Arable weeds

Today Chris and I were at Walberswick, on the Suffolk coast. This is a magnificent reserve, with extensive areas of reedbed, marshy grassland, heathland and woodland, not to mention coastal shingle and saltmarsh. But my favourite spot proved to be outside the NNR, on a sandy field which had recently been taken out of arable production.

This field was a riot of colour, with a scatter of red poppies set against a tapestry of smaller flowers - the pinks of hare's-foot clover and common stork's-bill, the white of corn spurrey and scentless mayweed, the yellow of hop trefoil and amsinckia and the soft blue of bugloss. There was also a large population of smooth cat's-ear, which like the corn-spurrey, is now classified as Vulnerable on the UK Red List.

Arable flora is the most threatened group of plants in Britain today. From being a commonplace element of the farmed landscape, and indeed the bane of farmers' lives in past decades, modern agricultural techniques have brought many species to the verge of extinction. Fifty-four species are considered rare or threatened, whilst seven species are extinct in the arable setting. Far from being opportunistic weeds, cropping up wherever ploughed land exists, increasingly, the complexity of arable plant communities is being recognised. For example, no fewer than 48 different arable communities have been identified, reflecting subtle variations in soil, aspect and climate, whilst many rarer arable plant species show a high fidelity to certain historic areas.

Late in the day, conservationists have focused conservation attention on the arable landscape, recognising the precarious state of many characteristic farmland plants, insects and birds. From the plant perspective, it is encouraging to note that even the rarest of arable species often respond well to sympathetic management. Entry Level Stewardship scheme offers farmers a range of management options that could provide a sustainable future for our most valued arable plant communities and species.

Unfortunately the importance of this particular field for its arable weed flora had not been recognised, and it has been entered into Higher Level Stewardship scheme as grazing land. However, I was able to tell the Natural England warden how important it was, and recommended that the management is adjusted to ensure that at least part of the site is ploughed regularly. I hope that this proves possible - unfortunately many grant schemes seem to have tight prescriptions and limited flexibility to take account of new information.