Are you ready? Preparing farmers for the future
26th October 2021
What will your farm look like in five, 10 or even 30 years, and what actions can you take now to create that new future?
That was the question posed to Hampshire farmer Andy Bason on a tour of Newhouse Farm at Alresford at the end of September.
Mr Bason is halfway through the inaugural Resilient & Ready programme – an immersive three- year initiative from crop protection and seed company Corteva Agriscience.
Delivered by LEAF, he is at the helm of one of four farm businesses which are all on the same journey. Around 40 people joined the farm tour, which looked at some key changes Mr Bason is making with the help of his Newhouse team and experts provided through the programme.
The first stop was at a soil pit, and Ian Robertson from Sustainable Soil Management showed the group what soil structures existed on the farm.
Mr Robertson’s role is to carry out detailed soil analysis, which enables farms to understand why their land performs as it does before starting a conversation about nutrition, rotation and cultivations.
“I want to understand both the limitations and benefits of the individual farm’s organic matter in the soil and come up with bespoke solutions,” Mr Robertson said.
For Newhouse Farm, that has meant having discussions about how to ensure that every nutrient applied on the farm is being utilised as best as it can.
Patience is key
Mr Robertson commented: “Patience is key. It is tempting to chase targets, but it’s important to slow down, take stock and consider why an area on the farm doesn’t perform well before taking actions to enhance productivity. Making a three-, four-, or even six-year plan is really important – you may deviate along the way, but at least we know where we’re headed.
“It’s a really exciting time in farming at the moment when we think about how we can make improvements to the environment, but these changes must be based in really simple on-farm practical actions.
“Ultimately, it’s about good farming – if you farm well, you will have more carbon in your soil.”
Another sustainable farming business consultant who spoke at the event was Andy Guy, who has been working with Andy Bason’s team since last year.
He said: “When I got involved, Andy had some great ideas on how to improve the environment on his farm so my role has been to help him to document those ideas into a plan with short, medium and long-term goals. It’s an integrated farm management process, with biodiversity, crop rotation and variety choices all interacting with each other and it’s my job to make sure these elements intertwine.
“My approach can be likened to the three-legged milking stool, encompassing three standards of sustainability: Environmental, social and financial. Every business has a different balance, but creating a plan absolutely helps farmers get the greatest benefit.”
Sustaining diversity and profitability
Farming over 1,000ha of owned and contracted land, the vision at Newhouse is to sustain its diversity and profitability while looking out for opportunities to improve the landscape and engage the public.
The farm is owned by Ian and Victoria Cammack and run by Mr Bason, with operators Matt Johnson and Sam Ward.
Mr Bason is keen to see what agroforestry can deliver to the farm, and will shortly be planting his first trees in strips across one of his arable fields. This was the second stop on the tour of the farm and is where Mr Bason hopes to see a medium- term objective met.
His ambition is to see what benefits trees can bring to the field while utilising the fruit they produce to sell products such as sauces and jams from the farm.
This will augment the pork and lamb box sales the farm has already established, as well a deal to provide milling wheat to a local National Trust mill.
Further public engagement will be delivered this autumn by a newly- established pumpkin patch, where the local community will be invited to a Halloween picking event.
Enhancing natural assets
The final stop on the farm tour was to a stubble field which had just been harvested for the final time.
This winter, Mr Bason will be deer fencing the parcel of land, before planting trees to establish a new woodland.
Kirsty Brannan, farm conservation and woodland adviser at Oakbank, said: “I’ve been working with Andy as he prepares to create a wildlife woodland with a mix of habitats. Having undertaken an audit of Andy’s natural assets, we are now looking at what important habitats and species are already recorded on the site and coming up with ideas for how those assets could be enhanced.
“Farmers are time-stretched, so I hope I am helping farmers like Andy learn to read the land to make important decisions about where the opportunities to make enhancements are. I’m really pleased Andy is taking forward some of the ideas we spoke about last year. I think the real strength of Resilient & Ready is that Andy has been able to draw on so many different people and pools of expertise to get a really rounded view.
“It’s a really good time to understand what environmental assets you have on farm and to start making a wish list of work you would like to do that is waiting for the right support. New funding is emerging all the time, so it’s good to have plans in place to make the most of new opportunities.”
Inspiring farm businesses
Corteva opened the Resilient & Ready programme in 2019, identifying that it could play a leading role in inspiring farm businesses to rise to the challenges of the future.
Giles Field-Rayner, UK business development manager at Corteva Agriscience, said: “With the phasing out of direct farm support over the next six years, and a shift in government policy driving a greater focus on the environment, it’s clear UK and Irish farms are going to have to change and evolve.
“What that means will be different for each farm, and with so much of the policy detail still to come, most businesses are still assessing options.
“What the Resilient & Ready programme aims to do is to inspire those in agriculture to look broadly at where they are and where they want to be.
“Andy is a great example of someone who is embracing change – assessing the resilience of his soils, trialling agroforestry and examining habitat improvements are just
three steps he’s taking, but the farm is open minded and looking for opportunities.”
Trialling new innovations in seed and crop protection is one element of the Resilient & Ready programme.
All the farms have used pipeline biological products from Corteva, and a new product designed to increase nitrogen use efficiency.
Some have grown Pioneer’s new hybrid oilseed rape PT303 Protector Sclerotinia, and applied Univoq – Corteva’s newly-launched cereal fungicide which provides robust protection against Septoria and rust.
Attendees also heard from Nick Down – another Resilient & Ready farmer from the Yattendon Estate in Berkshire.
Nick has implemented significant changes to his business since being selected for the programme, including taking farmland out of food production and into environmental stewardship, testing new product innovations, engaging with wildlife groups to assess the estate’s diversity and reviewing the business’ machinery.
