We are working with the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) and Fera to find Miscanthus growers who are willing to take part in a Defra Biodiversity project.
Defra wants to see the impacts of different headland management options with Miscanthus.
Ideally, UKCEH and Fera are looking for a range of different headland management within one site or in sites that are geographically close together so they can make comparisons between them. They don’t all need to be in one place, and can have a number of these sites/site groups across the country.
Types of headland management of interest for the study:
- Headland seeded with biodiversity-friendly seed mixes – (e.g. rural payment option AB9/OP2, AB1, AB8 )
- Cultivated headlands (AB11)
- Low vs high trafficked headlands within a site/site group
- Mown/cut headland vs non-mown headland, frequency of mowing/cutting, and whether cuttings are left in situor removed.
- Any grassland sites using SW2 (buffer strips) on both intensive grassland and similar management on Miscanthus.
Reference to rural payment options are, for the most part, provided only for additional guidance. Headlands don’t need to comply exactly with these management options, or be registered in an agri-environment scheme, to be of interest. Differences in length of time under these management types is also of interest.
Personal information (names and addresses) shared with CEH will be held securely in compliance with GDPR and in accordance with UKCEH’s and Fera’s internal policies. Personal information will only be used for arranging sites visits and will not be shared outside of Fera or UKCEH without prior consent. Anonymised site information, including details of sites locations, headland management and results of the surveys, will be shared with the funders, Defra, and may be used in reports and academic publications. In the case of academic or public reports, precise site locations will not be shared and, instead, broad locations will be used (e.g. nearest town, region or 1 km square grid reference).
If you are interested, at this stage, details of the location of your farm and the type of management you have in place are needed only. Please contact Dr Rebecca Rowe, Land Use & Bioenergy Scientist at UKCEH, by emailing rebrow@ceh.ac.uk.
