Agribusiness News November 2024: Management Matters – Biodiversity and the Whole Farm Plan

Biodiversity and the Whole Farm Plan

The term biodiversity has been creeping around the farming industry for some time now and many have already engaged through options such as Agri environment schemes.  Now we are starting to see it become more mainstream as it is brought into Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) requirements through Whole Farm Plans.

With the requirement to have at least two of the audits/plans in place by the 15^th May 2025 and all the applicable audits and plans for your business in place by 15^th May 2028 at the latest; now is a good time to start thinking about your biodiversity audit and where to start.

Biodiversity Audit

The biodiversity audit is basically a map showing the different habitats on your entire farm and something that a famer/crofter can do themselves.

The habitat map can be completed online using:

• The habitat layer of the RPID Land Parcel Information System (LPIS).
• The Farm Biodiversity Scotland app (which is currently being tested by more farmers and crofter and should be widely available in 2025.
• By providing a map to RPID, which would need uploaded to your 2025 SAF form.
• The map is the first step on the journey to managing biodiversity on the farm. Once complete the audit will need updated every 5 years.

Take stock of what you have

Use your habitat map to start thinking about those parts of your business that may be highest value for biodiversity.  These may be the least productive areas of the farm which are often field margins, rougher grazings, native trees and water features.

One of the most important actions for biodiversity is to link up these areas forming corridors for wildlife across the ground.  This allows all species to have a refuge, habitat, and cover, allowing them to move freely across the farm.  Links could be hedgerows, walls with rougher grassland or fenced watercourses.

Walk through the fields on a dry day in the growing season and think about how many different varieties of plants are growing with the grass in each field.  The fields with more varieties have more biodiversity potential if the grazing allows the plants to flower and set seed each year.

Scrub is a valuable habitat for biodiversity, this includes hawthorn, blackthorn or wet corners with willow growing.  Scrub provides habitat, food, and shelter for many species particularly insects and farmland birds.

Watch out for invasive species such as Rhododendron ponticum, Skunk cabbage, Japanese knotweed, Giant Hogweed and many more.  These are easiest to remove as they first appear and before they become established causing serious damage to habitats.  They can be very expensive to remove at a later date and will degrade your biodiversity potential in the future.

If you need help or ideas to identify the habitats and features important for biodiversity on your farm you can access a specialist consultant.  This is grant aided, often covering costs up to £1,600.  To access help, apply for the Biodiversity specialist plan on the grants page of the FAS website and choose an consultant from the list.  Specialist Advice | Helping farmers in Scotland | Farm Advisory Service (fas.scot).

helen.bibby@sac.co.uk