Farming for Wildlife at Rectory Farm

Yesterday, Higher Education students were hosted by farmer George Eaton at Rectory Farm in Buckinghamshire. George farms an idyllic small farm in a traditional manner, but the difference is he has fully embraced environmental grant aid to farm for wildlife. Working with Natural England and Kings Seeds, George was able to explain how his commercial farming ventures (which include producing beef for waitrose) achieve a balance with managing the natural environment for conservation.

Alongside expanses of wheat and grassland leys, George manages two county wildlife sites (both traditional wildflowet meadows) and a stretch of river where water vole and otter both occur. He obtains some funding through the environmental stewardship suite of grants and students were able to see the diverse range of options employed on the farm. You can find out more about Rectory Farm here: http://www.rectory-farm.org.uk.