Campaign for the Farmed Environment gears up in South East

The Campaign for the Farmed Environment is a voluntary chance for farmers to demonstrate that they can deliver environmental benefits within commercial agriculture. In the South East, the campaign is gearing up to launch across the region in March.

Local liaison groups are driving forward the Campaign in the target areas – where arable farming predominates. For the South East, the target counties are: Hampshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire (taken as one area) and Kent. Local liaison group members include farmers and representatives of all the partner organisations who are making the Campaign happen. A network of beacon farms will help to provide practical information at grassroots level.

 

In the South East, the three local liaison groups are all chaired by farmers who are well-known within the industry. For Hampshire, the chairman is Nick Rowsell, an arable farmer from Stoke Charity, near Winchester, who farms 4,200 acres of which 3,100 is contract farmed.  Award-winning LEAF demonstration farmer Ian Waller of Great Missenden, in Buckinghamshire is the chairman of the local liaison group for Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. Ian farms around 1,800 acres of arable and has 150 acres of land in Higher Level Stewardship in the Chilterns. Tenant farmer Doug Wanstall, who has 4,500 acres of arable crops, laying hens and a food hub at Aldington, near Ashford, is the chairman of the liaison group for Kent.

 

Driving forward the Campaign, with an activity programme, are the county coordinators, all of whom come from an advisory background.  In Hampshire, Peter Thompson, of Cheriton, is the county coordinator. He is well known among the farming fraternity as an adviser for the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, based at Fordingbridge in Hampshire, and delivering advice nationwide.

 

Peter says: "This is a great opportunity for farmers to lead the way, as they so often do, by creating new habitats for farmland birds and other wildlife, while at the same time ensuring that the soil and water on their farms is well protected. If we can all do our bit, not only can we have a flourishing working countryside, but we can also help farmers avoid greater regulation in the future."

 

Laura Francis is the coordinator for the Campaign in the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.  Laura, who has a masters degree in environmental science, is well known to farmers and land managers as an adviser for FWAG (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group). She advises farmers in these three counties from her base at Long Hanborough. It's not unusual to find her helping out on a friend's farms with milking and she's not averse to a spot of lambing.

 

For Kent, Frances Clayton of Kent Downs AONB unit will be coordinating activity. Frances is known to many for her work as a SEEDA-funded champion for the equine sector, focusing on the development of good practice for horse grazing.

 

Ben Underwood, Assistant Regional Director of the CLA in the South East, explains: "The aim is to enhance the farmed environment in a way that does not compromise farm businesses and actually provides opportunities for the industry to show off the voluntary conservation work already being undertaken on many holdings. The coordinators will be arranging local events on demonstration farms, providing guidance and ultimately gaining the support of as many farmers and landowners as possible."

 

NFU South East senior policy adviser Sandra Nichols, who is leading on the Campaign for NFU South East, says: "The Campaign aims to demonstrate that environmental work can work hand in hand with commercial farming. It is bringing together a wealth of people with practical experience which will prove invaluable when delivering advice on the ground."