A removed fence line prompted farmer and writer Rob Faux to question the assumption that every available strip of land must be put into crop production. His essay makes a case for retaining the rough edges of farms: shrubs, trees, old gates and undisturbed corners that provide habitat.
Small spaces can support a surprising community
Fence lines can shelter birds, insects and other wildlife. On Faux’s farm, areas that appear untidy to people provide places for frogs and toads to overwinter, ground-nesting bees to remain undisturbed and birds to move between food and cover.
The immediate economic gain from removing a boundary may be only one or two extra crop rows. The ecological loss is harder to price because the space can provide nesting sites, refuge, plant diversity and connections between other habitat areas.
The article is an argument about farm values
This is a personal essay rather than a measured biodiversity trial. Its central point is that a working farm can have purposes beyond maximising cropped area and that some benefits accrue to the wider community of organisms living in the farmscape.
Farmers considering boundary removal can first identify what uses the site, whether it links larger habitats and whether production can be improved elsewhere without losing the refuge. Leaving a place alone can be an intentional management decision.
Read the original report: Pesticide Action Network.