Feeding geese not for eating

Nov 20 2007 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

CHRISTMAS is coming and the geese are getting fat.

But the geese on two Northumberland farms will not be ending up on the dinner table.

Under a partnership between Natural England and Berwick agricultural merchant McCreath Simpson Prentice, fields at farms adjacent to the Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve have been reserved for the use of over-wintering light-bellied brent geese.

The package pays Rod Smith, of Beal Farm, to provide a 50-acre field sown with winter barley for the geese, with another 20 acres at James Frater’s neighbouring Goswick Farm.

Lindsifarne is the principal wintering site for the Spitsbergen race of the geese, which total only 6,000 birds.Half of the population winter at Lindisfarne and once their main food resource, eelgrass, becomes depleted by late November, birds may then turn to farmland adjacent to the reserve.

The open fields at Beal are especially favoured when winter barley is available.

Rod said that in some years when conditions are pressing, thousands of geese can arrive on the barely fields. “It has been a problem as the geese graze the crop right down,” he said.

But the scheme will now enable Rod to welcome the geese as part of a new visitor centre and educational facilities which he is creating on the farm.

“We will be able to create a haven for the geese and it ties in with what we are trying to achieve here,” he said.

Phil Davey, site manager of the Lindisfarne reserve, said “Appropriate management of farmland is critical to the wellbeing of goose species and with the co-operation of local farmers, this scheme will benefit the rare light-bellied brent goose.” Andy Richardson of McCreath Simpson Prentice said: “The barley we supply will allow the geese to graze without damaging valuable agricultural crops nearby.”

Beal Farm and Goswick Farm, through Natural England’s Environmental Stewardship scheme, have agreed a sponsorship deal for a minimum of six years.