Grazing, mowing and managing the land

I would like to commend Louise Ellins for her Viewpoint article (August 25).

She raised concerns about the National Trust not renewing some active farming tenancies and instead rewilding the land including planting trees.

She suggested that the focus for rewilding should be on places where food cannot be grown, asserting the need for balance.

As she said we need to safeguard our ability to grow our own food especially in volatile times.

We do not grow enough to feed ourselves and therefore food has to be transported here from all over the world, which has its own implications for climate change.

The differing management regimes of two of our nearby National Trust commons provide an interesting case in point in connection with climate change.

Pinkneys Green, mainly grassland with some trees, is mowed twice a year in July and September.

The grass from the July mowing is nutritious and is sold for cattle feed.

The September mowing is less so and is sold for bedding.

In contrast, for many years, the mainly grassland on Widbrook Common had commoners cattle grazing there from May to November.

However since 2021 cattle have not grazed there and the common has not been mowed except for removing the toxic ragwort, in effect rewilding the common.

The consequence is that Widbrook

Common has not had a continual growth of green grass over the summer that used to be a consequence of the grazing.

The green colour is due to chlorophyll and chlorophyll allows the plant to absorb carbon dioxide, and removing carbon dioxide helps with climate change.

It appears that the reasons for the commoners deciding in 2020 to stop grazing their cattle on Widbrook Common are twofold.

Firstly, two years ago the poor price of beef obtained by farmers made it uneconomic to raise cattle, though this may now change.

The other reason given demonstrates the conflict between farming and wildlife.

I understand that cattle from several farms were grazed on Widbrook Common and there were concerns that TB from an infected animal could be passed to others.

The commoners also considered the increase in the number of badger setts present in nearby Battlemead Common. Badgers are protected but also carry TB.

Hopefully, if the commoners cannot be persuaded to return their cattle to Widbrook Common, where their grazing helped produce new green grass and their dung provided a food source for invertebrates and their larvae, then perhaps this common will also be mowed.

In the meantime Widbrook Common and nearby Battlemead Common provide another example of differing management regimes.

As noted above, the Widbrook has never, as far as I know, been mowed and now is not grazed, whilst Battlemead, this year for the first time, was mowed in July rather than

September.

The result is that on Sunday, August 28, and even though we have only had a small amount of rain, the Widbrook is still mainly covered by straw coloured dead grass; whilst Battlemead, at least in the mowed areas, already shows a generous sprinkling of new green grass.