TWO brothers are on course to enhance wildlife on their farm near Tenbury by signing up to the Natural England’s Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme.

John and Thomas Walker, who work at Tedney Farm on the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border, have become the 10,000th farm to join the scheme since it began in 2005.

HLS is the top tier of England’s environmentally friendly farming programme and HLS agreements now cover a total of more than 977,000 hectares of England.

HLS supports farmers to carry out environmental management on their land that provides the greatest benefits for wildlife and the historic environment.

John and Thomas Walker run a 400 hectare mixed livestock, arable and horticulture farm with a flock of 500 ewes and a herd of around 120 pedig ree breeding Hereford cattle. They are proud to see their organic beef sold in Waitrose supermarkets.

With the support of the new HLS ag reement, John and Thomas have decided to create enhanced habitat for wetland wildlife beside the River Teme by returning some of the fields, where they currently grow arable crops and potatoes in rotation, into grasslands for the cattle.

The Teme is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of the variety of wildlife it supports, including salmon, native crayfish, lampreys, and pearl mussels. Otters are also found on the river along with a range of river birds.

“There were always flocks of lapwings around when I was growing up and it would be great if returning these arable fields to river meadows encourages the curlews and lapwings to return," said John.

"Having the fields under grass will also help prevent soil and nutrients from running into the Teme and this will help maintain a healthy river, able to sustain good fish stocks and to support species like dippers, kingfishers and otters.”

HLS will also be supporting other work that John and Thomas Walker are carrying out.

Hops - a traditional crop in the Tenbury area - have also been reintroduced on the farm and are now sold to various brewers in England, as well as being marketed as far afield as Texas.

John and Thomas have also restored and replanted more than 31 hectares of traditional damson, cider apple and Per ry pear orchards on the farm. This work has already safeguarded the habitat of the Noble Chafer, a rare beetle.

James Griffiths, Local Natural England Land management adviser, said: “Traditional orchards are becoming increasingly rare, as they are often removed or cleared, particularly if the trees are reaching the end of their productive life.

"The Noble Chafer beetle depends on old, decaying wood within live trees especially cherry, plum and apple. The news that this reclusive mini-beast is thriving in John and Thomas’ orchards is a clear testimony to their dedication in providing the right habitats for local native species.”

Go to naturalengland.org.uk/es for more information about the scheme.