WHY GRAZE?
So why use cattle grazing instead of the land management practices currently employed?

• Cattle are selective grazers, meaning that they will eat some species but will leave others ungrazed, creating an uneven structure to the sward that cannot be achieved by cutting.
• The areas which are left ungrazed become taller and tussocky providing shelter for small mammals, invertebrates and birds.
• Nutrient-rich grasses are preferentially grazed by cattle which reduce their dominance allowing more delicate herbaceous flowering plants, such as orchids and buttercups to establish.
• The dunging events by cattle provide a microhabitat and valuable food source for a variety of invertebrates which in turn are a food source for bats, hedgehogs and birds. Dunging events also redistribute nutrients around a field.
• The removal of vegetation by grazing will redistribute the nutrients in a grassland and, over many years, may reduce the nutrient content sufficiently to allow delicate plants which only thrive on impoverished sites to re-establish.
• Trampling by cattle produces bare patches of ground which allows space for seeds within the soil to germinate and also provides a habitat for ants and solitary wasps and bees

All of this contributes towards creating the diverse sward structure essential for maintaining a diverse ecosystem

The most common alternative to grazing is mechanical cutting – this produces a uniform, single height grassland and will impact on annual plant species more than grasses. It is also more difficult for mobile species to avoid being destroyed by the mowers. The use of large, heavy machinery can lead to soil compaction which will reduce water retention, plant growth and invertebrate populations.

It will result in a single, even cut which may eliminate less mobile fauna from the field and reduces the diversity of the grassland structure. If the cuttings aren’t removed from the site, they will build up and form a dense thatch, through which no new species can germinate and delicate forbs are smothered.

Without any intervention grasslands become tall and rank and the delicate species are shaded-out. If left for substantial periods of time the grassland will become established with scrubby species, such as bracken, bramble and gorse.

This natural change from grassland to woodland is known as succession and will occur on most land not subjected to regular disturbance. Scrub and woodland are themselves important habitats for many species but they are more abundant and support a lower diversity than the grasslands they will replace. If succession were allowed to take place on all of Guernsey’s grasslands this habitat would be lost and with it the orchids, butterflies, birds and other animals which call grasslands home.

THE HERD
The Conservation Herd was established in 2014 in order to address these conservation concerns. The first four animals were born and reared on a local farm and were first introduced to a La Société́ Nature Reserve in September 2014.

As farming on Guernsey is mostly Dairy there is only a very small market for local beef. Due to this there is little demand for bull calves and so most are slaughtered shortly after being born. Not only does this mean that there is a ready supply of calves for this herd, these calves are also being provided with the opportunity for a longer and useful life span.

As the calves grow, their diet is supplemented with rough hay cut from La Société́ reserves so that their rumens develop to be able to digest the rough, coarse grasses they will be grazing later in the year.

Their temperaments are also assessed to ensure that they respond well to any external stimulus they are likely to encounter when grazing public land and they are trained to respect electric fencing and to follow a bucket of feed. By April each year they are old enough and strong enough to be turned out to the La Société nature reserves.

THE LIFE OF A COW

At 12 weeks old the steers will be moved to one of La Société’s reserves. They will be supplied with water and be checked on regularly by a stockman. When the site has been grazed they will be moved to the next site.

They graze species-rich grasslands from spring to autumn and then they are moved to winter lay-back lands: large grass-rich sites supplemented by hay.

In autumn each year two steers will be sent for slaughter. The beef that is produced is sold to raise money to ensure the herd is sustainable. It is ethical, sustainable and locally produced food.

COMMUNITY MATTERS: ENGAGING THE PUBLIC IN RUNNING THE HERD

It is important to engage the public in conservation schemes such as this so that the community can feel an ownership in the herd and pride in the results to their natural environment which in turn provides a valuable experience for the community. When communities are engaged, they will be more likely to protect the welfare of the herd and provide feedback both positive and negative, for example the flowering of an interesting plant or damage to fencing, this will inform more effective management of the herd and the habitat.

The public’s current relationship with the environment is one in which a large proportion see it as a resource for their enjoyment and an amenity in which to walk and enjoy beautiful views without much thought into what management strategies are required to maintain Guernsey’s diverse, and often nationally important habitats. Engaging the public will add to the understanding of the landscape and the unique nature of Guernsey.

The Conservation Herd can form a link within the community between the amenity value of the environment and important issues which will allow it to remain a functional habitat. To allow the herd to become this link, we first need to engage the public with it.