Countryside Farmer Award shortlist: Andrew Brown

The evidence was clear from this year’s finalists for the Countryside Farmer of the Year title that investing in environmental management can only improve the net profitability of your farm business as well as its sustainability. Debbie Beaton reports from Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Leicestershire

Wheat would have to be £300/t to compete financially with stewardship, according to Andrew Brown, who is passionate about the value that environmental measures are delivering on his 252ha mixed farming business at Fairchilds Lodge in the Welland Valley at Caldecott, Leicestershire.

He joined the Countryside Stewardship Scheme in 2000 and ELS and HLS five and 10 years later respectively. Two-thirds of his Grade 2 and 3 clay loam land is in a wheat, rape, wheat and beans rotation and the remainder in permanent pasture, which is grazed by an easy-care flock of nearly 400 ewes and lambs.

Andrew’s mission statement: “To produce a sustainable and profitable business while working in harmony with the environment” runs through all his decisions.

“Soil, air and water are our three main assets and we must protect them at all costs,” he says.

Awkward corners and the least productive land have been planted into pollen and nectar mixes, wild bird seed and wildflower mixes under HLS, or reverted to permanent pasture. Long foot drains in permanent pasture encourage wading birds, and the results are already impressive.

Farm facts

• 252ha mixed farm with 60% arable and 40% permanent pasture
• 383 easy-care ewes and lambs
• 3ha community woodland

Peewits, hares, little owls and grey partridge are making a comeback on the farm and Andrew is also seeing more red kites, buzzards and owls. And as if on cue, the judges watched a short-eared owl “quartering” the ground for food during their farm walk.

Two-metre buffer strips have been planted around all the arable fields, with 6m strips next to watercourses, avoiding the use of Local Environment Risk Assessment for Pesticides (LERAPS) and risk of water contamination. And on sloping arable fields he has planted 12m buffers to stop run-off during heavy rain.

Andrew is trying to mitigate a carbon imbalance of 593t with a number of measures, including planting a 3ha community woodland in 2004, which is now home to nearly 100 sparrow, owl and bat boxes. Local schoolchildren and scouts helped to plant more than 3,500 indigenous species. This spring, a mile and half of 7,500 new hedgerow plants was established with the help of the local school. Reverting 8ha of arable land into permanent pasture, minimum tillage techniques for wheat and rape, and a stirrer for an on-floor grain store are all attempts to keep costs and carbon output down. “I am also looking into a solar energy project for the large roofed barn,” he says.

The judges liked

Fully integrating the environment within the business

On a crusade to educate, and share with, the public the benefits of farming sustainably

Created new habitats for endangered species

Improvements in the business profits have matched those for wildlife. Annual HLS payments of £32,000 for taking 23ha out of production has eased management and cut production costs. In six years the farm’s profits and turnover have almost doubled to their current level of £120,000 and £500,000 respectively. He sells his wheat on contract to Weetabix for a premium, and receives a premium for LEAF-accredited oilseed rape.

Andrew is constantly looking for ways to be more efficient and the use of contractors for main heavy arable work has been critical to this.

A new fertiliser spreader bought this year uses a computer to alter rates on the move, which not only saves money but avoids possible nitrate pollution. A Nomix spot sprayer also helps him target injurious weed control in his margins.Andrew is on a personal mission to promote and defend British agriculture. He not only hosts numerous school, UK farmer and international agricultural visits, but also finds time to chair the local NFU regional branch.

He is also a director of the Oxford Farming Conference, a STEM ambassador for Rutland and Leicestershire and is also helping to organise Farming in the Park in London next year.

He has lobbied Brussels and Westminster parliaments, won several regional and local awards for conservation and writes regularly for the local press as well as appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme.

A word from our sponsor

Caring for the environment is at the heart of NWF Agriculture’s business. That is why we are so delighted to support the outstanding innovation and commitment of these three finalists in creating truly sustainable farming businesses.”
David Warrington, managing director, NWF Agriculture

Read more

Meet the other 2012 finalists

Find out more about the 2012 Farmers Weekly Awards including details on how to book tables for the event’s glittering London awards bash