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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/25/farmer-cut-out-middleman-restore-biodiversity-henry-astor-heritage-wheat-aoe>
"It is the earliest harvest Henry Astor can remember. But walking through the
scorched wheatfields of his Cotswolds farm, signs of life are everywhere –
swarms of insects, kaleidoscopic wildflower meadows, bushy hedgerows several
metres wide. A yellowhammer perches on a nearby tree.
There are 18 other red-listed birds on the farm, says Astor, who this year
ringed 23 barn owls, three kestrels, two little owls as well as goshawk chicks.
“Last winter we had clouds of goldfinch, chaffinch and greenfinch,” he says.
Britain has lost 73 million birds since 1970; but at Bruern Farms, a small but
welcome reversal is taking shape.
Between 30,000 and 40,000 trees have been planted over the past decade, many as
part of a flood-mitigation scheme, some in a 17-hectare (42-acre) agroforestry
section interspersing wheat with heritage fruits such as Cox’s pippin and
Blenheim orange apples. Wildflower meadows are rebuilding soil fertility.
As part of his obligations as a member of the North East Cotswold Farmer
Cluster, which Astor co-founded, a plot is left for bird feeding, to boost
populations. According to the cluster co-chair, Tim Field, this has resulted in
flocks of linnets, goldfinch and chaffinch across 40 farms involved in the
feeding project, while one farm has seen more than 400 teal feeding among
watercress in a wetland area.
Catastrophic biodiversity loss since the postwar “green revolution” has been
well documented. Wheat played its part, as heritage grains and mixed
populations gave way to vast monocultures of dwarf wheat. Several initiatives
are attempting to reverse course with nature-friendly farming, the farms in
Astor’s farmer cluster among them.
In all, Astor and neighbouring farmers have 800 hectares of floodplain meadow
under restoration, while 3,000 hectares have been set aside for flood
mitigation along the River Evenlode, including Bruern Farms’ land.
Despite this progress, Field is one of those unconvinced by the government’s
recently announced “30 by 30” nature restoration plans.
“Farmer groups aren’t getting the recognition they deserve, yet we are proof
that when farms are aggregated by purpose, we can be more powerful for
landscape restoration at scale than has ever been achieved by public or
[environmental NGO]-driven schemes.”"
Via Susan ****
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
