Wild seed harvesting in the Pennine Dales
Bridge End Farm, Walden
“We farm the meadows with an eye for the flowers as much as for the hay. It’s an approach which has benefits. The actual harvesting process doesn’t harm the flowers and the seed produced goes to other users.”
Landowner Julian Vallance
Defra is helping to restore the species diversity of an upland hay meadow in Wensleydale, within the Pennine Dales ESA, using seed harvested from nearby species-rich meadows.
Julian Vallance owns three meadows at North Walden which are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and are farmed by Robert Tiplady under an ESA agreement. A few years ago the two of them joined forces with specialist seed company Emorsgate to harvest seed from the meadows, which is then sold commercially. High quality wildflower seed such as this is in short supply and attracts a premium price.
Seed is harvested using a brush harvester, which gently removes the ripe seed from the vegetation before the meadow is cut for hay. The seed is then dried, cleaned of any chaff and sold. To avoid impoverishing the meadows’ diversity, only one of the fields is harvested each year, giving a 3 year cycle.
One of Mr Vallance’s other meadows is not of SSSI quality as it has been fertilised in the past, which encouraged grass growth and suppressed the wildflowers. Fertiliser inputs have now ceased, but without help it could take many years for the grassland to diversify naturally. To assist the process, some of the harvested seed will be spread on to this meadow after it has been cut for hay. Careful management with livestock will ensure that the seed is given the best chance of germinating and establishing successfully. It is hoped that in time this meadow too may be of good enough quality to be harvested for seed.
Once a feature typical of the British landscape, wildflower meadows have declined by around 90% since 1945 through the increased use of fertilisers and the move to more intensive agriculture. The careful and targeted use of locally harvested wildflower seed can help to restore the diversity that has been lost.
Page last modified:
19 May, 2005
Page published: 10 December, 2003