Hay Meadow, What's The Matter?

The product of traditional farming practices century’s old, hay meadows are an iconic feature of the British landscape. We are now realising that hay meadows are more than just a means of producing fodder for livestock, but are actually of ecological and cultural significance. It comes as a blow to all of us when we realise they have declined by 97% since the Second World War, brought about by the advancement in agricultural practises, such as the switch to silage production instead of hay. Such deterioration has had and will have serious consequences for the wildlife and people who rely on them.

Significance for Nature Conservation

Hay meadows are extremely valuable to plants, vertebrates, birds and mammals, with thousands of species depending on them for their survival. They are biologically diverse and incredibly species rich, providing ideal nesting and feeding grounds for many of our beloved British birds such as the Lapwing, Redwing and Snipe. A recent study has shown that the switch from hay making to silage has already had detrimental effects on breeding populations of Yellow Wagtails. This is because silage production involves earlier cutting times, which has resulted in the bird’s nests being destroyed before the chicks have had a chance to fledge. This is just one example of the detrimental effects the decline in hay meadows to make way for silage production is having on the natural ecosystem.

With hay meadows being of such ecological significance their demise would impact the environment in more ways than we could possibly imagine. The close knit community of a hay meadow environment is finely tuned with one another, it wouldn’t take a lot to tip this delicate balance into turmoil.

Significance for Cultural Conservation

From first impressions it’s hard to believe how hay meadows have impacted our cultural heritage and identity, it’s just a field right? But have you ever thought about the phrase ‘make hay whilst the sun shines’, right there is an example of how hay meadows have not only influenced our language, but also our lifestyle. Up until the Second World War, hay time was the most important time of the year, an event enjoyed by the whole village. Everybody would help with the harvest, and if you finished early then you would simply help your neighbour. Hay time events certainly built rapport between villagers and gave rise to a real sense of community. Hay meadows have also been the basis of many great paintings including Constable’s Hay Wain and Monet’s Across the Meadow as well as influencing the written word, in poems such as John Clare’s July. Influencing communities, language and how we perceive our countryside both in words and pictures, hay meadows are of significant cultural importance and their demise would be a tragic loss to society.

So What Does the Future Look Like for British Hay Meadows?

Well the answer to this question is quite literally like ‘looking for a needle in a haystack’ (pun intended). There are conservation schemes in place to protect hay meadows with ‘good ecological promise’, however far more ‘average’ but still ecologically and culturally important hay meadows are shunned from such schemes. Currently production based subsidies from the government often pay farmers more than a conservation scheme would, therefore it makes economic sense for farmers to develop hay meadows into more productive farmland, and within this economic climate we can’t exactly blame them. Until there is reduction in production-related subsidies or ideally an increase in conservation scheme funding, this will continue to be the primary threat to hay meadows.

With their inherent cultural and ecological value, the demise of the beloved hay meadow is of national importance and should be reflected so in future government policy making and funding.

Further Reading

Riley, M. 2005. Silent meadows: the uncertain decline and conservation of hay meadows in the British landscape. Landscape Research, 30: 437–458.