WHEN James O ’ Gram returned to the family arable farm business in 2010 he looked at what he could do differently and decided that environmental stewardship was something to be considered .

He found there was an opportunity to become involved with the HLS scheme and entered it in December 2011 . Eight years later his environmental work was recognised when he was named Tye Trophy winner for the East Yorkshire , in 2019 .

James says he was taken aback , but clearly also delighted to have been firstly nominated and then to achieve the distinction .

‘ I was very surprised , but very pleased and honoured . We had been very fortunate to have a lot of farmland birds before we joined the scheme but being a part of it enabled us to increase species numbers . We hadn ’ t realised just how many birds we

had on the farm until we went into the HLS scheme .’

‘ We now have regular flocks of 50 corn buntings , reputedly among the largest in East Yorkshire ; and we have nine of the ten most wanted farmland birds . We ’ re just missing the turtle dove .’

‘ The surveys conducted by the RSPB showed we had flocks of up to 100 lesser red poll , red wing and linnet . We are also home to reed bunting , yellowhammer , yellow wagtail , tree sparrow , lapwing , grey partridge and skylark .’

Through the HLS scheme James has supported the birds with corn bunting mixes , other wild bird seed mixes and much more . James is totally committed to his conservation and wildlife efforts that have now become a very real passion .

‘ We now grow corn bunting mix across nearly 7.5 acres . It is made up of unharvested barley , triticale , oats and linseed drilled in spring , providing valuable

winter food and cover . The corn bunting mixes for ground nesting birds are important particularly for those that breed late as their nests can often fail because of early harvests . By having an unharvested crop this assures them of a safer nesting environment .’

“ We have 3.7 acres of wild bird cover ; 2.5 acres of nectar flower mixture and 7.5 acres of fallow land all in one block next to the wild bird mixes .

James ’ farming operation extends to just over 1000 acres across three sites including his home farm at Hayton Grange plus farmland at Allerthorpe and Great Givendale . James says that he is particularly pleased with his work in Grimthorpe Dale on the edge of the Yorkshire Wolds where he has , again through the HLS scheme , created a

wildflower meadow of great beauty . ‘ We had the idea of spreading green hay to introduce or reintroduce native meadow plants on grassland that was crying out for improvement . We utilised local SSSI grassland from the Bishop Wilton Poorland Trust that we cut , baled the green hay and then transported off the site in a few hours .’

‘ We then put the green hay bales through a straw chopper before spreading the chopped green hay lightly on to the land at Grimthorpe Dale . We then left Stabiliser cattle from a neighbouring farm to trample this in . It was all completed over a two

year period and the wildflowers came through .’

‘ It is now one of my favourite places of our land . I have walked through what is a carpet of wildflowers and seen it alive with insects and wildlife . It is truly a marvellous sight . We have a Countryside Rights of Way ( CRoW ) on the field , so others can see it too , but it is largely a hidden gem .’

The restoration of species rich grassland , protection of archaeological features such as the site of an old Roman fort , buffer strips and hedgerow management are all part and parcel of James ’ environmental work through the HLS scheme .

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