NATIONAL Trust staff and their farm tenants spent three days together last week visiting innovative farms across the north of England (Mon 25-Weds 27 Nov).
The conservation charity’s ‘Farm Innovation Group’ brings Trust farm tenants, estate managers and farming advisers together to explore new ideas in farming. This time the annual trip took a group of 40 people to look at farm businesses in Yorkshire, Northumberland, the Scottish Borders and Cumbria.
Organised by Deborah Crossan from Innovation for Agriculture, they met beef, arable and dairy farmers and an egg producer. All run successful businesses combining high quality production, resource protection, nature conservation and diversification initiatives. Innovation was demonstrated through new technology and revisiting traditional approaches to managing land.
Ahead of World Soils Day (Thursday 5 December) it was also an opportunity to share best practice and highlight the important role farmers play in managing, protecting and sustaining soils.
On one farm the group learned how the tradition of sowing pastures with grass and clovers and deep-rooting plants, producing herbal leys, was being used. A diverse plant mix is good for the soil, its structure, and provides nutritious grazing for cattle and sheep. It’s also good for wildlife.
“Sustainable soil management is fundamental to profitable farm businesses, a thriving and diverse natural environment and responding to climate change,” explained Deborah Crossan.
“Showcasing exceptional farmers who are pioneering new approaches and sharing ideas with others is a great way for farmers to help each other. Soil is one of our most precious resources,” she added.
On the tour was a Trust senior rural surveyor in the West Lakes, Robin Witchell. He said: “The trip concluded with a visit to Trust tenant Richard Park at Low Sizergh Farm, Kendal. Richard has been on previous tours and is an advocate of the format.
“This time we were visiting him to hear how he is optimising forage production across 300 acres, farmed organically, to support his 170 dairy cows and 200 mule ewes.
“The farm’s grazing fields for cows are split into paddocks which are grazed on a 28-day rotation. Herbal leys have been established for nutritional benefit and nutrient cycling using species such as Chicory, Plantain, Timothy as well as Clovers and Ryegrasses.
“The cows are the arbiters of how well the system works. Their yields provide high quality milk. Some goes straight to the public, through a farm vending machine, with the majority going to milk cooperative OMSCO,”
Robin Witchell says the event is a great way for Trust staff to spend time with tenant farmers, to better understand each other’s needs. He said: “It’s good to find out how other farmers are tackling the issues and opportunities in the industry which help us and our tenants manage, in partnership, 92 farms across Cumbria.
“We saw innovative approaches to the management of grassland, crop establishment, boosting soil organic matter and carbon, and the importance of a diversified business in the often, high-risk agricultural sector.
“And we saw many farm businesses trying new methods to manage their systems to be sustainable for generations to come. The overwhelming message was that soil is the starting point for life and needs to be nurtured and looked after, as a complex environment,” he concluded.