What nature-friendly farming practices have you introduced on your farm?
Over and above the 170 acres in stewardship, which we found too prescriptive, we’ve planted 5 miles of hedgerows, several thousand trees, and several miles of pollen and nectar mixes. We also work with Operation Turtle Dove as Kent is a stronghold in the UK, so we provide the habitat for them to nest, which we are planning to expand this spring.
What have been the impacts of nature-friendly practices on your farm?
The recognition that we are farming in nature-friendly way has certainly enabled us to be viewed as responsible landowners and farmers which makes getting planning decisions easier. The economic impacts are still anecdotal, but they seem to be beneficial. The environmental ones are demonstrably positive.
Will Brexit affect you and how?
No one knows yet. The trade deal will have a huge impact. If food is imported with lower environmental and welfare standards, which is not legal to produce in this country, we will not be able to compete. We are also obviously dependent on the role of the Agriculture Bill where the detail will be critical.
What do you think of farming policy and what needs to change?
Moving on to ‘public money for public goods’ is what the public want, so should work. The policy also needs high standards, for international trade and locally, and it must encourage long-term planning. For example, I would like to see inheritance tax relief only given to farms which pass an environmental audit. I would like to encourage young people to get in long-term arrangements so we can make a long-term change. Finally, we need delivery by people with environmental and agricultural training, so we can achieve locally agreed aims.
What do you need from consumers – how can they help?
Consumers can make a difference – one supermarket chain said they would never have Fairtrade products on their shelves, and they are now full of them – but consumers need information and campaigns to help them. However, we must also be aware of financial constraints and those with limited budgets should not have to choose (because of economic necessity) between responsibly produced products and those that aren’t.
Supermarkets themselves are consumers of farm products and must reflect seasonality, environmental impact and carbon footprint in their pricing structure. For processed foods provenance is especially important. Supermarkets are hugely influential in consumption trends. They need to reflect in their pricing structure environmental impact and carbon footprint. This is just as important in processed foods as well as fresh. Provenance is absolute key.
What nature-friendly farming methods do you need financial support for?
Firstly, we need a flexible and logical approach to schemes on a farm-to farm basis. Currently, inspections can discriminate against farmers trying to be environmentally responsible, for example by penalising farmers who leave scrub for nature on headlands, despite this being good conservation practice. Financial support is necessary for practices that encourage soil preservation and environmental enhancement which will also mitigate climate change e.g. no till drilling, cover crop use, as well as habitat creation. We must also be careful that climate policies do not conflict with enhancement of biodiversity which must be done in tandem.
How do your farming practices make you more resilient to climate change?
We don’t know exactly what climate change means for the UK yet – it might be droughts, floods, colder or milder winters, but what we can do is improve our environment for biodiversity and soil health. We are experimenting with improving soil health by direct drilling, and we put hundreds of acres of cover crops down. I think carbon modelling on farms need to be improved so we can make informed choices.
How will we get farming to change?
In short, environmental farming must be rewarded. Supportive policy for environmental outcomes is pivotal: to enable those who want to do it to flourish and to encourage farmers who aren’t doing it already to do so. Information exchange is key. We will get farming to change by coming together and not being judgemental on the past but looking forward. We need a network to come together and push from the bottom up to influence those at the top to provide policies and direction to provide good food and a healthy environment for all.
What is the value of the NFFN?
It is a network of like-minded people who can learn from each other and lobby policymakers. This network is important to help us understand how nature-friendly farming can progress. It’s not an exact science so information sharing is essential. From large to small, we all must join up, and link up with environmental groups and others in the land sector to work together. NFFN can provide that platform.
