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In recent years, grass margins have become a hallmark of the British landscape, much like the historic hedgerows. However, this season, they appear to have played a role in the growing ergot issue that many farmers are grappling with.
The discovery of ergot in the combine tank has marked the end of a challenging year for many farmers.
This pathogen is linked to the cold and damp flowering season we’ve experienced but is also closely related to the early-blooming grasses often found in our grass margins.
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The repercussions of grain rejection or the need to utilize a color sorter to cleanse the grain fall squarely on the shoulders of the farmer, and these costs are likely to surpass the payments offered for maintaining the grass habitats that may have contributed to this issue.
About the Author
Chris Bennett
Chris Bennett holds a degree in physics and a graduate diploma in agriculture. He previously farmed in Wakanui on New Zealand’s Canterbury Plains before returning in 2022 to his family’s arable and beef farm near Louth in Lincolnshire.
It’s likely that few farmers anticipated this added risk when they integrated grass margins into their environmental initiatives.
This isn’t the only instance where environmental measures can adversely affect farming productivity beyond their designated areas.
The legume fallow option, while popular, generates a favorable gross margin during the cropping year. Still, the costs linked to the blackgrass infestations that typically follow can outweigh those short-term financial benefits.
Additionally, even our beloved hedges incur costs beyond mere maintenance.
Extra field divisions can reduce efficiency and lead to a higher proportion of lower-yielding headlands.
During my farming experiences in New Zealand, where efficiency is paramount, farmers were even removing hedges to boost production.
Although the payments we receive for these environmental options are primarily based on incurred costs and lost income from land taken out of production, they do not account for the subsequent production risks faced by the remainder of the farm.
This serves as an additional argument for why these payments should be increased to reflect these broader impacts.
I am not seeking to dissuade farmers from participating in environmental schemes, but rather to underscore the potential unintended effects and extra costs that might be overlooked when enrolling in such programs.
SOURCE
Maria Sanchez completed her Bachelor’s degree in Plant Sciences from the University of California, Davis, in the USA. Her studies focused on plant genetics and biotechnology, with an emphasis on developing disease-resistant crop varieties. Maria has contributed to several research projects aimed at improving crop resilience to climate change and is now pursuing her Master’s degree in Plant Breeding.
