Autumn Grazing For Waders
Catherine Kelly, DARD/RSPB Agri-environment Officer
With the breeding season for waders now well and truly over, it is time to start grazing down fields that they have been nesting in. This will remove this year’s growth and ensure that fields are in good condition for the breeding season next spring.
Autumn grazing will help prevent undergrazing if livestock need to be taken off over winter.
All of our breeding waders, a group of birds that includes lapwing, curlew and snipe, have declined by over two-thirds in the last twenty years. In 1999, numbers of snipe were estimated at around 4,000 pairs, curlew at 2,000 pairs, and lapwing at only 1,700 pairs.
Breeding waders are all ground-nesting birds, which means they build a simple nest on the ground. They benefit from light or no grazing during the breeding season, which ensures that nests are not trampled.
Outside the breeding season, from mid July to mid March, it is important that fields are grazed down. If fields are not grazed down over winter, and this is followed by light or no grazing in the breeding season, then fields will become too rank for breeding waders.
If you have a choice of grazing animal to graze your wader fields, then cattle are best. Due to the way they graze, cattle create a mix of longer tussocks and short grazed areas that waders prefer. Cattle also tend to graze damper areas of the field, which sheep will avoid. If no cattle are available, then graze with sheep as this is still better than no grazing.
Participants in the Countryside Management Scheme (CMS) or Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESA) Scheme should check their agreement, and follow the stocking rates given. For those options in the schemes that benefit waders, there is plenty of scope for grazing in the autumn and winter months.
Grazing rates are only restricted in the spring and summer months when waders are breeding. So take advantage and get grazing now for waders.
For further information on grazing for breeding waders, contact Countryside Management Branch (CMB) staff at your local DARD office.