Sunday, 29 May 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
Farming V2.0 For People Land & Food
My parents met at the local young farmers club, their parents farmed two villages apart. I thought everyone was a farmer, until I went to school. Every relation was farming in some way, cousins, uncles and siblings in law.
I was going to be a farmer forever, I got a degree in agriculture but the farm was not a viable option. I diversified at 22, starting and growing an events business called MotivAction, by the time I had got to 42 none of us in the family were farming. A familiar farming story, over 200,000 (50%) farms have vanished in my lifetime. Now the average age of farmers that are left is over 60 and there are more people in prison than working the land.
The story of my life has been holding onto – albeit as tenant – this small farm over the years of set-aside and then starting to farm again, but totally differently – the objective being to create an ecological alternative to corporate supermarket consumerism. And, at least to have a go at making a future so my children will be able to say I tried. So Emma, my gorgeous agrarian partner, my brother, and I, with the bemusement and support of former farmers, set about farming again.
Reducing the number of farms is deliberate policy, enacted first by UK governments and latterly by the European Union. The big farmers are kept drunk on subsidies whilst the small, medium and family farms have been squeezed out. Farms have been commoditised in order to create and feed a food industry. This is a globally driven policy. Currently there are 1,500,000 small farms in Poland, some of the most biologically sustainable food production enterprises in Europe, being deliberately taken out of business, to make way for global agri-business.
Back in the UK, one supermarket now makes more profit than the whole of UK agriculture. We are reliant on oil and gas to make nitrates and pesticides – these accounting for around 40% of the fossil fuel inputs into agriculture. A few corporations dominate agri-business. Meanwhile the food industry has created an obesity epidemic, costing the UK billions, as well as a population totally disconnected from the land and food.
My father built a pig herd, when this became unviable in 1987, the pigs went, and the land was ‘set-aside’ sown to grass and left fallow – ironically I was studying a degree in agriculture at the time. As happened across Hertfordshire, the animals disappeared from view.
Shortage of cash led to a new business being spawned via a local advert entitled ‘Everyone remembers their first bang’ and inviting people to come to the farm clay shooting. Bizarrely, from this small start, quite a sizeable events business grew over the next 20 years that enabled the farm to be retained. We had fun creating games like ‘Human Table Football’, and ‘Blind Landrover Driving’. But, I knew I didn’t want to do that for the rest of my life.
One thing that commentators all agree on is that food and farming must change. We must feed people in the future without using nitrate fertilisers. The only route that is being seriously considered and actively pursued by the powers that be (corporations and government have revolving doors and set the policy) is more of the same, more agri-business, larger farms, plus the promise of GMO’s being able to fix nitrogen - technical fixes, and the same chemical, and linear industrial model.
Could there be an alternative? Would it involve envisaging farms as a place to produce food, and the farm as a service provider - a polycultural, complex, vertically integrated, systems and ecological approach based on biological efficiency? Would it involve farms that connect directly with customers and so are not slaves to a single or handful of buyers? If we can combine food and farming systems that are environmentally sound and productive, with business models that work, then maybe we can forge an alternative and a renaissance of real food and farming.
Convinced by background reading and given a kick up the butt after falling ill for months and facing my mortality in 2007, my family and I moved from passive observer of the farming scene for 20 years to bringing the family farm back into production. Fire: Aim: Ready has been the approach to establishing a farm to feed people.
Farming v.2.0 at Church Farm
- Vegetable garden of 8 acres growing over 200 varieties of vegetables and herbs grown in Beards Oak Kitchen Gardens.
- New orchard of 8 acres, 130 varieties of fruit: apples, gages, plums, cherries, quince, medlar, damsons and more...
- Vicarage Field 2 acre soft fruit enclosure
- 60 Black Welsh Mountain sheep
- 60 Lleyn sheep & ram
- 30 Red Poll cattle & bull plus followers
- 6 British Lop & 6 Berkshire breeding sows plus boars
- 600 Light Sussex, Cuckoo Maran, Black Rock, Rhode Island Red and White Leghorn hens
- 300 Sasso outdoor reared poultry
- 200 Norfolk Black turkeys
- 100 Embden geese
- 100 Aylesbury ducks
- 3 Bee hives
- 20 acres of new woods in-filled with wild cherry and hazel
- 2 acre walnut orchard
- 4 acres of wild bird seeds and pollen/nectar mix
- 30 acres of woods: 3 of ancient hornbeam coppice, 7 acres of established 60 years old woodland and 20 acres of mixed, mainly hardwoods, planted over the past 10 years
- 2 acres of rough nesting ground amongst a line of old clay pits
- 2 ponds established in 1996, two more flood ponds and a new pond in the vegetable gardens.
All of this depends upon customers. I use the word deliberately rather than consumers. Here we have conscious customers who can see the provenance of their food and get as involved as they like. Some visit nearly every day, to some we deliver. The produce we bring into the store is either from local, organic or fair trade sources.
The happy co-incidence of a farm to feed people is that I tend to say, “come on my land,” and customers never ask me to abuse the animals, chemically castrate the pigs, destroy the hedges or pump carcinogens onto their vegetables. I don’t do this as I eat the produce and live here. The farm does not rely on any one product or customer, true diversity is, I believe, essential for long term resilience in any sphere.
Bird Walk Report from Church Farm this may
I am sorry this report has taken so long but I lost my broadband connection for some time, but now fully back in action.
On Saturday 23rd April 9 adults and 3 children joined me for a bird walk around the farm. It was a fine sunny morning and as we
gathered together we were treated to the repetitive but beautiful song of the Song Thrush sitting in a nearby tree.
We were all hoping the beat last years total of 34 species as we set off. There was a lot of interest amongst the group as we listened to the
various calls of birds, many of which were migrant birds having just returned from their wintering grounds in Africa.
We soon saw House Sparrow, Dunnock, Green Woodpecker, Willow Warbler, Robin, Blackbird, Jackdaw, Collared Dove, Carrion Crow, Wood Pigeon
and Red Legged Partridge before we set off across the fields.
My planned route was cancelled today as the Bull was in attendance with his cows and so an alternative
route was introduced by Faye. Walking across this field we were very close to the large Rookery with the sound of the birds
calling with their raucous song echoing in our ears.
This led us towards the small pond where we saw Great Spotted Woodpecker, Pheasant, Blackcap, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Chaffinch, Blue Tit, Greenfinch, Jay,
Herring Gull, Canada Goose, Grey Heron, Mallard and Moorhen.
Moving on towards Handy Corner we saw Magpie, Swallow, Wren, Great Tit, and Coal Tit. A Skylark was heard calling as it rose from the ground
in its spiraling flight giving us good views. We searched through the mature wood for a Treecreeper but unlike last year I could not find one for the group.we continued our walk along the Hornbeam Track with a smaller group.
As we reached the track leading back to the farm buildings a small flock of Starlings flew over.
We returned to the cafe for a nice cuppa where we saw Pied Wagtail and Linnet, our last bird recorded for the walk.
A total of 36 species which beat last years total and a very enjoyable walk.
Full List:
1. Song Thrush
2. Green Woodpecker
3. Willow Warbler
4. Robin
5. Blackbird
6. Jackdaw
7. Collared Dove
8. Carrion Crow
9. Wood Pigeon
10. Red Legged Partridge
11. Rook
12. Pheasant
13. Blackcap
14. Chiffchaff
15. Whitethroat
16. Chaffinch
17. Blue Tit
18. Herring Gull
19. Canada Goose
20. Grey Heron
21. Mallard
22. Moorhen
23. Magpie
24. Swallow
25. Wren
26. Great Tit
27. Coal Tit
28. Skylark
29. Starling
30. Pied Wagtail
31. Linnet
32. Great Spotted Woodpecker
33. Dunnock
34. Jay
35. House Sparrow
36. Greenfinch
Faye, I hope you enjoyed the walk as much as I did leading it.
Best wishes,
Richard
Friday, 20 May 2011
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Friday, 13 May 2011
Monday, 9 May 2011
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Friday, 6 May 2011
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
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