Farmer Statements
The Arun to Adur Cluster Group has provided us as local farmers with an excellent opportunity to communicate, share, learn, experiment, and evolve good farming and environmental practices in a friendly, sociable group. The ability to work and cooperate with stakeholders such as Southern Water, SDNP, Sussex Police and Sussex Wildlife Trust has been exceptionally rewarding for all parties.”
To have a safe space where we can share ideas and learn from neighbours with similar soil types is a fantastic help in facing the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
The A2A has provided a forum for discussion, trialling and implementation of a future broadscale landscape that probably couldn’t be done by any other means.”
Being a small family farm, the Arun to Adur Farmers Group has been instrumental in helping us expand our knowledge on subjects such as soil health, water, and biodiversity. Through workshops, farm walks and training sessions we have gained the expertise to deliver an ideal landscape for nature. The opportunity to network with others managing similar landscapes has been hugely beneficial to learn and share what systems work best. Since being members of the cluster, we have welcomed school groups and talked passionately to visitors about the amazing work that has taken place on a landscape scale to improve biodiversity.”
Arun to Adur has meant learning from others and showing other land managers what we can achieve if we work together.”
Arun to Adur has meant learning from others and showing other land managers what we can achieve if we work together.”
Co-operation, learning and looking to the future!”
The A2A Farmers Group has been most successful in bringing farmers together to discuss how to stem the loss of biodiversity in their locality. These groups will be increasingly important to implement Defra’s proposals for the higher tiers of ELMS.”
It has been very rewarding to work as a group of farmers to deliver real environmental benefit across a wide area of our beautiful downland landscape.”
A2A membership has helped learning on topics such as cover crops for nutrient retention, soil conservation and regeneration, water quality and management for key wildlife species. Since joining the A2A group we have entered Southern Water nitrate schemes; increased use of stubble turnips; planted trees, hedges and wildflowers; made ponds; and broadened field margins. Now looking into agroforestry.”
The farm is a mixture of sheep, beef and corn with a large area of traditional hazel coppice woodland. Due to soil types and topography, over half of the farm is only suited to growing grass and this supports 1,100 breeding sheep and 40 Sussex suckler cows, rearing their own calves as nature intended. The woodland is all traditional hazel coppice with oak and ash overstory that has become ‘overstood’. I have just undertaken a major coppice restoration project to try and get the woodland back in rotation to a proper hazel coppice woodland. This should rejuvenate the hazel. By letting the light back in, the ground flora will once again flourish, and the associated fauna alongside.”
Being part of the A2A cluster group has brought together like-minded farmers, who as a collective now have a greater understanding of the soils that we work with due to our involvement with Southern Water.”
The Arun to Adur Farmers Group is an excellent opportunity for farmers across the area to further understand current issues and to inform opinion. Farmers in the group can build on ideas as members share similar opportunities and challenges regarding nationally important topics, including wildlife conservation in the context of producing food to make a living. The experience of the group is directed by the chairman and informed by wider specific experiences. Farming can be an isolated occupation and meeting with a group to actively build a farming community and to share good practices is crucial.”