William Waterfield (Andover) 

The recently announced upgrade in payments for Countryside Stewardship and the new Sustainable Farming Incentive for hedgerows means that some hedges might be able to earn up to £36/100 m.   Additionally, the payments for new hedges and rejuvenating old hedges by coppicing or replanting means that in many cases planting a hedge can be a cash neutral operation.  Many farms hedges have been ignored and neglected.  The last countryside survey showed a 6.1% loss of hedgerow length in England, mainly due to hedges becoming lines of trees or gappy, or relic hedges.  Roughly 50% of all hedgerows are in a favourable condition, but only 12% of arable hedges are in favourable condition.

Hedgerows are important in Agri-environment scheme options, providing a greater number of environmental services, twenty-one in all, than any other group of options.  Sixteen out of the nineteen birds used by government to assess the state of farmland wildlife are associated with hedgerows, with ten using them as a primary habitat.  The cutting regime has a major impact on the berries produced.  A two year regime cut in February and where the hedge is allowed to grow by 2-3 inches (incremental cutting) each time produces nearly ten times as many berries as a hedge cut annually in September.

Hedgerows sequester carbon above and below ground, both in woody growth and in soils.  Estimates of the carbon stock of UK hedgerows (based upon above-ground biomass) range between about 15 tonnes of carbon per hectare (tC/ha) for short hedges (1.5m height) and 30-40 tC/ha for tall hedges (2.7m), with a similar amount of carbon in below-ground biomass.  Simple soil organic matter test from under the hedge compared to the middle of field shows up to four time more carbon under the hedge. We are expecting a new hedgerow code later in the year and this is likely to put a value on the carbon in the hedgerow.

Scoring hedges condition

Assessing each hedge is now in the latest SFI proposals, assessing the condition of the hedgerow on a 10 point scale from 1 – a heavily over-trimmed with many gaps and sparse stems, their bases gnarled or rotting and only suitable for replanting or coppicing and gappy up to 10 – where a hedge has developed into line of trees.  This information can then prioritise the management of the hedge for many years to come and allow you to restore the biodiversity on the farm.

If you would like to know more about how you can reap the benefits from hedgerows, contact your local FCG office or email William at  w.waterfield@fcgagric.com