Join the CLA for a visit to Lark Rise Farm in Cambridgeshire where wildlife-friendly farming methods are at the heart of the land management.

The Countryside Restoration Trust (CRT) acquired Lark Rise Farm in 1993 and CRT Trustee, tenant farmer and conservationist, Tim Scott, broke up its large fields using hedgerows, which today stand broad and dense. Tim has embraced wildlife-friendly farming methods such as smaller field sizes, crop rotation, wildlife strips, waterway maintenance and the planting of over 4.5 miles of new hedgerows, with the aid of numerous volunteers.

Tim leaves tall grass margins around the fields, plants beetle banks and leaves over-wintered stubble to provide important habitats while protecting the soil. He uses direct drilling, a technique that minimises disturbance underground and increases invertebrate density. These practices have helped increase the grey partridge population fourfold, encouraged lapwings back to Lark Rise, and there is an abundance of other wildlife.

Tim will lead the tour of the farm and talk about the practices he uses and the difference these have made. You will see a variety of different cropping regimes, hedge styles, meadows and the brook and owl box.

Dr Vince Lea, Head of Wildlife Monitoring at CRT will describe the wildlife on the tour and the difference the farming methods have made. Lawrence Stapeley, of Syngenta, will talk about the trials run on the farm. Tim works with Syngenta, trialling innovative sprays to produce high crop yields without affecting the flora and fauna.

The afternoon will begin at Barton Sports and Social Pavilion before setting off on a tractor and trailer. The tour will return back to the Pavilion at 4.00pm for refreshments.