FARMING
Where We Began
Our family have farmed at Climping since 1966 and before that they had farmed in the Scottish borders.
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Over the years farming adapts to the changing world around it. In the post war era the challenges and priorities were different than those of today. World War 2 had led to rationing of food and so food security was of utmost importance, when John Baird came to Climping the nation was in the midst of an agricultural revolution. The Ministry of Agriculture or MAFF as it was known had policies to transform the farmed landscape, grants were offered to remove hedgerows and woodlands, the filling of ditches and ponds went hand in hand with countywide drainage schemes. So in a few short years after his arrival the Bailiffscourt Estate was unrecognisable from the old fashioned model farm with compartmentalised paddocks into the modern and efficient landscape of large open fields that we find today.
At Climping the enterprises in the intervening years have included Potatoes, Pigs, Farm Shops, Beef Cattle, Daffodil flowers and bulbs and a wide variety of cereal crops.
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Farming methods too have changed and so today’s minimum tillage techniques are barely recognisable when compared to the 1960’s agriculture which was dominated by intensive plough based systems.
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Even the community of yesteryear has gone to be replaced by young professionals and retirees who now call the former farm workers cottages home. When John Baird came in 1966 there were over 40 people involved with the farm, today the same acreage is managed by just two.
Farming
Challenges Today
Climate change has already begun to impact our normal seasonal patterns. Prolonged dry spells during the planting seasons make it difficult to get seeds to grow. Record level of rainfall during the late summer can ruin harvests, seeing the whole years’ work go to waste.
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Wider geo-politics such as the war in Ukraine cause volatility in the marketplaces making grain marketing and purchasing decisions incredibly difficult to call.
The UK’s wildlife is continuing to decline according to State of Nature Report 2023.
Overcoming These Challenges
Farming needs to continue to adapt and evolve and this is done quite simply by trial and shared learning with farming neighbours.
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In Climping we have been running trials into reducing artificial nitrogen, feeding soil biology, establishing over winter cover crops, using alternative insecticides such as orange oil, blending wheat varieties to reduce reliance on fungicides and creating habitat for beneficial insects.
Regenerative Agriculture
Today we are early adopters of regenerative agriculture which is a way of farming that works with nature to help tackle climate change and ecological collapse. It is a grassroots revolution; a response by farmers to the environmental damage caused by conventional petrochemical industrial agriculture.
From The Ground Up
Regenerative agriculture starts with building healthy soil by focusing on rebuilding organic matter – and the natural living biodiversity – in the soil.
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This improves the ground’s ability to:
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draw down carbon from the air and store it underground
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hold and clean water
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help wildlife above and below the ground
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produce nutrient-dense food year after year.
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Regenerative agriculture helps farmers be less reliant on oil and chemicals such as pesticides and artificial fertilisers. It helps reduce production costs to support profitability.
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Regenerative agriculture is considered to be good for the planet, good for farmers and good for the rest of us.
