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By Royal Appointment

Oakbank are delighted to announce that we have been granted the Royal Warrant as “Suppliers of Conservation Seeds” .   This is in recognition of our work at both Sandringham and Windsor with the Game Departments and is a real feather in our cap!

“We are obviously delighted to have been acknowledged in this way” said Tim Furbank, Director of Oakbank, “ Working on the Royal Estates has been a great privilege and the results that have been achieved at Sandringham with the Grey Partridge have been quite remarkable.  David Clark and his team should all be very proud.”

Miscanthus Open Day

Oakbank recently held an open day for growers and keepers to look at the increasingly popular  Miscanthus crop.  The event was held at  Manor Farm, Glapthorn, Nr Oundle, PE8 5BJ , courtesy of Mr & Mrs Bruce Wilkinson, farmers that have over 200 acres of Miscanthus on their farm.  The event was also attended by Steve Croxton of Renewable Energy Crops who discussed the opportunity for getting the crop planted under the Energy Crops Scheme, with a buy back contract for the cane.

The farmers were clearly intrigued by the crop as a commercial opportunity, but all the keepers there were convinced about the crops potential as a warm, secure game cover.  Ian Gould, Director at Oakbank said “there is no doubt that this crop has a role to play on some shoots as a game crop, but there are some issues that growers should be aware of.  The first year crop does not give good cover and it is difficult to plant a successful nurse crop. However, once established it provides many years of excellent cover with the possibility of selling the crop of Miscanthus Cane ”.

For more information on growing Miscanthus as an energy crop or a game cover, please contact us at the office.

Minister raises the stakes for the CFE

Jim Paice, Minister for Agriculture, has written an open letter to the industry in which he clearly states he will consider regulation should the Campaign fail. This may take a similar form to the regulation which has been introduced in France, which by 2012 will require all farmers to place 5% of their land under unpaid environmental management.  Our view is that this would be highly undesirable for British farming, so we all need to do our bit to prevent further regulation being imposed.