David lifts Wildlife Friendly Farmer of the Year award

David lifts Wildlife Friendly Farmer of the Year award

4 November 2015

A LOCAL farmer’s commitment to conservation has earned him the accolade of Northern Ireland’s Wildlife Friendly Farmer of the Year.

David Sandford beat off stiff competition at the glittering Farming Life and Danske Bank Awards held at the Ramada Hotel in Belfast last Thursday.

David has managed to make his family’s 220-acre arable farm at Portloughan, on the Audleystown Road, near Strangford, a haven for nature and a profit-making enterprise.

As well as providing habitats for Irish hares, skylarks and yellowhammers,  David is also driving ahead with an ambitious project to reintroduce Irish grey partridges, which were declared extinct in Northern Ireland in 1992.

The birds were once a common sight on the farm and David is determined to see them return to the local countryside where they once belonged.

Last year he obtained 12 pairs from the Republic of Ireland for breeding stock. Within the next fortnight he hopes to release 40 offspring into the wild, along with their parents.

“I’m very excited about this project,” David said. “I last saw Irish grey partridge on our farm about 40 years ago and it will be wonderful to see them back.”

David will have a few worries once they are released, including the weather and predators such as foxes, magpies and rats.

“The acid test will be if we have provided the right habitat for them,” he continued. “All around our fields we have provided rough grass margins which will give them somewhere to survive. We have also planted some wild bird cover where the young birds can forage.”

In addition to all this, over the last 20 years David and his family have planted around 10,000 native trees around the farm, which have also benefited the natural habitat.

David is also working closely with RSPB Northern Ireland as part of the charity’s Yellowhammer Focus Area Project.

East Down is a stronghold for priority seed-eating birds which have declined in the UK and Ireland mainly due to a loss of habitat.

However, targeted advice and actions by farmers in the area, such as planting wild bird cover and leaving rough grass margins, have seen an impressive 79 per cent increase in the number of seed-eating yellowhammers.

David, who retired from his career in the motor trade three years ago, says he enjoys being a farmer. “I absolutely love it. This is a family farm and it’s great to have an input. Our aim has been to make it a farm with a broad biodiversity.”

David says he has been encouraged and supported by his family, including his 92 year-old father, Ernest, who lives nearby. He also has a right hand man in Stevie Palmer, from Annacloy, who is a trained forester.

He is also grateful to the support he has received from neighbouring farmers, as well as agencies such as the Department of Agriculture and Regional Development, the Game and Conservation Trust, the Irish Grey Partridge Trust and the RSPB.

David added: “I believe that as farmers that we should always be able to find time and space to assist the wildlife we have on our farms. A small field corner left fallow, or hedges being cut in rotation, can make a big difference.”

Commenting on David’s success, Claire Barnett, from the RSPB NI, said: “It was a real pleasure to sponsor the Wildlife Friendly Farmer of the Year category and we were overwhelmed by the number and quality of the entries we received.

“The Sandford family are a shining example of how nature and a profitable farm business can go hand-in-hand. The work David is doing to reintroduce wild grey partridge and his ongoing commitment to providing homes for other birds and wildlife on his farm is fantastic.”