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File photo: Less frequent hedgecutting and side-trimming only are two actions to help pollinators. \ Odhran Ducie
From the red and yellow colours of plentiful berries in the autumn time, to having a good hedge to shelter farm sheds and animals from storms, Tipperary farmer John Fogarty can see many advantages to careful management of farm hedgerows.
Among one of the ways he does this is to cut his hedges less frequently, moving away from flailing every hedge every year.
“An awful lot of trees and shrubs will only flower on two-year-old wood, so if you flail them every year, you won’t have any flowers, therefore you won’t have any fruits.
"That all plays into the life cycle of the insects - if the flowers aren’t there, they won’t have any pollen to rear their young,” Fogarty says.
“After two years, they’re [the insects] are gone as well, maybe even after 12 months.”
Tips for managing pollinator-friendly hedgerows
The National Biodiversity Data Centre has guidelines for farmers who want to manage their hedgerows for pollinators. These include:
Leave at least one mature whitethorn or blackthorn tree within each hedgerow.
Where possible, cut hedgerows on a three-year cycle. Cutting annually stops the hedgerow flowering and fruiting.
Where possible, cut in rotation rather than all at once as this will ensure some areas of hedgerow on your farm will always flower (blackthorn is white in March - whitethorn flowers at silage time in May).
Hedges managed for pollinators should ideally be cut between November and January, in an A-shape. If they must be cut outside this, cut in rotation, so some areas remain undisturbed.
Let some bramble and ivy grow in hedgerows. They are key nectar and pollen sources in summer and autumn.
Where hedgerows must be cut along the roadside for safety, allow the inside to flower.
Aim for a hedgerow that is as high as possible, but at least 2.5m above ground level or above the bank.
Let some of your hedgerows grow wild, side-trimming only.
Avoid spraying the hedgerow base - use mechanical weed control and spot spray only in exceptional cases.
Leave an unfertilised buffer margin at the hedgerow base to encourage our wildflowers, which do better in nutrient-poor soils.
From the red and yellow colours of plentiful berries in the autumn time, to having a good hedge to shelter farm sheds and animals from storms, Tipperary farmer John Fogarty can see many advantages to careful management of farm hedgerows.
Among one of the ways he does this is to cut his hedges less frequently, moving away from flailing every hedge every year.
“An awful lot of trees and shrubs will only flower on two-year-old wood, so if you flail them every year, you won’t have any flowers, therefore you won’t have any fruits.
"That all plays into the life cycle of the insects - if the flowers aren’t there, they won’t have any pollen to rear their young,” Fogarty says.
“After two years, they’re [the insects] are gone as well, maybe even after 12 months.”
Tips for managing pollinator-friendly hedgerows
The National Biodiversity Data Centre has guidelines for farmers who want to manage their hedgerows for pollinators. These include:
Leave at least one mature whitethorn or blackthorn tree within each hedgerow.
Where possible, cut hedgerows on a three-year cycle. Cutting annually stops the hedgerow flowering and fruiting.
Where possible, cut in rotation rather than all at once as this will ensure some areas of hedgerow on your farm will always flower (blackthorn is white in March - whitethorn flowers at silage time in May).
Hedges managed for pollinators should ideally be cut between November and January, in an A-shape. If they must be cut outside this, cut in rotation, so some areas remain undisturbed.
Let some bramble and ivy grow in hedgerows. They are key nectar and pollen sources in summer and autumn.
Where hedgerows must be cut along the roadside for safety, allow the inside to flower.
Aim for a hedgerow that is as high as possible, but at least 2.5m above ground level or above the bank.
Let some of your hedgerows grow wild, side-trimming only.
Avoid spraying the hedgerow base - use mechanical weed control and spot spray only in exceptional cases.
Leave an unfertilised buffer margin at the hedgerow base to encourage our wildflowers, which do better in nutrient-poor soils.
The messaging on biodiversity and food production policy aims must be made clear to farmers if they are to buy into environmental schemes, an ATU researcher has said.
Seven individuals and groups were announced as winners in a number of categories as the two-day ‘Finding Common Ground’ biodiversity and sustainability festival came to a close in the RDS.
While Clarkson’s Farm is known for showing farming in a fun light, series three isn’t shying away from many agricultural issues Irish farmers will be familiar with.
The research confirmed that hedgerows on Irish farms are an important means of sequestering carbon.
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