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Sometimes nothing happens then sometimes everything happens.  It’s the nature of farming and I remember my late Grandfather (repeating his grandfather) saying “a good farmer can do 6 days work in 3 and 3 days work in 6”, meaning that you flex your effort and energy based on what needs doing not an arbitrary 8 hours…  The advantage of arable farming of course is that you do – occasionally – get the breaks.

Anyway, it’s harvest time so that means while thinking of the next few weeks of activity we also need to plan what will be sown when.  We need to organise not only the combine but also the primary cultivation and sowing and for oilseed rape this all needs to happen before the middle of August.

That means I have next year’s cropping plan.  It’s quite heavily influenced by the performance of last year’s crops, the market predictions, the needs of the soil and this year the impact of the housing development.

The yellow areas will be Oilseed rape, harvested in the next week or so and, some digestate applied (known to farmers as rocket fuel as it’s that good nutritionally) then primary cultivation and sowing.

The cropping map is once again available on the front page if you want to refer to it.

So the team will be busy, if you see them working give them a wave and a smile.  Even better take pics and share them.  It’s an exciting and rewarding time of year for us (even though we’re tired) so we appreciate a wave.

So this is it, it’s out there in the public domain (www.northhemel.co.uk).  Dad and I had no prior knowledge of this going out and feel rather blindsided by its publication.  It is however the direction of travel for our farmland.

There are a few reasons for going down this path, the first is that we saw it as inevitable.  Back in the 1960’s my grandfather had a nervous breakdown as he saw his award winning farm (for wartime productivity) compulsory purchased for Hemel New Town.  He then had to endure watching the cookie-cutter houses of Woodhall farm and Grove hill erected, had to see the history that he and his predecessors had nurtured destroyed.  For his 200 acres he received less money than the local scrapyard received for 1/2 an acre leaving him feeling cheated and devastated.

The next reason is farm profitability.  We farm about 550 acres and the average profit for the last 10 years (I did the calculations yesterday) was £114.  That’s it, not a misprint.  That’s all the profit to share as wages between the business owners.  It’s not even enough to buy newspapers.

Given these two factors almost 5 years ago we looked for a way to progress and engaged an Lincolnshire agency to help us. We had two very clear criteria for the whole process:

1. Be excellent.  Meaning have a quality output with exceptional standards.  Reflect the local architectural standards and be complimentary to the natural environment
2. Be sympathetic to our neighbours, let’s try to have the maximum positive impact to those that have lived on and around this area for years.

We looked for various partners and agreed a way forward with Bloor Homes.  It’s a long term partnership and one that we believe will deliver against these values.  As you can see we’ve specifically tried to protect the Redbourn valley from development.

This “progress” will likely happen over a years long timeframe and I’m quite wary of the effect it will have on Dad.  I hope you can see that given our history it’s not about “selling out” but is about protecting the history and legacy of the Stanbridge Family as much as we can.  Is about protecting the mental health of my 75 year old Father.  In our perfect world we would remain farming this land (which 7 generations of my ancestors have nurtured) for many years to come however circumstances don’t allow it.

We look to move on positively, hope to diversify the farm so more can enjoy it and look to shape this development with road names etc so that the history of the area is respected.

Please do come and visit, do talk to Dad, do enjoy our Glamping, camping, onsite brewery (www.farrbrew.co.uk), Dog training (HT training) with more to come.

What a transformation (and likely a shock to the system for Dad).  The campsite was fully booked with a group of friends booking the whole site.

Some great feedback from the guests and they have already said that as a group they may return next year.

A great success and really validates the huge amount of work put in by the entire Stanbridge Farms team (but mostly Steve and Tobi).

• Temporary Grain store prepared?
• Sales and storage strategy agreed?
• Long term storage cleaned?
• Combine serviced and ready
• Grain trailers prepared and ready?
• Tractors Ready?
• Staff trained and available?
• Crops ripe and dry?

Harvest 2025 is almost ready.  It’s such an early harvest this year due to the dry weather.  It means the preparation is a little rushed (we usually have 2 weeks more time) but we have a plan and expect the combine to role into our fields within the next week.

The dry weather has had a major impact on some critical growth stages and we’re quite wary of yields this summer.   The growth of all our crops has been restricted by the dry weather but the recent (last week) sunshine will hopefully help the seeds fill out.   Simply due to weather a very good result will be an “average” yield.  This alongside the currently very depressed grain prices mean that we expect another challenging financial year.

Hopefully when we get some yield results (from the combine yield meter) I will be able to report back with better news. 

For now though, all systems are go and we’re waiting for the crops to reach their harvest criteria.

The ink has hardly dried on the most recent contract and I’m already thinking about next steps.

I’ve organised collecting another bell tent for the camping tomorrow, thought about another possible revenue stream (countryside office in a tent anyone?) and am gearing up for harvest.

Also need to mow the park on my next visit, spreading some of the drying seeds and tidying the whole environment.  Then there is working out the grain storage for the summer and beyond, next year’s cropping, agreeing the contract farming framework, all sorts of admin.

But, I like to think about physical changes and am now contemplating which of the following to prioritise:

1. New tractor, smaller, lighter and better suited to do the mowing of the campsite, driveways etc
2. Reinstate the old farm pond, improving the general feel of the farmyard and lifting the feel of the space
3. Resurface the driveway to be more welcoming to our visitors (and save me tons of winter shovelling)

They all cost about the same and while I’d love to do all three I can’t afford it.

Where would you start? How would you prioritise and how do you go about making similar investment choices?

In the meantime, I can hear a few people shouting at me “will you just take a break and let what you’ve already done settle down!”.

I’m feeling a little emotional writing this, the last few weeks (ish) has seen the coming together of a few years hard work and sets Stanbridge Farms and my family up for a sustainable future.  It also hopefully means that there is a fair chunk less stress for Dad and I as we look to the future.

So, what news and why so significant?

• We have agreed our first tenants for the lodge, formally ending the investment phase.  A retired couple moving up from Devon to be closer to their family.  We look forward to welcoming them. 
• We have had our first guests, reviews and repeat bookings within our Glamping site, proving that our ideas work and that we have something popular
• We have enhanced our relationship with HT Dog training and look forward to seeing much more of them
• The brewery is open regularly
• The crops are growing even with this dry spell (if any of you know a good rain dance please do let me know)
• We have agreed the next steps in the housing development and secured funding

The big news however is that we’ve paid off our unsecured debts and going into the summer (pre-harvest) have some cash in the bank.  I’m so grateful to our partners who have been really patient with us and have helped us get to this point.

Stanbridge Farms is now stable, has a strong financial footing can now look towards a long and sustainable future.

My family has been farming this and adjacent land for more than 7 generations, I would hope that that means we have an established reputation for being sustainable.  My Great Great Grandfather even traded with Mr Ryder (of Ryder Cup fame) and our land has been productive since well before then too.

I therefore find it a bit galling to align to any initiative entitled “sustainable” as if it were a new thing as we really have been doing it for a while…

However…  Behind this initiative, other than the hoop jumping to facilitate the subsidiaries that exist to allow us to compete globally and fulfill our food standards requirements, is actually some great thinking.  As part of our commitment we are planting (yesterday) some “legume fallow” this is there to improve soil health, help manage biodiversity, discourage some of the invasive grass species and “fix” some nitrogen in the soil.  It’s a multi year commitment and I’m really hoping that it becomes a valuable part of our crop rotation and ultimately drives productivity while potentially reducing our expensive need for artificially produced nitrogen.

Our Easter event was amazing, we had tons of activities but one of the major attractions was simply the desire to sit in and explore a tractor.  Not only the big ones but the “old fashioned” ones too.  This, along with the excellent accessible “Clarksons farm” has made me think…

I’d love your thoughts on this (and it’s inspired by a recent post by my friend Nell O’Neil), how can we at Stanbridge Farms open our doors to the community and allow others to enjoy not only our beautiful environment but also allow everyone to understand more about what we do as farmers?  How can we breakdown the mystique around farming and respond to the latent desire of the community to understand more?  How can we educate to allow our neighbours and friends to build their own informed opinions on the rural community and our challenges?

At the moment I’m writing this blog (occasionally) and enabling others to find it with distributed QR codes around the farm.  We’re advertising our services and events on Facebook etc (with frustrating feedback as it doesn’t seem to get the local coverage we want) and we’ve always tried to talk openly to anyone interested.  I can continue but I’m also wondering if there is anything more powerful/useful that can be done?  (I’m also aware that I have a brewery, taproom and campsite on site.  I wonder if they could help?).

Really interested in your suggestions and what you might like to know more about!

Cheers

Mike

What have you done this weekend? What is something you can look back on and think “wow, look how far we’ve come!”?

For us we opened up the farm for the first time in 30(?) years we had a few hundred people enjoying the environment, admiring the tents, enjoying games, learning skills and participating in an Easter Egg Hunt (oh, and exploring tractors).

It was a resounding success and one that I am exceptionally impressed by.  The work done by Steve, Tobi and Dean was amazing and everyone left with a smile.

The brewery had a great day with many new visitors and we’ve got a good few enquiries about booking our bell tents and our amazing camp site.

Obviously a few lessons to be learned, opportunity for improvement and ultimately I need to reflect on my own personality traits of looking to the future before celebrating the present.

The weekend closes with pride at a step change in the farms perception and gratitude to all involved in it’s transformation.  Easter really does celebrate new life and maybe it’s this event that marks the start of a new life for the farm.

Isn’t the natural world beautiful!  I love the cycles of the year and how the seemingly dead transforms into a depth of colour.

There is definitely a bit of magic around as various flowers appear, the bees start their work, the crops start to grow and then, the northern lights appear.