Natural England

John Harrison and his daughter Ruth Russell, who run Duggalby High Barn Farm near Malton, beat tough competition to secure top spot in Natural England’s regional ‘Future of Farming’ awards 2008.

The working mixed-arable farm has become a countryside classroom for all ages. It is also exceptionally well managed for wildlife. Star species include song thrush, skylark and the charismatic hare which people love to hear or see.

John Harrison said: “We are delighted to have won this award, its nice to know that our hard work has been recognised. I’m very proud of what we have achieved here. The range of wildlife habitats we have created has encouraged a wide variety of plant and animal species onto the farm. We have used these to educate children and adults about farming and the natural environment”.

John and Ruth will now go forward to the next round of judging which will decide the national winner of the ‘Future of Farming Awards 2008’.

They will be joined at the national award ceremony in November by two farmers who were highly commended in the judging process, Martin Coates at Redshaw Farm, Widdale, Hawes and Andrew Green, Church Farm, Flixborough, Scunthorpe. Both farms were singled out as having a strong family involvement and were committed to delivering high quality land management practices.

Natural England’s Regional Director Peter Nottage said: ‘’Here in Yorkshire and the Humber we are blessed with some of the most wonderful countryside England has to offer. People come from far and wide to enjoy our countryside and the wildlife found here. This surely makes our natural environment one of the most valuable assets we have in the region. We owe a great debt of thanks to our farmers and landowners, who play a vital role in maintaining it and these awards help to recognise this.”

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Notes to editors:

For photographs and further information, contact Howard Botting on 01609 767439 or 077860 28824 howard.botting@naturalengland.org.uk or Emma MacDonald on 0113 2303533 or 07900 608073 emma.macdonald@naturalengland.org.uk

We have a selection of photos that can be sent out to accompany the story. They show the winners and both highly commended farmers on their farms.

1. The criteria used for judging this year’s award reflects Natural England’s integrated approach to management of the natural environment. The regional finalists were chosen because they demonstrate:

• Innovative land management practices that boost biodiversity, public access opportunities and landscape conservation.
• A good understanding of the economic, social and environmental opportunities that biodiversity, public access and landscape conservation brings.
• Pioneering management of the natural environment in one of access, biodiversity or landscape that sets a new standard for the future.

The regional winners, John Harrison and Ruth Russell run Duggleby High Barn Farm, Malton, North Yorkshire. The farm is mixed arable, with a herd of Longhorn Cattle. Present cropping is winter wheat followed by spring barley and then fallow.

The farm is managed with wildlife in mind;

• Over wintered stubble (approx 40ha) is left until mid February to maximise benefit to birds like skylark.
• In autumn the fallow is given a dressing of farmyard manure from the cattle yards before being sown with winter wheat, this not only helps the wheat crop but ensures that the soil maintains many invertibrates, valuable to lapwings and soil structure.
• Key birds regularly seen at High Barn include – Skylark, Lapwing, Curlew, Linnet, Corn Bunting, Tree Sparrow, Grey Partridge, Song Thrush and Yellow Hammer.
• Brown hares thrive in abundance on the Wolds and can be seen in high numbers on the farm.
• Hedge restoration work has been carried out across the farm.
• Fields on the Wold edge have been reverted from arable use and put back to grassland. These two measure have helped to reinforce traditional Wold landscape character.

School groups and organisations like RSPB are regular visitors to the farm. Local Young Farmer Groups have regular meetings on the farm.

The first of our highly commended farmers is Martin Coates at Redshaw Farm, Widdale, Hawes. This is an upland hill farm with a flock of 500 grazing sheep. The farm is within the Yorkshire Dales National Park and as such the land is managed sympathetically to enhance the overall landscape of the surrounding area.

• Walls are repaired and kept in good order.
• Grazing is managed to enhance heather regeneration.
• Work is being done to improve the condition of the hay meadows on the farm.
• Tree planting with native species is taking place in selected Gills.

Priority habitats on the farm mainly consist of wading bird habitat, and the creation of a black grouse breeding site in conjunction with the black grouse regeneration program.

The other highly commended farmer is Andrew Green of Church Farm, Flixborough, Scunthorpe. Established in 1960, the business has seen dramatic changes over the last ten years, including the loss of the main livestock enterprise and the introduction of new enterprises. This includes the Fenestra Conference Centre, which caters for business meetings, conferences, training days and a wide range of other uses.

The farm contains the following habitats, all of which are managed primarily for their nature conservation interest:

• Ancient Hedgerows.
• Cereal Field Margins.
• Lowland Calcareous Grassland.
• Pollen and Nectar Mix
• Field corner management.

There is a network of existing footpaths throughout the farm. Some of these routes have been altered with help of Local Councils to improve safety and quality. Access on the farm is promoted through North Lincs Councils ‘what to do in North Lincs’ web site.

2. Environmental Stewardship was launched on 3 March 2005. It is a Government-funded scheme, managed by Natural England, and open to all farmers. The Scheme funds the delivery of environmental benefits through agriculture and aims to conserve wildlife, maintain and enhance our landscape quality and character, protect our natural resources, and promote public access to the countryside.

It is composed of three tiers:-

• Entry Level Stewardship (ELS), a whole farm scheme which aims to encourage farmers and land managers across England to deliver simple but effective environmental management;
• Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS), which is open to farmers who manage all or part of their land organically;
• Higher Level Stewardship (HLS), which, when combined with ELS or OELS options, aims to deliver significant environmental benefits in high priority areas.

Environmental Stewardship is the latest phase of 21 years of agri-environment schemes which have brought real benefit to the countryside.

These schemes have:

• Delivered 5 million hectares across England under Environmental Stewardship agreements
• Restored more than 17,000 kilometres of hedgerow
• Created more than 4,800 kilometres of footpaths, and 2,400 kilometres of cycle paths and bridleways
• Assisted recovery of a range of species including the stone curlew, bittern, twite, cirl bunting, and chough
• And we are on target to bring 95% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest into favourable condition by 2010.

3. Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the wellbeing and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings.