Natural England

The criteria used for judging this year’s award reflect Natural England’s integrated approach to management of the natural environment.

Each regional finalist and runner up were chosen because they demonstrate:

• First-rate 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 access, biodiversity or landscape that sets a new standard for the future.

South West

Regional finalist: Andy Bradford, Brimpts Farm, Dartmoor
Set right at the heart of Dartmoor National Park with pastures stretching down to the East Dart River valley and up to forest and open moorland beyond, Brimpts farm is well placed to diversify from traditional extensive beef farming into sustainable tourism. This year more than 25,000 visitors enjoyed the farm’s attractions such as barn conversion business centre, bed and breakfast accommodation, educational visits for schools, farm walks etc. They achieved 80% occupancy for accommodation and conference and training centre – an enviable figure for a rural location!

Underpinning the business is the extensive beef production – crucial in managing the wildlife rich landscape that brings customers in for the other activities. The farm has an open access policy with visitors allowed to wander freely. The Bradfords have planted 6000 broad-leaved trees and developed a network of way-marked farm trails from a short walk around the farm pond to a longer Biodiversity Trail. A recent addition is the Tin Mine Walk around remains of the 19th century mining industry, with a fully restored water wheel.
www.brimptsfarm.co.uk

Runner up: Dominic Fairman, South Penquite Farm, Bodmin
South Penquite, an 80ha organic beef and sheep hill farm on the edge of Bodmin Moor, is in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and a demonstration holding for the Soil Association and the Westcountry Rivers Trust. It has facilities for field studies, educational groups and schools to learn more about the environment, with a meeting room and a farm train with interpretation boards explaining the farm’s biodiversity. It also operates a highly successful coampsite, which now has Yurt accommodation, and has fishing rights along a 1000m stretch of the De Lank River.

Always looking for the lowest environmental impact, Dominic provides phosphate-free shower gel and recycled toilet rolls and all the shower water is collected from the roof and heated by solar panels. Many visitors arrive on foot or by bicycle using the nearby Sustrans route 3. The farm was judged to be a model for others seeking to diversify in an ethical and environmentally conscious way.
www.southpenquite.co.uk

London and South East

Regional finalist: Keith Datchler, Farm Manager, The Beech Estate, Battle in High Weald AONB
Keith has managed the 772ha estate of ancient meadow landscape within the AONB owned by the Sir John Spencer Wills Trust for 37 years working with five generations of owners. Passionate about conservation and founder trustee of the High Weald Landscape Trust, he has worked hard with the community and farming partners to change the intensive dairy and arable farm into a business that centres on conservation.

Keith has developed an innovative technique that has raised revenue and helped expand the Ashburnham Meadows - one of largest and most important areas of species rich lowland meadow. The Meadows support declining plant species such as dyer’s greenweed and the green winged orchid, together with a wealth of insects including the Linnaeus beetle, previously thought to be extinct in Britain. He runs guided farm walks, runs practical demonstration days and training for countryside managers and provides facilities for academic research.actical demonstration days and training for countryside managers and provides facilities for academic research.

Runner up: Ian Waller, Hampden Bottom Farm, Great Missenden, Chilterns
Ian Waller, a first generation tenant farmer in the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, runs Hampden Bottom arable farm situated on chalk grassland in the Chilterns. It was one of the first, and largest farms, in the South East to be accepted into Natural England’s Higher Level Environmental Stewardship Scheme for Ian’s holistic integrated approach to conservation.

Ian’s conservation work to attract wildlife is paying off – with the recent arrival of four breeding pairs of lapwings using a fallow plot specially managed for ground nesting birds. The farm’s conservation headlands contain rare arable plants such as narrow-leaved corn salad and Venus looking glass. He has established eight areas of chalk grassland from set-aside, one of which has attracted a colony of glow worms, and the lesser butterfly orchid which is thought to be the first in Buckinghamshire since the 1960s. Ian also demonstrates habitat creation designed to help bumblebees to other farmers across the country.

East Anglia

Regional finalist: Barry Brooks and farm manager Gary Gray, Beckhithe Farms, Reedham, Norfolk
Beckhithe Farms won the award for being a national pioneer in innovative management, environmental delivery and landscape scale benefits. With the help of agri-environment schemes they work to very high environmental standards, aiming to be as sustainable as possible. The farm’s commercial beef herd grazes 1215ha of floodplain grazing marsh in the Norfolk Broads.

It is not only the scale of the operation which sets them aside from other producers. Their meat is building a reputation for premium quality, reliability and consistency. They are farming some of the most environmentally sensitive marshland in the heart of the Broads National Park. The farm is located in an area designated a Ramsar site, making it one of the world’s most important wildlife wetlands.

The grazing regime is vital to keep the marshes in a favourable condition for wildlife and delivers outstanding biodiversity benefits. Around 85 pairs of lapwing and 20 pairs of redshank nest on these marshes every year. On the arable land Beckhithe Farms also provide habitat and wild bird seed for farmland birds, including lapwing and grey partridge, and have 6,400m of degraded hedgerow.
www.beckhithefarms.co.uk

Runner up: Sally Bendall, Hollow Trees Farm, Semer, Suffolk
The popular farm shop in tiny Semer village sells freshly picked home grown vegetables, pork, beef and lamb, whilst the small family farm provides an educational hands-on farming experience for visitors and is home to species such as grey partridge, skylark, barn owls, horseshoe and pipistrelle bats and great crested newts. As well as genuine commitment to environmental delivery on the farm, helped by agri-environment schemes, the business has a very positive impact on the local community and economy.
www.hollowtrees.co.uk

East Midlands

Regional finalist: Chris Dowse, Estate manager for Sir Richard Sutton’s Settled Estates, based at Hall Farm in Stainton-le-Vale, near Market Rasen
The 3000 hectare arable farm hosts dozens of group visits each year and achieves Entry Level and Organic Level Stewardship grants from Natural England and hopes to enter the Higher Level Scheme soon. Organically raised beef is slaughtered locally and sold in box schemes across the country and in Waitrose. Hall Farm grazes 35 native breed Lincoln Red Sucklers and 600 North Country Mule gimmer lambs which are bought, reared and sold for breeding. A flock of 100 ewes graze the old grassland covering part of the medieval sunken village of Strixton.

Runner up: David Hutchinson, Manor Farm, Strixton, Wellingborough
Mr Hutchinson introduced new techniques to manage Manor Farm, a 300 ha mainly arable commercial farm, which resulted in increasing numbers of partridge, lapwing, brown hares, waders and finches as well as the little ringed plover. Great care is taken to avoid disturbing ancient Roman, Saxon and Medieval settlements on the site. Visitors to the farm will see commodity crops alongside strips of grass and wildflowers, next to ditches and hedges managed for the benefit of wildlife and a newly-restored lake teeming with pond life. The business has converted a Dutch barn to provide office accommodation with a low carbon input and energy requirement.

West Midlands

Regional finalist: Mark and Liz Lea, Greenacres Farm, Kemberton, Shifnal
Were commended for their achievements in educating children about where their food comes from and managing the natural environment sustainably. Early in 2007 the couple built a green oak framed educational building in the heart of their organic farm. A nearby pond is fed by rainwater from the roof, providing a rich habitat for wildlife. . They run a green waste composting scheme and incorporate rain water collection into their vegetable and herb growing enterprise. This produce is sold locally through an organic box scheme.. Fields have been subdivided and a wide range of crops are grown creating both an attractive and wildlife – rich landscape.

Runner up: Neil, Stephanie and Georgina Dobson (family farm of parents and daughter), The Wall, Kynnersley, Telford
Nominated as regional runners up for their novel techniques for wetland management including hay strewing and wind pumps. The Dobsons are also committed to educating young people about the countryside and , through the Countryside Trust, regularly run visits for disadvantaged youngsters from Birmingham and the Black Country. The restored hay meadows and wet pasture land habitats on the farm are maintained by traditional Galloway cattle and Hebridean sheep which are run as commercial beef and sheep enterprises. The meat is sold through local butchers who specialise in native breed meat.

Yorkshire and Humber

Regional finalist: Throup family, Grange Farm, part of Nun Monkton Estate, near York
Grange Farm, a traditional mixed arable and livestock farm, now regularly opens its gates to groups of school children who use the farm as a living classroom to learn about farming, the rural environment and where their food comes from. The farm’s busy programme of visits draws in children from a range of schools including inner city Leeds and Bradford. The family has also opened up access to horse riders and ramblers by creating several new bridleways and signposted walks.

Runner up: Stephen Ramsden, Northside Head Farm, Middlesmoor, near Harrogate
Stephen Ramsden was commended for his educational work with local schools and groups. Stephen, a livestock farmer, was one of the first people to enter land into the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and is now undertaking environmental work to protect moorland areas on the farm. He has also erected a 6kw wind turbine.

North East

Regional finalist: Graham Dixon, Alwinton Farm, Morpeth, Northumberland National Park
Graham Dixon’s family run upland farm in the Northumberland National Park supply organic lamb to Waitrose. The animals are cared for by a full-time shepherd and grazed on high quality multi-species herb-rich pasture using sustainable, low impact farming systems. Once managed using a high input farming system of fertilizers and slurry, Alwinton Farm is now into its second 10-year Countryside Stewardship Scheme agreement and managed under a certified organic system. Meadows are managed to increase diversity of grasses and flowers, attracting insects, mammals and birds – and hundreds of people who visit the area to enjoy the low stress environment.

Runner up: Chris Hodgson, Piercebridge, Darlington
Chris Hodgson has worked wonders on his 100 per cent organic grassland farm where much of the land has been reclaimed from gravel extraction and had limited worth in terms of biodiversity. Chris has restored old neglected hedgerows and planted new ones. Riverside fields are a carpet of bluebells in the spring and he records locations of ground nesting birds so that grass cutting has little or no impact on them. Visitors to the farm are welcome – some come to their popular farm shop and café, while others enjoy the themed walks. Chris also supports community initiatives such as the Camphill Trust (a farming community for mentally disabled people) by supplying eggs and selling their produce in the shop.

North West

Regional finalist: How Rowlands, Grange Farm, Mickle Trafford, Chester
The Chester farmer pollards willow along the banks of the River Gowy under Natural England’s Higher Level Stewardship Scheme to open up the landscape and encourage breeding lapwings. He has found an unusual use for the harvested willow – as a tasty treat for hungry giraffes, elephants and rhinoceros at nearby Chester Zoo. Mr Rowlands impressed judges with his environmentally friendly farm, where he rears native Red Poll cattle in the lush meadows of the River Gowy valley. Management of the bankside vegetation and sensitive ditch restoration provides a haven for water voles and otters. He also opens the farm to the public and educational visits.

Runner up: Malcolm Handley and Marty Handley, Croasdale House Farm, Clitheroe, Lancashire
Malcolm and Marty were praised for restoring more than 1000m of hedgerow on their farm in Clitheroe and providing educational access to everyone from GCSE geography students to children taking part in a British Wool Market Board wool clipping course. They have reintroduced pedigree Belted Galloway cattle to graze the moorland to encourage regeneration of heather on the Site of Special Scientific Interest. They have also restored a wildflower meadow and built an otter’s holt on the river bank.