Lapwing Plots,

These provide breeding and foraging sites for ground-nesting farmland birds such as lapwing, stone curlew and skylark.

We have two uncropped plots each being 1 ha in size and located in arable fields which have been regularly used by Lapwings. The plots will be kept in a fixed location for future years. Management includes cultivating the plot in the spring to produce a rough fallow. This fallow plots are retained without the use of pesticides or fertilizers.

Conservation Headlands,

Unharvested, fertilizer free conservation headlands provide a year-round food source for declining populations of farmland birds. The restricted pesticide program allows insects to flourish, providing food for the chicks in summer. Over winter, the unharvested crop will provide a food source for farmland birds by providing spilt grain and seeds from arable weeds. They can also encourage rare arable plants which have been dormant in the soil for lengths of time. The headland also has significant additional wildlife benefits.

Management includes cultivating and sowing a cereal crop as usual. The outer 24 m of the crop is managed by following a restricted herbicide and insecticide program and without the use of fertilizers. This headland is left unharvested until the following spring before resuming normal management.

Beetle banks are tussocky grass ridges, generally about 2 m wide, that run from one side of a field to the other, whilst still allowing the field to be farmed. They provide habitat for ground nesting birds, small mammals and insects (including those which feed on crop pests).

An earth ridge is created at least 2 m wide and about 0.4 m high by two-directional ploughing.
A working gaps at each end of 24 m is left to prevent the ingress of such predators as foxes. A mixture of perennial grasses, including some tussock forming varieties such as cocksfoot or timothy have been sown to provide the perfect nesting habit for birds such as grey partridges.

Arable reversion,

Arable reversion is designed to initiate the creation of grassland with high bio-diversity value. It is composed of native grasses and wildflowers on former arable land. This is achieved by sowing an approved wild-harvested seed mix which is being collected from Salisbury Plan with the addition of small quantities of seed from species which aren't represented in the wild-harvested mix. The latter have been sourced from local growers or hand collected from other downland sites in and around the Wessex/Hampshire Downs area. Soil type, management history and location in relation to existing high value grassland sites, is a significant factors in determining the suitability of the land targeted. The new enriched grassland land will be managed by grazing sheep at key times of the year.