Rush hour

Wherever you look these days rush cover appears to be on the increase. In the past, rush was cut and widely used for stock bedding, but this use declined with the building of slatted housing. In wildlife terms, rush is a valuable commodity, providing nesting sites for birds such as curlew and snipe and cover for the Irish hare.

For both wildlife and farming the value of a field decreases when rush cover is more than one third. For those farmers in the Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) Scheme or Countryside Management Scheme (CMS) rush control is of particular concern as it is part of their agreements and must be carried out on fields that have over one-third rush.

Recently DARD's Countryside Management Branch held a rush control demonstration at the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise's Hill Farm at Glenwherry. Farmers in the CMS and ESA Schemes in Co Antrim were invited to attend. The aim of the day was to go through the control methods permitted under these schemes and provide practical advice on the different methods of rush control. A short indoor session was followed by field demonstrations. These field visits provided an open forum for questions and a chance for farmers to feedback what methods have worked for them. Both morning and afternoon sessions were well attended.

Under agri-environment schemes, rush cutting is the only method of rush control on species-rich wet grassland and land with breeding waders and can only be carried out from 15 July to 15 March. On improved and unimproved grassland, both rush cutting and weed wiping are permitted methods of rush control.

If you have any queries about rush control under your ESA Scheme/CMS agreement please contact Countryside Management Branch staff at your local DARD office.