Farmers making space for wild flowers

A small number of farmers, shocked by the devastating effects of modern weedkillers and fertilisers, are turning their farms into havens for wild flowers - and for the birds who depend on the flowers

Modern farming has been devastating for most wild plants, from herbicides, fertilisers, drainage, and much more - but it doesn't have to be that way. Mike and Nick Kettlewell farm some 400 acres in the Oxfordshire Cotswolds and have left wildflower margins beside fields and planted small copses.

They have converted arable land to grassland to encourage wild flowers to return, such as bee orchids and cowslips. Hedges are cut every three years and grow tall, rich in flowers and fruit, and new hedges planted with traditional species such as wild pear and crab apple.