Farmer and Entrepreneur – How to Achieve Biodiversity in the Commercial Sector?
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By Ms C Anne Gow, Farmer Gow’s Ltd - Director
According to the Oxford Dictionary a farm is an area of land, and the buildings on it, used for growing crops and/or keeping animals and a farmer is a person who runs and works on a farm.
In recent times – say the last 40-50 years – the public has been encouraged to consider farmers as only interested in maximising the return on their land and not caring about the environment. That includes removing hedgerows, cropping every available acre / hectare, and generally putting food production ahead of any other consideration. Those policies were of course Government-led, to satisfy public demand for safe and local food at ever lower prices. We are where we are through industrialised farming on a scale never previously envisaged or practised. Meanwhile, household spend on food has fallen year on year to a record low of just 11% of income. Split between grocery shopping and spending on eating out and takeaways, the percentage spent on shopping for food to prepare meals at home continues to fall while meals out / takeaway spend is increasing.
Food production and consumption is a constantly changing ‘environment’ and always a hot topic of conversation from the latest gastronomic delight to the local Food Bank but these conversations often now include an awareness of the environmental impact of each mouthful, which is a positive development in my view.
As the daughter of a farmer who worked in Eire, Zambia and England – three very different farming systems – I can confirm that the most important lesson my father taught me was that to be a custodian of land, whether as a landowner or a tenant, has a responsibility to respect and manage the land to the best of their ability.
He was a tenant farmer of over 1,000 acres / 404 hectares, I am the landowner of just 28 acres / 11 hectares. Despite never owning any of the three farms he managed my father loved each and every acre and did his best to farm according to the ‘best practice’ of the time. In the 1990s he was bemused by my hedgerow restoration efforts, both hedge laying and planting, because he had been paid by successive Governments, in earlier decades, to remove them.
Today I am a farmer, rearing livestock and producing free range eggs on Henleaze Farm, which lies between the villages of Longcot and Fernham, near Faringdon in Oxfordshire. I am also an entrepreneur because the tiny size of my holding is not viable in conventional farming terms, particularly of the larger herbivores.
In 2007 Henleaze Farm was offered for sale, the previous tenant having declared that he could not justify paying any rent to the landowner. There was huge interest in the property – much of it for commercial development – but I was eventually able to buy the holding. I invested everything I owned into the land purchase and conversion of the former silage clamp into a farm shop, office, kitchen and tea room area. I then focused on becoming a broad / wide minded entrepreneur because I needed to create enough business activity to service costs including the substantial mortgage. How to be viable whilst respecting and enhancing nature was a challenge!
Here we are in 2024 and there are now seven businesses operating on the farm including mine: Farmer Gow’s and Countryside Education. Five of these businesses are land based, focused on protecting the environment as a core business ethic. My staff and I, and my tenants, all work hard to make a living but also to positively enhance the farm’s biodiversity. None of the businesses are charities although one tenant operates as a Social Enterprise.
Where once the fields were managed for intensive arable and DIY livery horses, with thin and gappy hedgerows, the fields are now extensive grassland and the hedgerows thick and healthy. In 2009-11 we planted a new 5-acre woodland which today stands tall above us. Tenants have planted new hedgerows as part of their tenancy agreements. The Glamping business operates amongst a spectacular wild flower meadow. All the tenants engage with members of the public, intent on direct sales with maximum added value. The farm is now stable and viable.
As well as establishing new hedgerows and plentiful long grasses, with no technical knowledge in terms of ecology or environmental management, we have intermittently used the Merlin wild bird app, over the last three years, as a tool for identifying wild species living on or visiting the farm. If we have healthy wild bird populations our logic is that we have plenty of other wildlife too.
To date 104 wild bird species have been recorded, 70-80 species each year. Some 22% of those species are Red on the RSPB register, 34% Amber. We are making a substantial contribution to 56% of species which struggle in other environments. We have yet to record other positive outcomes – tight budgets and limited resources currently prohibit further research.
Henleaze Farm, within sight of the White Horse on Uffington Hill, lies in beautiful western Oxfordshire just outside the market town of Faringdon and roughly half way between Oxford and Swindon. ‘Farmer Gow’s’ on Google maps will show you our exact location. The farm’s biodiversity is now part of our offering to members of the public, including schools, enhancing the overall visitor experience. Grazing animals, including our own cattle, sheep, goats and pigs (low stocking densities) are key to the management of the farm. Staff have mostly been trained in-house, animal husbandry and environmental skills being a rare combination in the employment pool.
We recruit new staff who are self-motivated, flexible and organised, with a genuine interest and willingness to learn. The team’s focus is on providing:
- A welcoming and rich visitor experience
- Excellent customer service
- Team lead and collaborative working
- Practical farm and conservation management
- Good governance, record management and information handling
- Maintenance of the highest health and safety standards
Our current most successful and highly valued project is a 2-year Farm Animal work experience programme aimed at students at the start of their careers and keen to work with animals. Most applicants are urban raised, have limited countryside experience and are attending college on 2 or 3-year animal courses.
We welcome two new students each year, on a 1-day per week commitment. The first year is voluntary, the second year paid, provided they reach the required standard (they all do!). The second year is also about ‘Giving Back’ because 2nd year students mentor 1st year novices as well as learning customer service skills in the farm shop and reception. Engagement with parents is key – because transport is such a big factor in enabling students to get to us especially when there aren’t any local bus services. Students can travel 10+ miles to reach us. Our key business objective is 'Putting People at the Heart of the Countryside Environment'.
Further information
Henleaze Farm was purchased in 2007 to provide a permanent home for the Farmer Gow’s business. Countryside Education developed alongside public access, with particular focus on Early Years and Key Stages 1 and 2. Inspiring today’s youngsters to enjoy and care for the countryside, is an important business aim / ethic.
Owner Businesses
- Farmer Gow’s - Public Access to farming and the countryside
- Countryside Education - Early Years to Key Stage 2, Day Trips and Mobile Farm
Tenants
- The Oxford Yurt - Seasonal Glamping in wildlife meadow - http://theoxfordyurt.co.uk
- Oxford Oak Camping - Seasonal Camping and Glamping - https://www.theoxfordoakcamping.co.uk
- Smart Greens UK - Horticulture & Aquaponics, including Educational Services - https://www.smart-greens.uk
- Bark & Berry - Dog Grooming - https://www.bark-berry.co.uk
- LissieLou - Cake Decorations & Equipment - https://lissielou.com / Cake School - https://lissieloucakeschool.com
Fernham Road, Longcot, Faringdon, Oxfordshire, SN7 7PR
01793 780555 | 07714 455400
Email Farmer Gow's
farmergows.co.uk
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