Farm visit raises many important issues

On Saturday I was fortunate to be invited for a tour of Bridgemacote Farm, situated on the Severn along from Longney. Graham Littleton, a District councillor who owns the farm, invited 10 of us along to see his farm and gain a greater understanding of the issues facing farmers. I report here some of the issues that got raised along with a look at farming in a flood plain.

Photos: above farm on rise of hill and below empty dairy stalls

Until 1998 it was mainly a Dairy Farm with some 50 to 60 acres of wheat and barley. Graham got out at a time when the future of Dairy farming was starting to look bleak - the situation is even worse now with some 40 dairy farms going out of business every week in this country - an issue I've been trying to tackle for some years - see here for demo I helped organise and most recently here.

Photo: group visiting farm

The farm currently includes 110 acres of wheat, 50 acres of oilseed rape including set aside, 50 acres of forage maize, 15 acres of 2 Stewardship Schemes, 40 acres of permanent grassland and 20 acres for DIY livery. The farm is not organic but Graham showed how he limited the use of fertiliser and sprays. He highlighted various reasons for not moving to organic including persistent weeds in certain fields, economic factors and even the need for patience...

Photo: Problem weed - May weed or Wild chamomile and photo of view through hedge of point where Tewkesbury, Forest of Dean and Stroud District areas meet.

The economics is an important issue - I suspect things will shift over coming years - rising oil prices will start to make alternatives to fertilisers, herbicides etc much more attractive. See my blog from 15th June 2006 for more on Peak Oil and a film about Cuba and how they managed the rransition to a society with very little oil.

Photos: Graham Littleton talking about oil seed rape and photo of us walking through the orchard .

We started to walk with lots of talk at various points as we went. The orchard with it's old varieties, the challenges of maintaining the many hedges, how crops are rotated and more.

One issue that fascinated me was the drainage of many of these fields and the role of the Drainage board. The River Severn is Britain's longest river, rising in mid Wales and flowing for 220 miles to the Bristol Channel. There is an extensive intertidal zone, one of the largest in the UK, comprising mudflats, sand banks, shingle, and rocky platforms - and at times it can overflow it's banks. The problem includes urban areas to the north, east and south of Gloucester city centre which can also be affected by flooding...

Photo: this flood defence has recently been reinforced by more blue clay: it runs parallel to the Severn pictured in the next photo below.

The Environment Agency note that already with flood defences in place, the current annual average damage to property caused by flooding is estimated at £12.8 million. Up to 2,914 properties may be at risk during a one per cent annual probability flood, with damages to properties estimated at £94 million. The social consequences of this flooding are high as floodwaters are deep and fast-flowing and are considered a risk to life. With existing flood risk management, the annual average damage of flooding to property is expected to increase due to climate change and urbanisation. Flood depths and velocities will increase and be more widespread, increasing the risk to life.

Seeing the Severn at low tide here there was some magic to it - seeing it's quietness it was almost unbelievable that it could rise so high and create so much destruction - Graham at one point showed us a field where the water rose to over 2 feet deep in a space of 2 or 3 hours - and covering 1,000 acres!!! Such floods are exceptions but it seems starnge to me with all that we know about rising sea levels etc etc that more is not being considered locally to plan for the future - this does not appear to be part of the Drainage Boards role - the EA or other bodies are responsible for that yet to my mind local people should be having more of a say in this.

How should we manage such floods? Should we let this area flood more to save properties in Gloucester and further upstream? At the moment farmers have to pay the Drainage Board to ensure the ditches and other measures are properly managed but to me it would make more sense to pay farmers to manage the water - to let floods occur across the farm land....

Photo: ditch maintained by the Drainage Board and photo of field returning rapidly to scrub after clay drainage pipes in the field silted up: other fields around still green in contrast.
We finished up with a look at the grain stores then tea and biscuits in the farmhouse kitchen and more talk. It was a most enjoyable morning - and for me good to compare with the three other farms I've visited locally. Perhaps one of the sadest things was that over 6 generations of farming may come to an end when Graham retires - his sons at present do not plan to follow him. Too many of our small and medium farms are disappearing - corporations buying up the land and farming with much less sensitivity.

How can we get young people to get into farming? County farms is one way. What else? Clearly there is the broader picture - I came across this old Green party report on farming - it still stands today.