Category: Uncategorized

Our family has farmed here in North East Essex since the 1880s. In those early days the focus was on sheep, with my great grandfather developing a flock of pedigree Suffolks to graze the extensive marshes that made up most of the farm. The flock was dispersed in 1926 as part of farm re-organisation. A herd of dairy short-horns provided a milking herd at Walton hall farm through the 1940s and 50s, which my parents then evolved into freisian cattle herd. This herd moved to Devereux farm in the mid-1960s, which is where is was when I joined the farm in 1982. Sadly, as with the sheep, the dairy herd was finally sold in 2002 leaving the farm without livestock.

From 2002 the farmland has developed in two directions. Half has been devoted to growing crops of wheat, barley, peas, beans, rape and tares. The rest has been set aside to provide habitat for the wildlife associated with the neighbouring Hamford Water National Nature reserve. Habitat does not just happen, it evolves and nature evolves with it. The term biodiversity is banded about often, but a broad stable biodiversity only happens given an existing viable ecosystem being given time to expand. Our farm has had some traumatic events, such as the 1953 flood.

An uncontrolled flood drowns everything in its path. It contaminates the soil and if not dispersed back to sea, sea water is toxic to terrestrial plant life. Following the 1953 flood the sea walls were rebuilt both by digging clay from the fields closest to the walls, but also by bulldozing the topsoil from them. Before the flood many of these marshes were un-improved grazing marshes with a mix of plant species and microfauna that had been there for possibly centuries. This would of course have sustained a vibrant biodiversity. Many locals lived off plentiful stocks of fish and huge flocks of wildfowl. After 1953 all this changed. The farmland was first planted with grass and took ten years to come back into use. But the traditional grazing marshes had gone and this presented the opportunity to grow arable crops – at a time when both the UK and Europe were still recovering from the war. The early cereal crops would have yielded 2 tons an acre, which rose to 3 tons by the 1980s. But this transition from extensive grazing marsh and and its natural habitat degraded the ability of many species to remain viable in the area. This is not to say that cereal growing on the marshes removed all habitat area. Hedges remained. Wide creeks and ponds provided freshwater areas for breeding waders. Skylarks, grey plover, grey partridge could still be found, but diminishing habitat will also have an impact.

The moral of this story is that farms are not static businesses, they evolve. Over ten years ago the farm started to change again reducing its cereal growing land and returning it to become habitat. The advent of EU based agri-environmental schemes provided a choice of approaches but for our farm developing larger areas of habitat rather than just providing margins around fields seemed the right approach.

One radical project included breaching one of our sea walls to create an intertidal habitat extending a 50 acre area of mature salt marsh within Hamford Water onto our farmland. Crucially it will reduce the impact of a repeat of the 1953 flood as the sea can now flow through the breach in the sea wall and spread out across the land at Devereux farm. It has been a great success and what was once farmland has developed a biodiverse salt marsh.

Why is all this important?

This blog has been focused on the sea buckthorn crop that is developing at Devereux farm. The sea buckthorn project could not have developed if the rest of the farm was not able to support it. In time it will be the sea buckthorn which as a new enterprise will support other new projects that will drive the future viability of the farm. But what drives all of this is the appreciation of how special the working environment of a farm actually is. It grows on you and you become it. The fact it is possible to make a living from this environment is important, but it is valuing the environment as a key resource that makes the business and that will make it sustainable in the future.

This year the lack of rain will impact on all our harvest – both the sea buckthorn and the arable crops. Next year that position will hopefully be better, but if we are really seeing climate change driving different weather patterns then we will have to adapt to meet the challenge.

To a large extent though this farm has never stood still and has for over 100 years been continually changing and adapting – so whatever the weather – and maybe whatever the politics of the time, we will just carry on moving with the times.

April used to be the month for showers there has now been 42 days without any rain. The sea buckthorn field at Devereux farm has had 101 mm of rain since January 1st, this being almost 50% of last year’s total and 40% less of the average over 33 years since 1984.

What does all that mean? The sea buckthorn looks well but there are some odd plants under stress with leaves dessicated and potentially looking as if they might die. This will not be due to lack of rain but more likely these plants are in areas where the soil is predominantly  rank clay. This would put the plants under stress and allow disease to get the upper hand.

I still believe that the compost tea application has a beneficial effect under these conditions. To test the case the Siberian plants will be split up so some will have an application every month, some every six weeks, and some every two months.  This is not necessarily a scientific study but with the plants under stress it will be an indication as to which areas have more/less plants with disease or other stress symptoms.

One of the issues with farming is that every year is different as this season’s weather conditions are indicating. With sea buckthorn there is the added issue that there are no guidelines as to how to manage the crop here in the UK. As the crop is also being grown organically the options are limited. In past year’s the overall weed population has been allowed to grow both between the rows and in-between the plants. This has become a real problem, particularly for weeds like creeping thistle which has spread across the site to such a degree that this year a zero tolerance approach has started. Mowing between the rows every two weeks to a very tight sward height together with striming between the plants.

Striming up until now has been with a Stihl petrol backpack strimer. A great tool, but in the long term reducing the carbon footprint of producing the crop is important. I believe that within 10 years carbon foot-printing will appear on food labels. Apart from that it is only right that we should make every effort to reduce use of fossil fuels – and every small bit counts. So this month a Stihl electric strimer arrived. Its battery is still a real constrain as one battery charge allows striming of about 75 plants only. It then takes 2 hours to recharge. All this means is starting every day with striming, then planning the day so that other jobs fit in-between up to four striming sessions a day. Technology still has a way to go before battery power becomes a fully convenient option, but for now the opportunity of not having to be reliant on the petrol station feels good.

Standards are part of what develops quality. Quality is often a subjective issue and it is made up of many factors. Choosing to be organic fits with the desire not to be using chemicals, which may impact on soil health and product quality. Proving these issues is difficult, but there is certainty in as much as – if you don’t use chemicals, you can be certain that neither soil nor product will have any form of contaminant. Interestingly as Brexit gathers pace, last week, on April 19th the EU established a new electronic tracking system for all imports into the EU of organic products. This aims to further ensure that organic means organic and that food products can be traced back to the grower. Memories of the horse meat scandal in Europe is just one area where fraudulent product labelling tried to pass off substitute product onto consumers.  It is in the best interests of both growers and consumers that there is confidence in standards and this EU system sounds like a positive move to further close loopholes.

Carbon foot-printing has been discussed in terms of food miles, but this is often confusing as sometimes low energy production methods in warm climates can be beneficial against UK production  even with the inclusion of air transport. We have become so used to exotic foods becoming the norm and there being no reliance on seasonal foods that understanding what food miles are acceptable and what are not is difficult to assess. That said the individual producer can influence production methods to reduce energy reliance and use. This is fine but it is only when this is benchmarked against other products that the efforts of the individual can be assessed objectively by the market and the consumer. Carbon foot-printing is just one other standard awaiting acceptance in the marketplace. If climate change is going to be managed then these standards might be one means of ensuring that food production is accountable and able to identify the means to limit its impacts upon the global environment.

As the president of the US has remarked that climate change is a hoax one needs to consider the evidence. As a farmer the weather that we are growing used to is no longer consistent with seasons. As a coastal farmer the seas are becoming more threatening with flood risk from surge tides now becoming a five yearly occurence rather than a once in a lifetime event. The problem with ignoring these issues is that time is not on our side and it is a supremely selfish attitude to think that the problem will not be an issue in our lifetime.

All one can do is do your individual best and hope that collectively enough effort is made that our children and theirs will not have to suffer the consequences of our lack of taking responsibility for these issues.

Devereux farm is in North Essex. An area that has attracted tourists for decades, so much so that it has become known as the “Sunshine Coast”. This name is becoming very apt this year as day after day of sunshine fills our skies. This is good for tourism, but it is starting to become a concern for farmers, growers and gardeners and already there is talk on the radio of hose pipe bans.

We are of course getting used to each year becoming a record year for some form of weather event – the wettest, the driest, the hottest and so on. The discussion as to whether this is climate change driven is not the point. The fact is that we are experiencing weather that is not typical of the last century. President Trump may want to put across his view that climate change is a hoax, but the fact is that the weather we have is noticeably having an impact on our lives.

The Devereux farm sea buckthorn is looking well as it enjoys hot weather and does not like too much rain. The first compost tea application last month has started the monthly cycle that provides both a foliar leaf feed and includes natural microbes that control fungal diseases. This simple organic management is delivering results.

Whereas up until now each year I have allowed a level of weed growth inbetween the plants and between the rows, I am changing this to cutting regularly. This reason for leaving the weeds had been to reduce the amount of mowing/strimming/hand weeding but also in the belief that these weeds harboured beneficial insects that predated on pests like aphids. Unfortunately the result has become an infestation of creeping thistle. The long dry winter has allowed a total weeding process to bring this problem under control. It might well be that once the thistle has died out then I can sow a seed mix which can provide attraction for beneficial insect habitat. But nothing will establish against the rampant spread of thistle.

Mowing and strimming is all very well, but I am concerned as to limiting the amount of fuel I have to use. This principally from an environmental perspective. So this morning i have taken delivery of a battery powered Stihl strimmer. The battery only carries enough charge for 45 minutes of strimming, but this will allow for a daily sweep along the rows and between the plants to trim down thistles as soon as they start to emerge. It would be good to find a mower that is electric, but battery technology still needs to improve to allow for the amount of mowing that needs to be done on the site.

The other form of technology that has arrived this month is a Bio-Acoustic bird scaring system. For the past two years jackdaws and magpies have been attracted to the sea buckthorn to eat the berries. They have particularly targeted the Siberian varieties which have a natural sugar content higher than the German varieties. Scaring rockets, kites, scare crows, flashing tapes have had no impact on the birds’ desire for the fruit. The problem starts once the berries are ripe – so in June through to July and August. At this time of year the birds make use of early sunrise and late sunset. Their activity was caught on a wildlife camera showing how even a large bird can rest on what look like flimsy branches and strip berries with ease.

One of the options would have been to shoot the birds, but this is neither ethically right nor really practical. So netting the plantation is the next best option, but these birds are intelligent and it might still be possible for them to find a way in, then creating the problem of getting them out. The technology option has been around for sometime but equipment has improved. I have chosen the “ScareCrow B.I.R.D system” marketed by Martin Lishman, who also supply the compost tea brewing system I am using. The equipment has three speakers which emit distress calls that different bird species recognise as indicating there is danger in an area. The system has ten different specie calls programmed into it that can be selected to scare specific birds that pose a problem. In theory it has a range of 300 metres which will cover no only the sea buckthorn field site but also the fields adjacent to it. The most mature block of Siberian plants will still be netted, but hopefully the BIRD system will keep the jackdaws away allowing for a successful harvest this year.

A successful harvest of fresh berries will be a first for the UK, but of course sea buckthorn products are available on the internet. These products are marketed as providing a range of benefits, but there is nothing  like fresh fruit itself. A research paper released from University of Exeter recently helps to re-enforce this. The work is based on the consumption of fresh fruit particularly by elderly adults and the impact on improving cognitive performance. The fruit used was blueberry, pomegranate and orange, but all these referred to  the polyphenol content in these fruits – which sea buckthorn is partricularly rich in. Polyphenols come in many forms in different fruits. Flavonones in oranges, flavonoids in blueberries, elligitannins in pomegranate are three individuals named within these fruits, but in effect each fruit has a multiple complex of other polyphenols which provide the health benefits that we all associate with eating fresh fruit and vegetables. It is that fresh issue that makes a difference. Other research work just released from the University of California, Keck school of Medicine illustrates how high potassium levels in some vegetables and fruits can be beneficial for reducing blood pressure. Interestingly this is another characteristic attributed to taking sea buckthorn oil capsules, although not specifically relating to potassium levels in the oil.

All of this relates to how natural foods tend to offer greater benefits, but then it is technology that can provide solutions to how we can minimise our impact on nature.

Weather forecasting must be a thankless task. This week frosts matured into snow. Snow that presenting a wintery countryside scene for a day before returning to cold but not freezing conditions. Mixed in with this came flood warnings. The potential of a serious surge tide coming down the North Sea and overtopping sea walls as happened in 2013.

Memories of the great 1953 floods are still alive in older generations in the area. These recent surge tides are testing  our sea walls even though they are much higher at 5m than they were the 1950s. It was with mixed emotions as I walked our wall on Wednesday this week, wondering how we would react to the sea overtopping these walls and flooding the farm. The predicted tide level was the highest in the month at 4.25m. Predicted levels are calculated forecasts. Tides, like weather are subject to many variables of the regional/local climatic conditions. Surge tides are created from this soup mixture of conditions and form a body of water that increases the tide height over the predicted level. The flood warning that we had for mid week this month was based on a real surge but the one thing that turns a incident into a disaster is timing. Thankfully the surge came down the coast adding nearly a metre to the height of the tide – but it reached us at the time of normal low tide. A huge sigh of relief and another escape from the wrath of nature.

This tidal event came in the same week as a GeoEssex event at the new visitor centre on the Naze at Walton on the Naze. This brought together amateur geologists who have a deep knowledge of our local area. This had a real relevance for our farm as the cliffs on the Naze present a natural barrier that holds the North Sea out of our low lying land. These cliffs are full of fossils and their complex geology has gained them the designation of a Geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The downside of this is the issue that geologists want to see the cliffs continually erode so that the geological strata laid down millions of years ago are exposed to reveal fossil content providing research material that indicates our past deep history.

To many local residents, the concept of allowing the cliffs to fall into the sea is upsetting. Our local landscape is special. This erosion has been happening for thousands of years, but now it seems that our generation will see the last of the Naze disappear altogether if nothing is done to slow the process.

The GeoEssex event was therefore one that could have been a standoff between those who want to see “our” cliffs disappear, and those who was to retain their local landscape heritage.

As it turned out, it was a fascinating day. Fossil collecting on the Naze had started as long ago as the 12th century. The Naze is renown for fossil shark’s teeth, but the early collectors were finding the remains of hippopotamus; rhino; tiger and elephant. Animals of a semi tropical fauna completely alien to our recognition of our  environment today. There have been internationally important collections of bird fossils sourced from the clays beneath the cliffs – revealed only because of the erosive tides. The whole concept that this area was originally part of the floodplain of the ancient rivers Thames and Medway when the North Sea was still land is hard to grasp. But presentation after presentation revealed more detail on the size, scale, timeframe of the development of these ancient landscapes into how we see our land today. As a result I can now see our desire to preserve our landscape differently.

Nature is a powerful agent – as we saw this last week with the threat of the surge tide. It is dynamic. Over millenia our land has seen sea levels rise and fall hundreds of feet in depth, completely changing the landmass we know today. This is not something we can change. We can try to retain the bits we cherish with rock sea defences but in reality, over the next few thousand years natural forces will determine the size and shape of our country.

But having said that – reality is now.  The heartening thing that came out of the GeoEssex event – as with the Oxford Real Farming conference the previous week, was the way that people of different opinions come together to discuss, debate and find ways of working together for a common good.

The new year has already started in a similar theme in the sea buckthorn community. Sea buckthorn is largely know for its berries, but growers have long known that the leaf contain rich and valued nutrients. Across Russia, China and the Himalayan region the leaf has traditionally been used for tea. In September 2016 I was asked by german colleagues to dry the leaves from my Siberian, Latvian and German varieties of sea buckthorn plants so they could be analysed. This project was to assess their polyphenol content compared to leaves from other growers. The results are now developing and indicating that the high levels of nutrients are similar from different locations. The challenge now is to see how we can use the leaves. Although leaves have been used for centuries evidence needs to be provided to satisfy both UK and EU Regulation that leaf is safe and offers the health benefits suggested from traditional use . As with the group co-operation that has formed from the GeoEssex meeting on the Naze – so sea buckthorn growers, processors and researchers from here; northern Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, China and US are coming together with knowledge from experience and research in true co-operation. It is what humans do best.

I hope that in the political world those who will be deciding future relationships between countries across the world will also find a similar spirit of co-operation. We might not be able to change the course of nature, but surely we can ensure that we can live together and make change work for the better.