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Farmer Stories

Simon Hare - Creating a thriving farm ecosystem through livestock management

England
Case Study
Organic
Livestock
Hedgerows

All imagery: Joanne Coates © for the Nature Friendly Farming Network

In 2010, Simon Hare, the third generation of his family farming at Trees House Farm in County Durham, made a huge decision. The farm, which had previously been run as a conventional and intensive dairy operation at its site near Barnard Castle, would change to produce beef in an organic, nature-friendly way.

Over the years, the family’s operations had extended to farming over two farms on 400 acres of grassland in an area Simon describes as not quite lowland but not upland either. However, Simon says he wanted to change some of the ways his father had farmed. “He was very much into planting new hedgerows every year but he was also about maximising production and keeping things tidy in terms of weed control. He put fertilisers and chemical sprays on, and I didn’t fancy doing that. I’ve always been interested in eating healthily and the type of food I eat.”

Simon admits it was not financial pressures that motivated him to switch as the dairy business was profitable and successful, although going organic did make it less reliant on external inputs and their fluctuating prices. He was keen to reduce labour inputs and was interested in the environmental impact of agriculture. Having read about the benefits of grass-fed beef, he was keen to try out raising it at Trees House Farm.

Cattle have been part of the countryside for centuries; they are part of the environment, and they work together with nature.

Simon Hare

Simon went organic in 2010 and then began the gradual process of changing the dairy herd to a suckler system of Shorthorn cows. Starting with around 15 animals, he built the herd up until by 2015 the farm was solely producing beef. Now the farm has around 105 cows, only a slight decrease from the 120-strong herd in its dairy days, and is Pasture for Life certified, meaning the cows are solely fed on grass and forage. “I thought it was great to be able to register to say you are actually doing what you say you’re doing,” he says.

Currently, the cows come in for around three and a half months during the winter, but Simon is working to extend the period of the year they can be outside as far as possible. During the summer, the cattle are regularly moved through the grass pastures, giving long rest periods for long grass growth to benefit insects and nature.

Simon has not done reseeding for around a decade, instead allowing increased grass diversity to happen naturally through dormant seed in the soil regenerating, with traditional species like crested dog’s tail growing on the farm. The cattle are also able to browse hedges and trees on the farm, which also provide shelter. “I’ve learned how ploughing can destroy the soil structure and risk losing carbon from the soil, so I’m trying to see if it will naturally regenerate itself from the soil seed bank now,” Simon says. He tried improving the grass with some direct drilling but decided the results did not justify the cost of it.

Around 70 acres of the farm are set aside for producing a cut of silage for the winter, while another 80 or so acres produce hay. Simon’s main cost now is buying in winter bedding for the animals, with most other inputs eliminated from the farm. With the cost of fertiliser and fuel rocketing in 2022, this has also increased the farm’s financial resilience.

Biodiversity has increased, with more owls on the farm hunting for voles and a number of red-list threatened bird species being spotted in bird surveys. “Just driving around the farm on the quad, you can feel there are more insects and life within the grass and the soil,” Simon said. 

For Simon, farming his cattle and ensuring his agricultural practices benefit the environment and nature around him go hand in hand. “Cattle have been part of the countryside for centuries; they are part of the environment, and they work together with nature. You can see that through the seasons,” he says. “In the summertime, the swallows are all around where the cattle are taking the insects, and then during the wintertime, the starlings follow where the cattle have grazed, picking up what they can on the ground. Cattle and nature have a symbiotic relationship.”

Around a third of Simon’s beef goes to a local organic shop, with the rest going to an abattoir supplying the likes of Marks and Spencer with organic produce. Simon says providing meat for local shops is more satisfying and rewarding as people will make special efforts to support Teesdale farms or seek out grass-fed beef. He is keen to promote pasture-fed beef as something of a superfood, not just for protein but because it contains around 20 different amino acids, which have multiple functions in the human body.

However, he is keenly aware that local produce with high animal welfare standards and environmentally conscious practices comes at a price, and it can be difficult to pitch premium products to consumers in a cost-of-living crisis. Simon is keen to work on ways for people from disadvantaged backgrounds or on low incomes to get access to quality, nutritious food.

“I haven’t come up with the answers yet, but I’d like to see schools able to source well-produced beef and dairy and get products from nature-friendly farms on their menus. It’s hard when you’ve got budgets and can’t afford to pay for it, but I would like to see good-quality food available to more people,” he says.

Simon’s future plans for the farm are focused on planting more hedgerows and working with the Woodland Trust to plant trees in the middle of fields and along the edges to create shelter belts for the animals. He has planted fast-growing willow as it has medicinal properties for the animals when they eat it, and he is also hoping it can be turned into woodchip. 

As Trees House Farm continues to develop on its nature-friendly journey, the important thing for Simon is that everything continues to work as one. “If there’s more wildlife and nature is better, that’s also better and healthier for the cows. The whole system is working together.”