DHBlog003 · An article by Martin Green, owner of Down Farm
My grandfather bought the very neglected farm back in 1931 and my parents moved in 2 years later. They had a tough struggle keeping their heads above water for the first few years but by the time of the outbreak of the 2nd World War both the farm and economic conditions were improving. A Ministry of Agriculture Inspector who came to the farm during the war was able to report back that it was the most improved farm he had had the pleasure of visiting.
My father initially operated a mixed enterprise, as many chalkland farms did at that time, of cereals, cattle but only for beef as there has never been a dairy here, and sheep. Not a lover of the latter, he dispensed with them during the forties with the comment that “sheep are determined to die”. Pig and chicken rearing enterprises were also added but were phased out in the sixties as the farm increasingly concentrated on cereal production. In fact the demise of the chicken led to my subsequent occupation of their building as a museum!
By the time my father retired in 1979, the farm had increased in size to 520 acres through adjoining land acquisitions in the 1960’s including adjacent Canada Farm. By this time it was wholly cereal producing. My brother and I, who took on the running of the farm, soon went our separate ways and have managed the land as two separate holdings of equal acreage ever since.
For almost a decade I continued the running of the farm as my father had done by growing cereals. However, I was not happy about the intensive, chemically reliant system that cereal farming had become and in which I felt trapped.
I was saddened to see the dramatic declines in farmland wildlife largely brought about by intensive farming of all types. I was looking to make a major change and fortunately this coincided with the start of Government policy to fund Agri-Environment schemes in the late eighties. These had the potential to encompass both the Historic and Natural environments – what seemed a perfect fit here, or a no-brainer in current parlance?
Initially I joined the 5-year Set-aside scheme after bringing in my last cereal harvest in 1988. At that time farms were simply over producing and there were cereal, milk and butter ‘mountains'. This first scheme’s main focus was to help reduce these mountains and secondarily to stop the decline of bio-diversity and begin the restoration of lost habitats.
So instead of preparing our seed beds for the next cereal crop, we planted our fields during that autumn and following spring with a conservation grassland mix, suitable for low density grazing and sufficiently open to allow for significant natural regeneration. That following summer in 1989 the fields were awash with colour. Long dormant seeds not only had the chance to germinate but with the cessation of the use of chemicals, principally sprays and fertilisers, were able to grow unmolested and set seed. Poppies were particularly prominent and included rarer species such as the prickly and long headed varieties.
I was also able to familiarize myself with plants I had only heard my father speak of as once common on the farm but which I had never seen such as corn marigold and Venus’s looking glass. It was a wonderful show and a heartening reminder of nature’s resilience when given the space and conditions.
As the grass established, the cornfield annuals we saw that first summer diminished in subsequent years. However, later we created fallow areas annually within the grassland to allow them to grow unimpeded as well as giving ground nesting areas for farmland birds in decline such as lapwings and the rare stone curlew. Although never common in our area we did used to hear the mournful cry at dusk of these secretive birds but rarely glimpsed them. I remember well the last individual I saw on the farm was in 1975! I was on a tractor and this lone bird was just standing in the field seemingly unbothered by my presence. I even returned to the farm to get my father so he too could enjoy this privileged sight and obligingly it was still there when we returned. The 5-year Set-aside was important for kick-starting the chalk downland we planned to re-establish.
From this excellent start we transferred into the Countryside Stewardship and Habitat Improvement Schemes, which encouraged more positive management, eventually entering into Higher Level Stewardship which came to an end in 2018. During this period significant highlights included planting 2 hectares (7acres) of native broadleaf trees which we christened Lambswood, creating a field pond and some limited hedgerow planting. As the area had traditionally been open downland we didn’t want to close in the landscape with too many hedges and in my view not enough thought is generally given to location. Some roadside planting in our region is creating enclosed corridors to the exclusion of expansive views.
Essential to the management was grazing and we opted for the farm animal synonymous with chalk downland – sheep. After seven years without chemical use we were able to register our land as Organic and likewise needed an Organic status flock. Before stocking I removed miles of old barbed wire fencing, replacing it with appropriate netting.
The sheep arrived by way of a grazing agreement with a neighbour, so now we are not only able to produce first class organic lamb but maintain a healthy environment as well. With careful control of stocking rates we are able to create a seasonal range of sward heights from closely grazed to rank with a range in between. Combined with some areas left for late season hay cutting this gives maximum facility for bio-diversity.
The gradual return of much of the native flora and fauna has been a joy to behold over the years. Birds of prey are a particularly good indicator and have gone from one occasional nester, the kestrel, prior to environmental management, to five species nesting regularly today. The provision of additional nest boxes combined with the dramatic increase in food - insects, small mammals and birds, has had a dramatic effect on this small farm’s ability to sustain higher numbers and a range of species. Natural regeneration of plant species is perhaps best highlighted by the number of orchid species we now have. Although it took nine years for the first one to appear, due no doubt to the efficacy of many years of herbicide use, we now have eight species, the last one only arriving in 2017.
Today, we are about to change from sheep grazing to more expansive grazing with cattle provided by a conservation grazier within the grassland regime, which has a range of sward heights from areas cut for hay in August through to a 20 acre re-wilding area removed from grazing in 2008. Two areas have had late hay cuts only for 25 years and have the richest flora with swathes of pyramidal orchids.
Two 7 acre arable plots are maintained as alternate fallow and wild bird mixes. These have proven to be of great value to smaller birds and their aerial predators as numbers of winter migrant Short Eared Owls, Hen & Marsh Harrier are seen over the farm daily at this time of year.
In 2021 we dug a second 20m diameter field pond and created additional shrub planting to enhance a refugia initially created to examine & restore some Neolithic archaeology. Subsequent colonisation/re-wilding of both the bare chalk and grassland in between has formed a rich diversity here (Wyke Down) particularly attracting both summer and winter migrant bird species as well as plant species including Autumn Gentian, Basil Thyme, Southern Marsh Orchid & Blue Fleabane.
Image credits: Martin Green