Use your loaf and help birds, says Asda
SUPERMARKET chain ASDA is backing a scheme to help wildlife by
baking bread using wheat from Yorkshire farms using "bird-friendly"
agricultural techniques.
Leeds-based ASDA bakes its own bread at its stores across the country. The chain has formed a partnership with a group of Yorkshire farmers and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
Each farmer taking part in the initiative has introduced at least 10
different bird-friendly measures to encourage wild birds back on to
their farmland.
Hedges
Mandatory measures include producing an environmental plan of the farm;
growing at least 15 hectares of spring crops; cutting hedges once every
three years; cutting ditches once every two years; and providing waste
grain and weed seeds throughout the winter.
There are also a
number of optional measures such as erecting nest boxes; introducing
sympathetic tree management; sowing six-metre grass margins alongside
watercourses; providing beetle banks; and retaining stubbles over the
winter – all of which are designed to help wildlife flourish.
Chris
Brown, agriculture strategy manager at ASDA, said: "We expect our
bird-friendly loaf to fly off the shelves as it enables customers to do
their bit to help English wildlife. The more people who buy it, the
more wild birds we can encourage back on to our farms."
Stephen Driffield, from Blackhorse Farm in Aberford, Leeds, said most
of the measures were simple to introduce and not expensive to implement.
"As
well as helping contribute to a new product on the shelves, it's nice
to see the birds on my farm benefiting from the measures I've
introduced," he said.
Darren Moorcroft, head of conservation management advice at the RSPB,
said: "Farmland can be a challenging place for farmers and wildlife
alike.
"The positive management for wildlife, which the farmers
have been asked to follow, have been designed to help both profit from
the project." |
Bird News 
