Facing the future


There is also some light land, farmed in partnership with lo- cal potato farmer and longstand- ing family friend, George Wright. He, and Lord and Hunt, own one farm and rent another, growing spring cereals, rye, peas and po- tatoes, and split profit and loss at the end of the year. David’s wife, Liz, an ecologist, has a big influence on the way the land is farmed, and together they bring an interesting mix of ideas to the business. “We met with Defra during the recent consultation to dis- cuss the challenge of incentivis- ing farmers to do what’s needed regarding biodiversity,” says Da- vid. “We need a carrot rather than a stick approach. The Game Con- servancy Trust has done a lot of work demonstrating how produc- tive farming can go hand in hand with a productive environment.


The wind turbines produce a useful income stream and financial buffer for the farm.


“I don’t think replacing income foregone is enough of an incen- tive, whereas a payment of, say, £1200 a hectare for a managed buffer strip could compete with a wheat gross margin and be fair to the farmer and enrich the en- vironment.”


Cover crops more than replace the cultivator.


Low-lying grazing marsh- “


es, bird seed mixes and floristic margins – 14 per cent of the farm – are in environmental steward- ship schemes, and, with an av- erage field size of just over 7ha, there is a lot of boundary habitat. Hedges are cut every two to three years and coppiced on rotation.


Diversification Guy manages the farm’s diver- sification projects. Five 2.1 meg- awatt wind turbines, commis- sioned in 2012 and leased out to Greencore, produce a very useful


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JULY 2018 • ANGLIA FARMER 43


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