OAKBANK NEWS AND BLOG

We are delighted to announce the launch of The Oakbank Pod , a new series exploring the practical realities of modern land management and conservation across the UK. We will be bringing together farmers, gamekeepers, ecologists and other specialists to share their insights, real‑world experience and stories behind successful conservation projects. Episode 2 - Predator Control 👉 Our second episode is available to stream here , as well as on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. We sat

Addressing deer pressure is a core concern for anyone managing woodlands and the government has just unveiled a 10-year plan to help. In England, land use change, introduction of non-native species and a lack of natural predators have contributed to increased deer impacts. Without action, excessive deer pressure prevents young trees from establishing, degrades habitats (for example, undergrowth habitat loss has contributed to over 90% increase in nightingale numbers since the

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Emma Reynolds, announced in her speech at the NFU Conference the welcome return of the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund (FETF) 2026, with a dedicated budget of £50m. FETF 2026 will re-open for applications on 17th March  and will be available to all eligible farmers, growers, forestry owners and contractors in England (those registered with the RPA with an Single Business Identifier (SBI) number.) 💡 This anno

Defra has unveiled new details of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2026 scheme in England. Announced today at the NFU conference, the SFI 2026 offer will reopen with some significant changes, including more restricted options and a £100,000 payment cap on agreements. At the Oxford Farming Conference in January , Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds already signalled fewer, more targeted options, highlighting that 90% of SFI spending went on fewer than 40 of the 102 avai

This week, a new global report published by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) examines the interdependencies between business and biodiversity. In a world that has to grapple with new ways of achieving economic growth, without further degrading nature, the assessment is that despite data quality and methodologies improving, global business remains too tangled in complexity to deliver meaningful nature-positive action

Another season closes and, unless you are packing for late partridges abroad, the game book and a few photographs are doing most of the talking. Before those memories fade, February is the month to look after what’s left, walk the ground with clear eyes and set foundations for next season. Keep feeding, keep cover Natural food is at its thinnest in February and March, and winter cover is at a premium, especially in locations particularly badly affected by the 2025 drought and

As I made my way to Oxford for my second year at the Conference, the weather warnings made a part of me wonder if we’ll all end up snowed‑in together in the Examination Rooms, Ministers included. It would certainly allow plenty of time for the kind of in‑depth conversations farming needs right now! Joking aside, the Oxford Farming Conference always feels like the perfect place to take stock of where policy in practice is heading, particularly in England. December brought some

The following are good reasons for pruning broadleaf trees in your woodland: to clear rides and tracks for safety reasons to improve appearance to improve the form of the trees for timber and therefore value purposes, i.e. formative pruning   This article covers the last two.   What is Formative Pruning? Formative pruning is an operation carried out on young trees with the objective of ultimately producing a single straight stem of at least 3 m in height with small branches t

Today, the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published the new Environmental Improvement Plan (EIP) for England , - a "detailed roadmap" to deliver legally binding environmental targets under the Environment Act 2021. Alongside the EIP, the government has announced £500 million in public funding for Landscape Recovery , designed to leverage private finance such as Biodiversity Net Gain units and carbon credits, and £85 million to improve and r

This month we bid fond farewell to Ian Gould, who retires from the Oakbank business at the end of 2025, and Jamie Gunn, who is beginning an exciting new chapter in the North of England. We salute their achievements and celebrate how Oakbank-trained talent is helping shape the UK countryside and our industry. Ian Gould: cover-crop revolutionary As co-founder of Oakbank alongside Tim Furbank, Ian has spent more than two decades setting Oakbank up for success as a centre of exce

When planning new tree planting, increasing the diversity of our woodlands is an important way of strengthening them against future threats, such as changing temperature, pests, diseases, wildfires and winter storms. This diversity includes the age and species of trees and the provenance of the plants (i.e. where they come from). Different species will adapt in different ways, so planting lots of different species spreads the risk and increases resilience to a wider range of

As the next Ashes series looms on the cricketing calendar, it’s timely to reflect on how the iconic contest between England and Australia creates a broader spotlight on the raw material behind cricket bats. The sport depends on quality timber from English willow and growing that timber may offer opportunities for landowners. When a bat made from prime English willow is used in Tests, from the famous stroke-play of national heroes to the domestic grass-roots club games that fe

There’s never a day without food on the ground at Brewery Farm, Suffolk. That’s how farmer and keeper Graham Denny has managed to ring over 80,000 birds across his 200-acre holding - proof that when supplementary feeding is done right, it transforms the fortunes of farmland wildlife. Graham’s approach is simple but relentless. Most mornings through winter, he’s out on the quad scattering seed by hand; feeding along the hedgerows and into the cover crops where the little birds

Defra confirms a one-year Countryside Stewardship Mid-Tier extension for over 5,000 English farmers, offering payment continuity and environmental delivery support.

At Oakbank, we spend a lot of time helping clients design and establish new hedge plantings. Done well, they can transform a farm - in...

We spend most of our time working away, alongside farmers, landowners and estate managers, helping to design and deliver habitats that...

Supplementary winter feeding bridges the "hungry gap" for farmland birds from December to April, when natural seed sources run low. Under Countryside Stewardship (AB12) and Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI, AHW2), farmers supply a compliant seed mix weekly across a minimum of two feeding sites per hectare. Using small seeds alongside cereals, feeding little and often and placing feed near existing habitat helps support species such as yellowhammer, corn bunting, linnet and

The start of August saw us welcoming our newest member to the Oakbank team. Max Cowell is currently studying at Harper Adams University...

This season is the first where growing a cover crop after maize is funded under the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 2024, offering...

You can hardly go to an arable farming event without hearing about "cover crops" and "catch crops". But are they worth the space, time...