Okay, we can’t promise the pear tree, but Balgonie Estate has experienced an amazing success story this year with a soaring partridge population. The consequence of a project funded by EU’s North Sea Region Interreg Programme working alongside the farming team at Balgonie, Kings Crops, and Scottish Agronomy.
The objective of this project has been to demonstrate how farmland biodiversity can co-exist with effective agriculture. Scottish Agronomy has an extensive crop trials site on the Balgonie Estate.
Management of the site strives to support partridges throughout the year providing cover and food sources at all life stages. The wonderful news is that partridges are responding remarkably well to this environmental enrichment with spring pairs increasing by 40% over the period, 33% since the project began, and the autumn total by 260%.
The results from the site are promising and indicate that the local grey partridge population has grown in response to the conservation measures which have been introduced on the farmland at Balgonie. The success of this project should be a source of inspiration for other farmers because it shows what can be achieved with thoughtful planning and execution. It also demonstrates that properly financed agri-environmental schemes can enhance farmland wildlife benefiting all of us.
