Mission Statement for Fowlescombe

Fowlescombe Farm aims to produce safe organic food within a landscape of high biodiversity. Whilst the primary objective for the estate is environmental gain, the farming enterprise itself should make a profit and should be environmentally sustainable. To be achieved with a safe working environment and high welfare standards for the animals. The self catering cottages, Function Room and farm also aims to minimise use of resources and re-use what ever it can. We will shop locally and use local products when ever we can, and encourage others to do so also.

The windmill at rest one Autumn morning 2004 - See below for details

Overview

Fowlescombe is a working farm with an associated Function Room for educational visits and other events. We raise pure Aberdeen Angus cattle and two rare/minority breeds of sheep in a low-intensity operation on largely unimproved or semi-improved grassland. Much of this land is in a Countryside Stewardship and the Organic Entry Level Scheme grazing regimes where the aim is to promote nature conservation. The farm is certified under the Soil Association rules. No insecticides, herbicides or fungicides are used on the crops.

As a business, we will

• ensure that we meet the requirements set by environmental law, prevent pollution, and fulfil the legal Duty of Care for waste disposal.

• aim to ensure we minimise the harmful effects and maximise the beneficial influences that our own activities have on the environment.

To deliver our environmental commitment we have implemented the following actions:

• Use and promotion of local produce by using local shops, and local suppliers

• Waste minimisation by avoiding packaging, and recycling everything we can on the farm

• Recycling glass bottles, paper, metal, food and drink cans, plastic bottles, silage wrap, silage netting, plastic buckets, and other re-cyclables

• We have a very efficient large composting barn and compost bins for the gardens!

• We use composted manure on the land and the both red and white clover content in the swards of our crop rotation to increase fertility. We do not use fertilisers, herbicides or pesticides

• We encourage the use of low public transport, bicycles and walking, car sharing

• We promote and support local environmental projects and groups

• We waste almost nothing – vegetable peelings are composted and all plate scrapings to our dogs, the chickens and peacocks eat other leftovers!

• We grow a great deal of our own vegetables in our garden, thereby advocating the use of seasonal produce

• The farm is certified organic with the Soil association, and run on very traditional lines

• Use of low energy bulbs when practicable

• We generate our own electricity using one wind turbine and two large solar arrays, and use solar tubes to heat water in the Lodge.

• All cleaning products and washing powders are environmentally friendly

• Eco products are used by ourselves and provided for our visitors

• We use recycled loo paper and kitchen roll

• We harvest rainwater from two of our large barns and use spring water for the use of our animals

• We have water meters, and are looking to sink a borehole to use for part of the farm still on mains water

• We use a green tariff for electricity for one of our meters

• We use wood fuel (bio-fuel) for space heating in our house and in the cottages

Our detailed farm policy is shown below. We welcome other ideas.

Environmental Targets

Species diversity and numbers:
A number of interesting species were added to our records in 2002, including visiting lapwings, an actual dormouse, a lesser horseshoe bat colony in the ruins and occasional encounters with these bats and long-eared bats in the restored stable building. Management plans for specific species (or habitats) are often prompted by these records. Plans were written for habitat management for dormice and a ploughing regime with farmland birds in mind. More recently a much more comprehensive plan has been produced for arable land management for the benefit of farmland birds, bearing in mind the need to produce crops as well. We still hope to attract otters and more species of fish.

Current species targets:
- Birds: to record cirl bunting as a) a visiting or b) a nesting species
- Birds: to record lapwings as a nesting species
- Birds: reintroduction of Barn Owls, after 2005 when 50% of Barn Owls across the UK died, including ours
- Mammals: to watch badger activity at one of the farm setts
- Mammals: to detect dormouse activity beyond current area
- Plants: to record more than 20 spikes of Southern marsh orchid on site
Rare breeds of farm animals:
- To sell some breeding sheep so another flock is established or extended - achieved and ongoing
- To acquire a small flock of a third breed of sheep
Continue to monitor progress by systematic surveys:
- Survey the beetle bank in Withycombe for plants, invertebrates and vertebrates
- Survey the margins of the arable fields for threatened arable weeds

Habitat targets:

We are now in the late years of the Countryside Stewardship agreement and much of the scheduled hedgerow planting has been completed. Some additional lengths have been planted outside the scheme and another stretch of hedge will be laid as part of a rural skills training course. An extension to the woodland planting in Rigley has been put back until later in the year because we decided the extra hedgerow work was a higher priority to provide better shelter for stock.

Ponds:
- Complete remedial works to ponds in Slade and establish reed bed
- Assess state of ponds with a simple survey
Hedgerows:
- Follow plans in Countryside Stewardship and OELS agreements
- Produce plan for hedgerow restoration and management for whole of farm
Grasslands:
- Increase area of unimproved grassland. Conduct plant survey of the whole of Church Park to monitor reversion to unimproved status in Higher Church Park
- When time allows survey the West Parks and the Vales as above

Energy and water use:

The aim is to attain an energy neutral state, where energy production on the farm balances bought in energy supplies. There are solar tubes on the lodge and a small windmill in the farmyard. Both houses are built with high levels of insulation to reduce heat losses and have wood burning stoves supplied with logs and offcuts of wood from the farm. Fuel economy is an important factor in choosing equipment and how it is used on the farm. Most of the water used for farm purposes comes from springs, which has the bonus that no chemicals are used to treat it. It is currently free, but this should not encourage profligacy.

Diesel for farm vehicles:
- Plan how to reduce this by 20%
Farm water use:
- Plan how to reduce mains water use by 20%
- Collect rain water from the Top Park barns and gravity feed to troughs in adjacent fields
Windmill:
Generate all the electricity needs for the farm, and export the rest for others to use sustainable power services - ongoing. Put in a second windmill

Waste reduction and recycling:
Waste minimization and recycling help control farm costs and reduce the amount of good land filled with people's 'rubbish'. This policy should be observed by everyone: staff, contractors, visitors and residents.

As a rule consider if something can be reused rather than throwing it away:
- No paper or wood to be put in skip
- Paper suitable for recycling should be kept in separate pile
- Glass and plastic bottles and food and drinks cans to be rinsed and retained for recycling, unless contents e.g. motor oil prevent this
- Plastic that is not recyclable or reusable such as bale wrap to be biodegradable if possible
Waste wood from forestry work:
- Salvage anything that may be of interest to a woodturner
- Poles to be retained for hedging work or cut into lengths for firewood
- Turn smaller brashings and pieces into wood chip or stack in piles in woods for habitat
Waste wood from building work:
- Salvage anything that may be of use for making things on farm and store out of the rain
- Remainder can be used on farm or by a neighbour in certain wood burners

Pollution and Use of Chemicals

The aim is to reach a state of nutrient balance on the farm, where inputs are minimized by good husbandry techniques for land, soil and livestock, making use of natural processes such as nitrogen fixing by leguminous plants and composting and spreading manure to maintain a good humus level in the soil. Livestock density should be kept to a level which will limit damage to the ground by poaching and avoid the need for high fertilizer inputs to forces grass growth.

Soil fertility and erosion of soil:
- Regular soil testing
- Appropriate timing of application of compost / manure to get uptake by crop not leaching losses
- Use of green manures to reduce soil erosion and retain soil nutrients between crops
- Use of white and red clover lays in rotation to put fertility back into the ground
- Retention of hedges to reduce soil erosion
Management of manure and dirty water:
- Composting barn to avoid runoff
and the ability to compost manure properly
- No use of chemicals to ensure dirty water does not add pollutants to land
Chemicals/veterinary products used on site:
- Farm production to organic standards
- Use non-persistent, rapidly biodegradable products
- Where alternatives are available choose products with no COSHH or
environmental hazard warning e.g. biocrimp products
- Faecal egg counting and clean grazing policy to control use of wormers