Simon Best farms at Acton House Farm near Poyntzpass in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. His farm is 1,200 acres of predominantly arable land, including an Aberdeen Angus beef herd and green waste composting facility.
Farmer Stories
Simon Best - Acton House Farm, Poyntzpass
Northern Ireland
Q&A
Mixed
arable
Ensuring that we as farmers take a long-term view of sustainability and enhancement of our environment is extremely important. I think most farmers understand this, but agriculture policies have put the sector under huge pressure to deliver low-cost food.
Our environment is one of our greatest assets and politically this hasn’t been supported. Recognising the value of nature-friendly farming is critical for this long-term view.
Simon Best
How do you see the role of the farmer in the UK?
Fundamentally, it is to produce high quality food for our population, while managing the land and the environment for future generations. Decisions that we make today have impacts 40 to 50 years into the future, so we must think long term. The traditional role of farmers is also changing rapidly – we must be prepared to promote what we do, as consumers are becoming more aware, and react to opportunities to ensure we retain viable businesses.
What nature-friendly farming practices have you introduced on your farm?
We’ve been involved in agri-environmental schemes for over 20 years.
We’ve strived to combine a production led arable system with sustainability.
Interventions we’ve made include rough grass margins, pollen nectar mixes, wild bird seed crops, increasing hedgerows, and tree planting.
We produce green waste compost for use on our own land.
We’re a LEAF farm and align the interests of our environment with producing for the local community.
We host Open Farm Weekend every year, link up with local schools, and provide compost and planting boxes to local villages.
What have been the impacts of nature-friendly practices on your farm?
Soil health is the most tangible impact, with the improvement in soil organic matter and fertility. We do bird monitoring with the local community, and this year recorded a pair of breeding lapwings. The water quality around us is also monitored and we have surveyed a thriving otter population on our land. It’s important to measure the value added by nature-friendly practices.
Will Brexit affect you and how?
It’s still unknown how profound the effect will be. The most pressing concern is the future of support payments in the UK. We’ve built some resilience and adaptation into the farm business, and we should be well placed for the future with an already strong focus on environmental improvement. Being in Northern Ireland can provide more questions than answers, but I’m confident progress is now being made.
What do you think of farming policy and what needs to change?
We need a long-term agriculture strategy for UK farming which gives all stakeholders the capacity to plan, and this needs to be regionally devolved to maximise environmental assets in each region. Quality food, enhancement of the environment and thriving rural communities should all exist in tandem. Sufficient funding will be needed, farmers must be dynamic and innovative about how that funding is employed to ensure value add for our environment and the food we produce.
What do you need from consumers – how can they help?
I would encourage consumers to take greater responsibility for the food they consume and its impact on environment. We are all stakeholders, with consumers as important as farmers. As farmers we can help this process with better promotion of the benefits of local food, and a focus on added value rather than a drive to reduce cost. We should embrace the opportunity for the holistic benefits of what farming can deliver for people.
What nature-friendly farming methods do you need financial support for?
We need investment in a proper long-term strategy that is adding value to the environment and communities, and producing what people want. Specific initiatives which add tangible, measurable value over a sustained time frame, can be established on the resulting strategic plan.
How do your farming practices make you more resilient to climate change?
Soils are the key to our resilience – it’s clear how manageable our land is when weather conditions get more challenging. Monitoring water quality and conscious decision making, planning and Integrated Pest Management are simple, logical ways to ensuring resilience to climate change as well as building resilience and efficiency into our business.
Simon Best
How will we get farming to change?
The key is agreement on why change is needed and alignment on how it should be achieved. Change can only occur if there is a clear strategy for both environment and farm businesses. If there is funding and support, farmers in general have long term mindsets. Farmers need to be rewarded for the value they add to food, environment and society.
What is the value of the NFFN?
The NFFN encourages collaboration amongst farmers and stakeholder groups to promote a sustainable future for the industry. It’s important to have a united voice and a forum to reach agreement across different issues. Having everybody around one table, and it being farmer led, means a great opportunity to represent and lobby beyond our own comfort zones.