby Estate, we understand that arable land and pasture can’t support us indefinitely without a healthy soil biome and a resilient ecosystem which must include pollinators. We’ve taken this opportunity to look back at how we’ve put our vision into effect:

• We’re proud to be accredited by the Pasture for Life Association and we apply the principles of regenerative agriculture. Our young Lincoln Red cattle live and graze outdoors all-year round and we’ve employed a rotational paddock system akin to natural mob-grazing. Since we adopted this pattern, the thick sward has done wonders for our biodiversity, attracting bugs, butterflies, moths, small mammals, birds and bats in abundance.

• At the heart of the regenerative vision is the knowledge that soil is a complex living system. Our standing hay grows deeper roots in its fallow year, improving water retention and preventing water run-off. In hot, dry seasons, this also helps prevent soil loss by wind erosion. The roots build up sugars in the soil, nourishing the bacteria and fungi that will fuel future plant growth without synthetic chemicals.

• Ours is a low-carbon model. We eschew the use of insecticides and petrochemical fertilisers. Feeding our young cattle on standing hay also means we can avoid cutting and turning hay and wrapping it in plastic.

• According to Estate records, we had 170 fields in 1888 and 96 by 2018. Modern agriculture took its toll on hedgerows and we’re working hard to reverse this trend. We’ve planted more than 6km of new hedgerow since 2019. Established and new hedgerows will serve as wildlife corridors, both hosting and spreading biodiversity.

• We set aside arable field margins for the specific benefit of pollinators and wild birds. The margins are sown with a robust and diverse mix including red fescue, common bentgrass, corn poppy, cornflower, yarrow and birdsfoot trefoil. As well as providing an organic feast for pollinators, plots brimming with unharvested, seed-bearing plants are an all-year-round food source for traditional farmland birds that have been severely affected by intensive agriculture. In May, Richard Doan of Lincolnshire Birding briefly surveyed our land and found: ‘31 yellowhammer, 13 whitethroat, 7 red kite, 7 blackcap, 44 skylark, 1 cuckoo, 10 buzzard, 13 pairs of linnet, 2 willow warbler, 4 reed bunting, 5 pairs of lapwing and a sitting oystercatcher!’

• During an acoustic survey on the Estate this month, we discovered a small but viable population of grey long-eared bats (Plecotus austriacus), a rare and stealthy species thought to be nearly extinct in the UK. The loss of 90% of British meadows and the equally widespread use of insecticides in the post-war era deprived this amazing mammal of both hunting grounds and prey. Our biodiverse farming practices, with plenty of tall grass and meadow flowers brimming with bugs all bordered by stands of trees and living hedgerows, have proved very much to this rare bat’s liking and is a ringing endorsement of our vision.

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* Infra-red bat images taken in Devon by C Neil Aldridge / Back from the Brink Project and obtained via Flickr Creative Commons.