Regeneration game

Under pressure to make ends meet, many farmers drive their land hard, which can take its toll on the health of the soil. But on their Lakeland hill farm, Sam and Claire Beaumont use less intensive, wildlife-friendly methods to raise livestock – and their earnings, writes Karen Lloyd

It’s a warm summer’s day in the Lake District. I’m looking across Ullswater’s blue surface at the traditionally sheep-grazed eastern fells and walking through fields at Gowbarrow Hall farm with Anne Lloyd and daughter Claire Beaumont. As we walk, swallows and martins hawk overhead and peacock butterflies flit between flowerheads on patches of thistles. On this Lakeland farm, though, there is not a single sheep in sight.

“We are turning hill farming on its head,” Claire says. “It’s traditional to put the animals on higher ground in summer and bring them down to the in-bye land [near the farm buildings] in winter. But we’re putting the cattle and native fell ponies up on the higher land – we call it the Winter Block – to over-winter,” she says, pointing uphill.

“They graze in the rough or shelter in the woods and browse vegetation from the trees. The test comes when we see how they have fared come spring. What we are seeing is, the animals are not losing condition.”

Hill farmers are a hardworking lot, many of whom favour continuing the traditional way of farming sheep in the uplands. Others – including some farmers and environmentalists – are concerned that the lack of diversity of grazing animals, together with heavily compacted soils, means that the ground is unable to absorb heavy rainfall. Longer grasses and improved soils help the land to cope with extreme weather and to slow down heavy rainfall. Reducing sheep numbers is one way to reverse the pattern.

REFRAMING FARMING

Conservationists, the Government and others say that the end of hill farming subsidies in 2027, an outcome of Brexit, presents an opportunity to deliver greater public goods in the shape of habitats for pollinators, retention of upland soils and ameliorating flooding.Gowbarrow is at the centre of innovative regenerative farming. “It was a hard decision,” Anne says, “but we sold the sheep on to make way for our new grazing system.”

This gave the opportunity to rest the Winter Block from April to November, enabling flowering plants to return, providing food for pollinators and setting seed before being grazed by the cows again next autumn.

In just one year of change, devil’s-bit scabious, ragged robin, greater bird’s-foot trefoil, sneezewort, harebell and even the uncommon marsh speedwell have begun to reappear in the sward. We pass through a gate and saunter downhill towards a herd of shorthorn cattle ruminating in the shade of a streamside bank of sycamore, oak and alder. Shorthorn cattle are a placid, hardy, native breed and have good disease-resistance and immune systems. The cows have calves at foot and the bull – Lionel – along with yearling bullocks, is dozing in their midst. It is an English idyll; a painting by Gainsborough, albeit with added electric fence.

This is mob grazing, with cattle kept in one group in a reduced area and then moved on to a clean patch every few days. Mob grazing allows the ground to rest, allows grasses and wildflowers to set seed and helps to build the soil. In turn, this creates habitats for pollinators, voles and birds. It was evident how the ecosystem was working as we watched swallows and martins swooping over the herd and sparrows foraging for invertebrates among the cattle. Under conventional grazing regimes, the ground doesn’t have this capacity to rest and repair and biodiversity is therefore greatly restricted. “They’re always happy to move on to the next lot of fresh grass!” Claire says.

I notice the grass was strewn around the cattle like newly cut grass. Three days after they first began mob grazing, the family were horrified by this. “We wondered what on Earth we had done. It looked like mown hay. Our farm worker said it was no good, but we held our nerve.” Four days later, the new growth began to come through.

When the family significantly reduced haymaking and the use of fertilisers and heavy machinery, the farm’s carbon output was reduced.

“Everything begins with the soil,”Anne says, emphasising the importance of “building the microbial bridge”. Microbes form the bridge between soil and plant, making nutrients for plants and converting atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form.

SAVING THE SOIL

So what do the neighbours think of this innovative way of hill farming? “When we chat with them, they say things like, ‘that grass has gone over’. But they are looking from too far away; they’re not seeing what we see.” To illustrate, Claire pulls the grasses apart, revealing the close structure at the base of the plants.

“When we first dug holes to assess soil health, we’d pour water in, but the water just sat there; the earth was compacted clay. Now when we do the percolation test, the water is absorbed straight away. It holds the rain.”

The family are beginning to see how different types of worms inhabit different levels in the earth. They have had an ecologist survey the farm, and can tell the pH of the soil by just looking at which plants are growing.

HEALING THE LAND

Restoration projects are underway in several locations in Cumbria. At Lowther Estates near Penrith, wildflower meadows are being restored, large-scale wood pasture recreation is underway and beavers have been reintroduced to build biodiversity. Wetlands have been created and watercourses slowed.The estate is also commissioning studies to find out which species were once endemic in the landscape, such as the corncrake (pictured), in order to generate ideas about future recovery projects. Elsewhere, in the valleys of Rydal and Scandale, trees and scrub have been replanted; sheep have been replaced by longhorn cattle. The Restoring Hardknott Forest project is returning one of Cumbria’s largest conifer plantations to native woodland, including planting rare aspen.

GRASSLAND GRAZING

The inspiration to switch to regenerative farming came partly from Zimbabwean conservationist Allan Savory. Studying his work, the Beaumonts began to believe it was not necessarily livestock grazing that created problems for the environment, but the way they are grazed. Savory sees livestock management as the key to restoring the world’s grassland soils, the major sink for sequestering atmospheric carbon and minimising the most damaging impacts of farming on the natural world. Keeping soils covered with healthy green plants and creating a diverse set of habitats also contributes towards carbon reduction.

The family brought in agriculture consultant Caroline Grindrod of Wilderculture – an expert in regenerative farming – and, by aligning these processes, have shown that it is possible to farm sustainably and, importantly, to increase profitability.

I wonder how regenerative farming differs from rewilding projects like that at Knepp in Sussex, subject of Isabella Tree’s bestselling 2018 book Wilding: the Return of Nature to a British Farm? “We don’t use the term ‘rewilding,’ where nature gets to decide,” says Claire. “Instead, we’re taking considered decisions for the different areas of the land; already we’re seeing considerable differences.”

Anne is keen on the idea of reciprocity. “When the cattle graze, there’s a reciprocal relationship going on. They eat a third, trample a third, and a third is left behind; in this way the topsoil is developed and the grass is provided with the nutrients of success.”

Under current legislation, meat can be labelled as ‘grass-fed’ if cattle are fed on just 51% grass, the rest as grain or soya. When the Gowbarrow cattle are ready “they travel a very short distance to the local abattoir. The butcher there says the meat is fantastic quality – all fed on 100% grass and forage the cows find growing on the farm.” The family now have a waiting list for the beef.

“We’re still fine-tuning the process,”Anne says. “We’re pleased with the results so far, both for the livestock and the land, but there have been a few sleepless nights trying to decide which is the right choice to make. We’re the only certified Pasture Fed Livestock Association upland farm in the Lake District, and if we can do it, then we like to think that more can follow.”

In the meantime, Claire tells me, the family never tires of those inspirational views.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Visit the farm’s website to find out how to buy their meat and sign up to their mailing list: gowbarrow.co.uk

Karen Lloyd is writer in residence with Lancaster University’s Future Places Centre.

Books include The Gathering Tide and her latest, Abundance: Nature in Recovery (Bloomsbury, 2021)

KEY WILDLIFE SPECIES AT GOWBARROW FARM

1 SNEEZEWORT

Blooming in July and August in damp meadows, this is a late source of nectar for pollinators after other plants have finished flowering. Its white pom-poms attract many insects, especially hoverflies.

2 BETONY

This native perennial of open woods, grassland and hedgerows is an important food source for bees and butterflies. Red-purple flower-spikes crown long slender stems.

3 WATER AVENS

A reintroduced species, water avens inhabits damp places. Its pretty, nodding, multicoloured and bellshaped flowers appear late into September, followed by feathery seed heads.

4 BOG ASPHODEL

These yellow, star-like flowers bloom on peat bogs, damp heaths and moors in early summer, attracting a wide range of pollinators.

5 RED CLOVER

The Beaumont family is trialling spreading certain wildflower seeds, such as red clover, selfheal and ribwort plantain, to reduce the dominance of grasses in the sward.

6 RED SQUIRRELS

In contrast to losses elsewhere due to the more voracious feeding habits of grey squirrels, reds are doing well in the woodland at Gowbarrow.

7 DUNG BEETLE

Increasing numbers of dung beetles are playing a crucial role in natural and agricultural ecosystems. By burying dung, they provide an important source of food for decomposers.

8 BUTTERFLIES

Species seen in Gowbarrow include meadow brown (pictured), ringlet, green veined white, large skipper, small skipper and orange tip.

9 VOLES AND SHREWS

These are in good numbers on the farm, providing food sources for resident barn and tawny owls.

10 CURLEW

Present in the breeding season, these birds have been heard alarm calling, suggesting that chicks have hatched.