Wildflower-rich meadows and pastures

Wildflower meadows and pastures can be incredibly diverse habitats with over 700 species of plants known to thrive in these grassy fields, and that’s not counting the numerous insects, reptiles, mammals and fungi that depend and thrive on wildflower meadows and pastures too. Meadows are typically fields that make hay often with some grazing, and pastures are fields maintained by grazing and not typically cut. Sadly over 97% of wildflower meadows have been lost since the 1930s (Source: Plantlife ‘The Good Meadow Guide’ 2021). A big change in agricultural practices shifting to silage making rather than hay making has undoubtedly had a big impact on diversity in meadows.

Traditional haymaking practices

It is because of the traditional ways of farming over the centuries that these grasslands managed for hay cutting are so wildflower-rich. Livestock are moved off the meadow in early spring, allowing them to grow long over summer, then from mid-July onwards they are cut for hay. Collecting and removing the cuttings, which provide fodder for the livestock overwinter, is a crucial step in managing the meadows to be wildflower-rich, as they thrive in lower nutrient soils. If the cuttings aren’t removed and are allowed to mulch into the ground it will become too high in nutrients and this will favour certain grasses, which will become dominant in the sward. 

Weather plays a huge role in cutting hay, we all know the saying “make hay whilst the sun shines” and whilst we may be tempted to rush onto the fields as soon as there is a dry spell in mid-July, variable cutting over the years is also a crucial step in wildflower meadow management, as different species seed at different times of the year. So, by allowing hay cutting to be carried out as late into the summer as possible this will facilitate the seeds setting in the soils.

Aftermath grazing in the weeks following the hay cut is often beneficial. It prevents scrub encroachment from field edges, helps to push seeds into the soil and keeps the sward short. By keeping grasses low after the hay cut through to early spring, the wildflowers are not outcompeted and shaded out by more vigorous plants.

Farming uncertainty

With more than 80% of land in Wales being farmed, the key to landscape wide conservation lies with our farmers. Farming is not for the faint hearted, for most it’s a way of life, not just a job. Farming practices are constantly having to adapt in order to survive; with the most recent changes in farming subsidies overhauling the system and focusing on nature output, it seems a pivotal opportunity for nature and farming. Where the previous subsidies for nature were in a piecemeal fashion the new scheme aims for a whole farm approach. Conservation grazing and the use of more traditional ways of farming, along with more nature friendly farming practices with the addition of modern-day technologies, is critical to tackle the biodiversity crisis and support a sustainable future for farming. A myriad of other potential environmental benefits include improved water quality and soil health, natural flood control, carbon sequestration, and increased climate resilience. 

What’s conservation grazing and why is it important

Habitat management is an important part of any habitat; left un managed they will change to different successive habitats, and in the case of grasslands, without management they would become woodlands eventually.

Why don’t we let nature do what it wants, I hear you say? In some cases we do, however there are some habitats that are less common than others and some species are only found in particular habitats. It’s about diversity really, we need an array of habitats to support an array of species. Land in the UK also lacks the majority of the natural processes which once managed this habitat diversity.

Most nature reserves are managed by hand with power tools such as chainsaws and brush cutters these days which can be a good tool in selectively managing particular areas of habitats. Although all we are trying to do really is to replicate natural processes which would have occurred with grazing animals who would have passed through the landscape periodically, and which would have been moved on by resource availability and predation risk. Now we have tamed the landscape and don’t have large herds of free roaming animals, livestock are needed to help maintain habitats.

So, onto conservation grazing. It is essentially using livestock to help manage habitats,  often at lower densities than when the focus is purely food production. Often with conservation grazing particular breeds of livestock are preferred, such as Welsh Black cattle, Hebridean sheep or Welsh Mountain ponies, often smaller and hardier breeds that thrive in rougher pastures.

The right tool for the job

As with carrying out any job, it’s more fruitful when you have the right tool, and in the case of managing wildflower meadows, livestock are just about perfect, with a mixture of cattle and sheep commonly used to maintain the growth in meadows outside of the summer growing period.

Different livestock animals do different jobs and can impact plant species diversity. Sheep graze shorter to the ground and tend to leave a more uniform sward, as they are selective about which plants they eat; flowers are often targeted. Cattle are non-selective as they eat by wrapping their tongues around the vegetation, and this opens up patches in the grassland creating more diversity. Ponies graze close to the ground, but are less selective than sheep and will use latrines which they leave ungrazed, creating areas of structural diversity. Goats are great at clearing scrubby areas, they love bramble, but they will eat anything and can overgraze if not managed carefully.

The larger livestock as in the ponies and especially the cattle also create more disturbance to the ground being heavier and larger in stature, their hooves can create bare patches of soil allowing new seeds to colonise the area. Trampling is also effective at generating disturbance, although care needs to be taken to not allow the ground to become over poached in wetter weather.

On many of our nature reserves we have grazing agreements with local graziers to help manage our grassy habitats, without which would mean a lot of work for our volunteers and reserve crew. Essentially, livestock are a valuable tool in conservation and with careful management can help habitats thrive and increase plant species diversity.

Monitoring Meadows

In order to know if our habitat management is effective, monitoring and surveying is crucial to capture information throughout the years. Thanks to the support of players of People's Postcode Lottery  a recent surveying event at our Llandinam Gravels Nature Reserve measured the floodplain meadows using a rapid grassland assessment. Event participants enjoyed learning to identify species and we found our meadows to be in favourable condition, thanks to on-going traditional hay meadow management.