Why do you keep cows on the meadows where there are footpaths?

Meadows would not be meadows if they were not grazed, but why do we need to have a meadow anyway? Couldn't we just have a lawn?.

My reply would be that lawns support little wildlife and have no place on a nature reserve, while a good meadow in summer is filled with birdsong, flowers and insects.

Meadow flowers

We have two grassland regimes; hay meadows and grazing meadows. In both cases we aim to increase our stock of native plants by encouraging the spread of seed. The Higher Level Countryside Stewardship Scheme pays for some of the work and prescribes the way we manage the grassland.

Hay making

Hay meadows are cut late (in July) to allow as many plants as possible to set seed and insects to complete their life cycles. Large swathes are left uncut and then the meadow is grazed by cattle until Christmas. Grazing and hay-making are ways to take nutrients off the field to favour our wild flowers rather than coarse grass and nettles.

Harvest mice

Cattle are picky-eaters and they will eat all the tasty plants first, resulting a a lumpy-clumpy field with places for insects and birds to hide, Their droppings are also beneficial for some plants and a host of insects.

The riverside meadows are lightly grazed in summer to keep out the scrub and allow a mix of plants to survive while minimising the pressure on nesting birds. The cattle are usually moved to higher ground near Diddington in winter.

"Meadow ladies"

Our highland cattle are a bit intimidating with their huge horns so we keep them away from the public. Each winter we borrow some hornless cows that have been on riverside meadows near St Ives where they are used to walkers and dogs.