Project Overview

The project focuses on the Sustainable Green Spring Barley (SGSBP) program, which was launched in 2020 with the goal of promoting sustainability and reducing carbon emissions. Over 200 cereal growers engage in the initiative, which provides financial incentives to employ sustainable regenerative agricultural practices such as hedgerow management, cover crops, uncultivated field margins, unsprayed winter stubbles, and minimum tillage. 

The aims of the project are to:

• estimate the impact of cover crops, cereal crops, winter stubbles, and minimum tillage on soil organic carbon stocks in arable fields
• estimate the impact of cover crops, cereal crops, winter stubbles on winter birds of conservation concern
• estimate the impact of hedgerows and field margins on breeding birds and invertebrates (bees and butterflies)
• conduct a cost-benefit of SGSBP measures and to explore the potential for increasing their implementation

Research outcomes and recommendations are meant to improve the program taking into account current and future markets, that are likely to emerge under projected climate change scenarios.

Fig 1. Soil coring - collecting soil samples for soil organic carbon analysis

Fig 2. Bees and butterflies identified in the field (Left: Bumble bee, Centre: Small copper, Right: Comma)

Fig 3. Hedgerow and field margin surveys

Fig 4. House sparrows Passer domesticus (amber list) on one of the sampled hedgerows in the breeding season 2025