FROM FIELD TO FOOD IN A
2 June 2000
FROM FIELD TO FOOD IN A
WILDLIFE-FRIENDLY WAY
A new exhibit that shows
how barley goes from seed
in the ground to beer,
whisky, breakfast cereal or
stock feed will emphasis
how commercial farming is
compatible with wildlife too.
Brian Lovelidge reports
THE South of England Agricultural Society regards its show as an ideal opportunity to counter some of the damaging misinformation consumers get about the industry from the popular media. That will be achieved at this years event with a display showing visitors very graphically that wildlife and crop production – spring barley in this case – can successfully coexist and how the crop is utilised and processed.
"Were in an urban-oriented area and so getting farmings message across to the public is something we should be doing as well as putting on a show for farmers," declares Carole Hayward, the societys education officer.
"Its important that we redress, through education, the widely-held public view that farmers are solely responsible for the decline in the countrysides fauna and flora and the disappearance of many of their habitats," she adds.
Demonstration
The means of doing this, chosen by the societys farming and wildlife committee, is a demonstration depicting a year in the life of a field, cropped with spring barley, and its associated grass verge and hedge. It also shows how the barley is utilised in beer, whisky and breakfast cereal production and as part of rations for beef cattle and pigs.
The demonstration, covering an area some 13m x 13m (43ft x 43ft), is sponsored by brewers Harvey and Son, Jordans the breakfast food manufacturers, Maxxium UK (which markets Macallan whisky), farm accountants, Knill James, and agrochemical distributors, J D Rutherford. The displays livestock – Sussex cattle and a sow and litter – are provided by Hailsham farmer John Hickman, and Brinsbury College respectively. Penning for the livestock is supplied by McVeigh Parker and stand timber by timber merchants David Cover and Son.
Depiction of the wildlife and cropping year is being handled by Plumpton College crop husbandry lecturer David Stokes. He is using 11 1.8m x 1.2m (6ft x 4ft) soil-filled bins or tubs, each showing a stage in the cropping cycle from stubble through to harvesting and then stubble again, and a grass/wild flower verge and a hedge.
Behind the bins is a 10m (33ft) long backdrop painting reflecting the changing seasons in the countryside, produced by designers Surgey Communications together with boards carrying explanations of each part of the display and its value to wildlife. The stubble bin board, for example, says that the stubble provides cover for hares and birds while the weeds support insects and their larvae, providing food for the birds.
First of the chronologically-arranged bins contains stubble collected last autumn, stored through the winter and then transplanted into the bin together with a selection of arable weeds. The bin also contains a stuffed hare and birds from the Booth Museum in Brighton.
Bin number two represents a ploughed field, and tubs three, four and five contain the spring barley at various stages of development from emergence to ear fill, obtained by staged sowing. The barley at the more advanced stages was sown early in a greenhouse and transplanted into the bins later.
Remember our message
Bin seven contains a grass/wild flower verge; bin eight is planted with a hedge and tufted grass and nine with the ripening crop (again greenhouse-raised) on a conservation headland. The 10th and llth bins carry a bale and a bag of barley on stubble to represent the harvest.
"The grass verge provides an open area for owls to hunt for voles and mice and for birds and their young to sun themselves," explains Dr Stokes. "The hedge and tufted grass forms a corridor where birds are encouraged to nest and provide a haven for beneficial insects."
Mrs Hayward points out that the demonstration fulfils part of the societys education role, "and if we can do it by giving people a good and interesting experience they are more likely to remember our message".
Some of the societys funds go towards sponsoring student studies, and this year for the first time a research project on malting barley at Plumpton College.
Farmers will man the site to answer visitors questions about the display.
BARLEY TO BEER
• Display will educate public about co-existence of farming and wildlife.
• Public will see how barley is utilised and processed.
• Living part of display produced by Plumpton College.
• Display sponsored by locally based companies.
Above:
Dr David Stokes stands beside some of the bins to be used in the shows spring barley/wildlife display.
Left: These bins depict the grass/wildflower (the wild flowers have yet to be planted) and crop emergence phases of the display.
As well as its week-by-week coverage of news, business, livestock, arable, machinery and family aspects of
agriculture, farmers weekly now has a regular Country Properties section. Covering anything from a castle to a country cottage, its an ideal place to buy or sell houses, farmhouses, smallholdings and stables with a small amount of land attached. Look out for the Country Properties Section in the issues of June 23, July 28, Aug 25 and Sept 29.