With a bit of welcome rain, the meadow plants will all soon start shooting up and bursting into flower, meaning now is the time to start thinking about surveying. Irrespective of whether you already have a well-established meadow, have recently carried out restoration works or hope to carry out restoration works in the near future, it is good practice… Read more →
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Herefordshire Meadows April Newsletter
With April now upon us you should have all spotted those little yellow rattle seedlings coming up. Surveying season will be upon us before we know it and we are working up a series of summer identification training events. Dates, locations, and timings will follow shortly but read on to find out how to get involved even if you don’t… Read more →
Herefordshire Meadows March Newsletter
We are officially into meteorological spring and for all those who restored meadows last year, or have well established meadows, now is the time to start looking for those yellow rattle seedlings and ensuring that livestock are removed when they start appearing. This month as we wrap the Meadow Makers project, we are excited to announce that we will be… Read more →
Role of well grazed and rested deep rooted diverse swards in carbon sequestration
We are grateful to Christine Page for sharing her drawings that help us think about the role of grazing systems with long rest periods and deep rooted diverse swards in carbon sequestration. To find out if your grazing system supports rapid or slow carbon sequestration click this link You can find out more on our website and Floodplain Meadows Partnership Read more →
Winter Meadow Management – after restoration
A very big thank you to James Hawkins who hosted a walk on winter meadow management at Warren Farms on 13 December 2021. James showed us 3 meadows that he’s restored at Hill House using very different methods. In 2021 as part of the Meadow Makers project a field has been enhanced using seed from the adjacent Bromyard Downs Common.… Read more →
How to set up a simplified BEEWALK training session
On 2nd June Sue Holland led a zoom training session explaining how to carry out our simplified BEEWALK survey method including; how to choose the route, set it up on BEEWALK and how to carry out the surveys on a chosen site. All of the resources mentioned in the talk can be found on our surveying and monitoring page under… Read more →
What’s new in Countryside Stewardship for 2022 and are you eligible for GS6 ?
Applications for the 2022 Countryside Stewardship scheme opened on 9th February. There are options for those who’ve never been, or are no longer, in a scheme as well as new “Offers” and Capital grants too. There are several important changes in this round including broadening the options available and making these easier to apply for. There are many grassland options… Read more →
Video on Rapid Plant Monitoring just released
Stuart Hedley plant trainer and Herefordshire vice county plant recorder has made a short video with all you need to know about the Herefordshire Meadows rapid plant monitoring method You can watch on Youtube and see the Survey and Monitoring pages of the website for further information on ID guides, books and how to separate many of the “problem pairs”… Read more →
Boost for Biodiversity grant. New funding from Severn Trent includes meadow restoration
Severn Trent Water are working with the Wye & Usk Foundation to fund advice and grant schemes in the Wye on annual basis. The main STEPS scheme has been running for several years and is restricted to the Drinking Water Safe Guarding Zone which follows the main rivers. This has been popular with farmers along the main stem of the… Read more →
Diverse swards ARE part of the solution to the climate emergency
Herefordshire Meadows 4th annual Forum was held on 29th February 2020. Over 90 farmers and meadow owners gathered to hear a varied programme of speakers. One farmer commented that the morning provided us with ” how to make a meadow and why we should all be doing it ” all in one session. One of our smallholder members wrote ”… Read more →