Arable farmland

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Abridged version taken from the Wiltshire Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP)

Introduction

Arable farmland can be defined as all cultivated land and bare fallow.

Importance

Wiltshire as a whole contains some of the most biologically diverse arable land in Britain. It is particularly important for arable weeds and birds characteristic of arable farmland such as the stone curlew, corn bunting and tree sparrow. The long history of settlement and cultivation, especially on the calcareous soils, has supported species-rich plant communities. The steep chalk scarps (unsuitable for arable), clay vales and river valleys of the county have retained the basis of a mixed farm landscape where a variety of crops are grown and grass leys form part of the traditional rotational arable system. Arable farming has been, and still is, an important element in mixed farm rotations. The management of arable farmland has a direct impact on other habitats. For example, soil erosion and subsequent run-off have detrimental effects on watercourses. Many species will utilise arable farmland in conjunction with other habitats or features that are part of the landscape, such as hedgerows, water bodies, woodland and grassland.

Arable farmland is the most abundant habitat in Wiltshire. In 1999, arable farmland occupied over 160,000 hectares, representing approximately 50% of the county’s area. Chalk soils dominate the south, central and eastern part of Wiltshire, where arable farming is the major land use, with the exception of Salisbury Plain Training Area. Arable farming has been practiced on the chalk lands for over 3,000 years and the landscape is characterised by its open, large fields with relatively few trees. The north and west of the county are situated over oolite, cornbrash, clays and greensand, where outside the urban areas, the surrounding farmland supports a diverse flora and fauna.

Extent and distribution

Between 1975 and 1998, the total area involved in arable production has remained more or less the same. The major changes have been the introduction of set-aside, a 13% increase in the amount of wheat sown, and a major 30% decrease in the amount of spring-sown barley. Other changes include:

• Short-term grass leys are significantly reduced in area
• Winter barley is widely grown
• Other crops are becoming more significant, with increases in the areas devoted to field beans, linseed, maize, and rape.

Trends

The biodiversity of arable land depends on many factors linked to the economics of farming. Current agricultural policy and practice in Britain is largely determined by European agricultural policy, which is in turn influenced by the World Trade Organisation and market forces. To date European policy has focused on production-based subsidies. The challenge now will be to secure biodiversity enhancement through changes to the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and environmental stewardship-based subsidies.

Key Species

• Brown hare
• Stone curlew
• Tree sparrow
• Skylark
• Lapwing
• Quail
• Barn owl
• Linnet
• Corn bunting
• Grey partridge
• Turtle dove
• Cornflower
• Dense flowered fumitory
• Few leaved fumitory
• Corn buttercup
• Yellow vetchling
• Mousetail
• Venus’ looking glass
• Pheasant’s eye
• Corn parsley
• Corn marigold
• Weasel’s snout
• Narrow-fruited cornsalad
• Broad-fruited cornsalad
• Night-flowering catchfly
• Small-flowered catchfly
• Shepherd’s needle
• Broad-leaved spurge

Last updated: 23 June 2009