End to set-aside could be bad for farmland birds

SET-ASIDE has provided farmland birds with winter food, summer breeding habitat and a foraging habitat, said Dr Ian Henderson, research manager for the BTO.

“The potential for set-aside has been recognised since it was brought in,” he said. He quoted a survey undertaken in 1996/7 that showed much higher populations of birds in set-aside than crops. These were largely linked to higher weed seed densities in the set-aside fields.

Benefits will be difficult to maintain on cropped arable farmland even with agri-environment schemes, he said.

Life after set-aside, with high wheat prices, less spring cropping and an under-performing Entry Level Scheme (with a low uptake of whole field options) was therefore likely to be bad news for farmland birds, added Dr Henderson.