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White Park Cattle
Have you ever wondered why the Trust has livestock on some of its nature reserves? The animals help look after the habitats – we call it ‘conservation grazing’.
Hundreds of years ago, people cleared the land of trees to form open spaces for farming. Their grazing animals helped to shape many of the semi-natural habitats, which developed rich and diverse wildlife communities. Yorkshire Wildlife Trust has been using conservation grazing to help manage a number of its reserves with these habitats, as it is the best and most economical way to maintain them and their huge variety of plants and animals.
Grazing’s best
Grazing animals eat selectively and often chose the more dominant plant species. Their grazing creates an uneven sward, which gives the less competitive plants a chance to grow and is ideal for all kinds of wildlife: birds, such as lapwings and snipe, build nests, voles and other small mammals find places to hide and many different types of insect are able to colonise. Flower-rich meadows need late summer grazing to prevent an impenetrable thatch of dead vegetation building up and hindering the following season’s new growth. By continuing to graze in a controlled way, we also stop the spread of invasive scrub and bracken and maintain these special habitats and the wildlife that thrives there.
Different types of animals graze in different ways and so have different effects on the habitat. Cattle use their tongues to wrap around and pull tufts of vegetation leaving uneven sward lengths producing a tussocky field. They will eat longer, coarser grasses and push their way through scrub and bracken, which physically damages the plants and helps to create open spaces. Sheep prefer to nibble shorter grasses. They will readily eat bramble and blackthorn, but avoid longer, coarse grasses. Heavier animals break up the ground and create bare areas for seeds to germinate. Hooves also haphazardly push seeds into the ground.
Each Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserve has a management plan that outlines a grazing regime required to keep it in good condition. With conservation grazing, stocking densities are often low and grazing is only allowed at set times of the year. We decide whether cattle or sheep would be the most effective for each reserve, and consider the size and age of the animals that will be grazing. Both over and under grazing will reduce the wildlife value of a habitat. Sometimes we do have to cut and remove grass manually, but this has fewer benefits for wildlife.
Our livestock
The Trust uses hardy breeds of cattle and sheep, as they do not need high quality grass, happily eat coarse rough vegetation and cope with living outdoors in winter. We have 200 Hebridean sheep and 14 white park cattle. Called our ‘flying flock’, we move these animals around different reserves on rotation and allow them to graze for set periods depending on each reserve’s requirements.
- Hebridean sheep are a small hardy breed. They thrive on poor vegetation and can cope well with extremes of weather. Browsing on a wide range of vegetation, they will nibble scrub, woody re-growth, coarse grasses and brambles, so are an ideal choice for conservation grazing. Although a small sheep, they produce tender meat sought after for its rich flavour.
- White park cattle are the oldest native breed in Britain. They have large horns and a distinct white body with black ears, eyes and nose, and are usually quite docile. Also a hardy breed, the cattle cope well with our harsh Yorkshire winters and produce good quality beef even on poor, rough grazing.
The Trust has an annual management and health and welfare plan for its livestock, which is managed by the Grazing Officer Ellen Fairbank, with the help of a stockman Keith Dunning and Heritage Grazing Trainee Jacqui Green. The team has to organise the breeding programmes for the pedigree animals, the vaccination programmes for all the livestock, the sheep shearing and the annual grazing plan, and work out the logistics of moving the flying flock. Last spring, we had our Hebridean sheep grazing our nature reserves at Strensall Common, North Cliffe Wood, Staveley and Spurn point, and during this summer our cattle will be grazing Jeffry Bog and North Newbald Becksies.
Walking with livestock
The livestock on our reserves are usually docile, but all animals can behave unpredictably on occasion. For a safe and enjoyable visit, please remember:
- Leave gates and property as you find them. Always close gates behind you if they were already closed. If they are tied open, leave them so.
- Livestock can behave unpredictably, especially if they’re with their young – give them plenty of space
- On reserves where dogs are allowed on leads, please keep them under close control and not on extendable leads
- If a farm animal chases you and your dog, it is better to let go of your dog. Don’t risk getting hurt by trying to protect your dog – it will escape to safety
- Take particular care that your dog doesn’t scare sheep and lambs or wander where it might disturb birds that nest on the ground and other wildlife
- Dog faeces are unpleasant and can cause infections. Always clean up after your dog and dispose of the mess responsibly
- At certain times, dogs may not be allowed on some areas. Please obey any signs
- Litter can be dangerous to wildlife and livestock, and can spread disease. Take your litter home with you
- Do not feed livestock. During harsh weather, they will be fed as required
- Always follow the Countryside Code.
Contact
Grazing Officer: Ellen Fairbank