Grassland management

Neutral and Marshy (or wet) grassland 

These two grassland types can still be found on the Levels, whereas outside of Wales they have been lost from much of the rest of Britain. They have distinct plant communities with species such as red clover, common knapweed, birdsfoot trefoil, devil’s bit scabious, Southern marsh orchid, marsh marigold, carnation sedge, and meadow thistle.

The following advice on Neutral and Marshy grassland management is summarised from gwentwildlife.org/habitat-management-advice.

Grassland in general

If the grassland is already species rich, then it is best to maintain the existing management as that is what has created the diverse sward. Key to this is the continued non application of fertilisers.

Grazing hard can lead to bare ground and poaching which is colonised with weedy species such as docks and nettles.

Grazing too little may lead to dominance by coarse grasses and scrub.

EIA Agricultural Regulations – for any agricultural improvement project on seminatural grassland (semi-natural grassland contains less than 25% of improved agricultural species, e.g., Perennial Ryegrass and/or White Clover), such as ploughing or re-seeding, a screening decision from Welsh Government is needed under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Agricultural Regulations (Wales). There is guidance at gov.wales/assessingenvironmental-impact-agriculture.

Neutral grassland

Grazing

Regulating the grazing is key to keeping the sward diverse.

• Having no grazing in the wet winter months (Jan & Feb) avoids poaching

• Light and rotational grazing of multiple fields (if this is an option), from March to mid-July, where some areas are not grazed for part of this period, creates a diverse structure and allows flowers to develop and set seed.

• Light grazing from mid-summer to the end of the year will help to maintain the diverse sward structure.

Marshy grassland

Grazing

Graze with cattle or ponies rather than sheep.

• In general, a low stocking rate over a longer period is preferable. As the habitat varies between sites and over time stocking rates may also need to vary to reflect prevalent conditions, but as a general rule stocking rates should not exceed 0.2 ‐ 0.3 livestock units/ha/year.

• Light grazing by cattle or ponies limited to the spring and summer is preferable on wetter sites. On the drier sites grazing can be all year round.

• Grazing animals should be removed if the drier areas get grazed very short or if the ground is too wet.

Herbal leys

Herbal leys can be beneficial to insects and – of particular relevance on the Levels – to bumblebees, whilst still providing a productive crop.

If herbal leys are being used, they should not be sited on any species rich habitat e.g., flower rich meadows. Herbal leys have been put down on a few farms on the Levels where the existing grassland has been previously improved, as part of the Sustaining the Gwent Levels project. The feedback received was that the ewes and lambs seemed to like the mix, which resulted in improved yield, and the lambs sold well. Further plans for sowing more herbal leys in the future are being explored by the farms themselves. Within an SSSI, this action requires NRW consent.

A further example is a joint project with Calon Wen farmers and Bumblebee Conservation Trust, where a multi-species ley was planted with uncut strips at the edge of fields. These uncut strips provide forage for bees and other wildlife throughout the summer after the rest of the field is cut. For more information, visit Calon Wen pastures for pollinators.

Useful links…

Bumblebee Conservation Trust (BBCT) bumblebeeconservation.org/land-management-advice

BBCT Wildflower-rich grasslands factsheets Welsh and English bit.ly/BBCTfactsheets

Gwent Wildlife Trust gwentwildlife.org/habitats/grassland and gwentwildlife.org/habitatmanagement-advice