North Pennines farms recognised by awards

Three North Pennines farms have recently been recognised for their conservation and nature recovery work by awards.

Each year farms from each area in the North of England – Cumbria, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, South and West Yorkshire, Tyne Tees and Northumberland – are nominated for the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Tye Trophy. A judging panel visits the farms in early May to select a winner for each county and these seven winners are then judged by a regional panel in early June and the award is presented at the Great Yorkshire Show.

Judging is based on the integration of wildlife conservation and environmental improvement within their commercial farming operation. The judges also consider the farm’s approach in conserving natural resources as well as its historic features that would include good soil management, efficient use and protection of water quality and energy.

Lead judge, John Fenton, said: “Every year I am always struck by just how much conservation work is being carried out in the countryside, much of it unfunded, by farmers, and is not seen or understood by the general public. One of the highlights of this year’s competition has been the number of wading birds we have seen, particularly curlew, oyster catchers and lapwing.”

The Tyne Tees area winner is Herdship Farm in Harwood-in-Teesdale where farmers, Paul & Jen Johnson, have worked with the North Pennines AONB Partnership as part of the Tees-Swale: Naturally Connected Programme. The judge said the enterprise was “a fine example of farming with the environment, not against it”.

Paul and Jen run cattle and sheep at land that runs up to 1,750ft on their tenanted farm which is in extended Higher Level Stewardship, with the whole plot classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). They have created habitat for ground-nesting birds, such as curlew, lapwing, redshank, oyster catcher, snipe, and black grouse. They have also improved meadow areas by wildflower plug planting to expand populations of rare meadow species. There are no field operations in their species-rich meadows after April with the hay is cut in late-July/August.

The Johnsons have carried out a carbon survey as a base line to influence future land management decisions and are always keen to promote the crucial role of High Nature Value farming in maintaining biodiverse habitats, including hosting events for school groups and other farmers, and the ‘Herdship’ photography exhibition.

John Fenton said: “Highlights that impressed judges include habitats created for ground-nesting birds; no fertilisers used on the ground; working with the Tees-Swale programme which works with farmers to restore, expand and connect habitats across the uplands of Swaledale and Teesdale, enhancing wildlife. I was particularly pleased to see the bird’s eye primrose on the site, which is incredibly scarce.”

Alongside the Tye Trophy, The Farmland Curlew Award was also presented at the Great Yorkshire Show. This new award, launched this year by the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and the Yorkshire Agricultural Society (YAS), recognises and celebrates the work farmers in northern England are doing for Curlew conservation.

Curlews were added to the UK red list of threatened species in December 2015 and are considered to be the most pressing bird conservation priority in the UK. The breeding population of Curlews has nearly halved since the mid 1990s and, in some parts of the UK, there is a risk they will disappear in the next 20 years. Matthew Trevelyan, Farming in Protected Landscapes Officer at Nidderdale AONB, said: “The award has been created to ensure people are aware of this crisis. We also want to highlight the good farming practices that increase breeding success.”.

Regional winners from Cumbria, Lancashire, North Yorkshire, East Yorkshire, South and West Yorkshire, Tyne Tees and Northumberland were selected based on the integration of curlew conservation within their commercial farming operations. The regional winner for the Tyne Tees area is Andrew Robinson of Middle Farm, Holwick. Andrew is also a previous Tyne Tees area winner of the Tye Trophy.

The overall winners of The Farmland Curlew Award are Ian Bell and Rebecca Dickens in Hallbankgate, Cumbria, who are both owners, at Hallbankgate Farm, and tenants, at Tarnhouse Farm which is rented from the RSPB reserve at Geltsdale. Ian and Rebecca earned the award for their work, in partnership with the RSPB, to protect endangered Curlews and other wading birds. Lead judge, John Fenton, praised them for the abundance of curlews on the farm.

Rebecca and Ian protect the landscape for diverse flora and fauna by managing soil health with a minimum use of fertiliser and by creating natural habitats alongside their commercial stock pastures. Their rich meadows, full of birdsfoot trefoil, varieties of vetch, clovers, ragged robin, scabious, and orchids, are a mecca for invertebrates and benefit their stock too. They are a great example that, even in the challenging uplands of the North Pennines, you can run produce quality sustainable food in balance with nature.

They have worked with the North Pennines AONB Partnership through the Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership Scheme and the Farming in Protected Landscapes grant to create wildlife habitats, including scrapes which provide an ideal habitat for wading birds, wild fowl and a huge array of insects, especially dragonflies.