Neil Johnson National Trust

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1 Neil Johnson National Trust Background Facts Neil Johnson has been with the National Trust for 12 years. He is Food and Farming Advisor for the northwest of England. The Lake District is the birth place of the National Trust, which is one of the biggest land owners here. Its farms (of which there are over 90) and other land account for over 20% of all the land in the national park. National Trust farms are run by tenants under a range of management agreements, mostly Agricultural Holdings Act tenancies, which can be in place for up to three generations of the same family, and Farm Business tenancies, which are typically for 15 years. Sitting with Neil Johnson in his office, I take in the view out of the window: the deep greens of tree tops, sloping fields and the unmistakeable shape of Helm Crag that presides over Grasmere Valley. Quintessentially Lake District. Neil and I share a love for this place along with an interest in how it is cared for. The landscape we see out of the window is one that has been shaped by man and by Herdwick sheep over hundreds of years, says Neil. It s globally unique. It would be tragic if it was lost. Most tourists coming to the Lake District wouldn t even consider that this landscape is something that could be lost. But sustaining it is a real and very current challenge; a challenge not just for the National Trust but for farmers and many organisations whose work has an impact on, and depends upon, the land. Two years ago, I was sitting at this same table talking to Neil. At the time, the National Trust was re-evaluating its strategy within the Lake District National Park, and was in the process of developing a framework for achieving their aims and ensuring a viable future for farmers here. I m curious to see what has happened. The value of the land Here in the Lake District, the land is valued for all kinds of reasons including beauty, inspiration, accessibility; productivity (largely through livestock grazing); carbon storage; woodlands; water quality and provision; biodiversity; and more. But what sets this area apart more than any other feature is its existence as a cultural landscape and a living landscape. Features of the land are largely shaped by farming practices and reveal its history and an active agricultural practice. This tangible heritage and the rich human culture that accompanies it are the beating heart of the national park and are at the centre of the National Trust s attention; on the 45,000 hectares of land here that the National Trust owns, which accounts for 20% of the National Park, there are ninety farms as well as bare land tenancies. The farmers on National Trust land are the front men and women who need to keep their own businesses going and deliver the commitments of the National Trust.

2 Farmers for life? While many farmers work the same land as their parents and grandparents, working with sheep that are hefted to the land and whose blood line may go back many generations, they are constantly called upon to adapt to changing conditions, whether these be political, economic, agricultural or climate related. The challenge is to keep farming going in spite of these changes; the National Trust has been working hard to come up with a framework for practical measures that will support this. We re at a point of significant change, says Neil. The good old days when the tenant could build up their capital in sheep and could cash this in, and they could buy a small property locally at a fair price and exit the farm with some money behind them, well, those days are gone. The way Neil explains it, meeting the challenge begins with the questions: Why do we own land? What s important about it? and How are we going to make sure that importance continues into the future? I think it s about identifying the core significances, says Neil, the key things which you mustn t lose under any circumstances. Doing that allows you to see those things that are more variable, more flexible. So how does this approach apply to farmers in the Lake District? Land management influences to a positive or negative extent all of the natural services. Farmers can influence these and still be stockmen. If we can find a way to truly value the natural services then we re likely to get to a more sustainable farming system. Neil considers the financial position of farmers. In terms of agricultural productivity and responding to the market the farms are very constrained. They will always struggle to produce food and sell it for a price that returns a living. The reality is that the upland areas will probably never be able to run viable farming businesses without a support payment, so it s crucial that we are able to demonstrate the value of these support payments, to the general public and to the tax payer. The National Trust is working very hard on justifying the need to support and encourage agricultural activity to continue in appropriate ways in the uplands. We recognise that our tenant farmers and all upland farmers primarily are thinking about their agricultural outputs, the quality and quantity of the livestock they can produce. What Neil wants is broader recognition of all the other benefits that are being delivered by upland farmers, in spades. He mentions water cycling, water quality, water quantity, flood attenuation, water storage; carbon storage; nature conservation; habitats; access for leisure; heritage and more. Land management influences to a positive or negative extent all of the natural services. Farmers can influence these and still be stockmen. Indeed it is their very skills as stockmen and their knowledge of the ground and the seasons that make them key to delivering all these benefits, and the interactions between them. If we can find a way to truly value the natural services then we re likely to get to a more sustainable farming system; sustainable in the sense that it is environmentally and financially viable and can continue, with support payments recognising the wider benefits that are delivered and protected.

3 Neil is keen on the distinction between support and subsidy. At the moment we have an agricultural industry that has had subsidy payments for so long that it has become almost dependent on them, he says, it was never meant as a welfare payment. I think that s not helpful to the industry and it s not helpful to the mindset of the individuals who are receiving these payments. We need as an industry to get on the front foot and sell the benefits of what is being delivered to the nation, and actually find a way of valuing them through fully understanding what these farms are delivering. But it s not just about selling the concept of benefits and value. Also there is a need for practical evolution towards greater sustainability and for Neil, one of the ways this can be achieved is using each piece of land appropriately, and reducing reliance on chemicals. Good grass, good sheep There are areas of National Trust ownership, says Neil, for example, much of our inbye land, where the primary function should be food production sheep farming. Somehow that has got lost with changing farm economics and employment, changing policy directions, and with the stewardship schemes 1 implemented by Natural England. A lot of our inbye ground is fairly degraded in terms of its productive capacity. The land has become wetter, more acidic, less productive. But these inbye fields should be the power house behind the farms, the beating heart that supports them. In a poor state they re not good for agricultural use, they re delivering very little nature conservation benefit, they re not acting as a sponge in flash flood conditions so are not useful for water cycling, and the visual contrast between the enclosed fields of the inbye and the rougher intakes and fell is becoming blurred. I would love, if we re having this conversation in a few years time, to be able to say that the National Trust is one of the organisations that have been championing good agricultural practice that leads to naturally healthy soils improving the agricultural productivity of some of our inbye ground. I would love, if we re having this conversation in a few years time, to be able to say that the National Trust is one of the organisations that have been championing good agricultural practice that leads to naturally healthy soils improving the agricultural productivity of some of our inbye ground, and that the fields are naturally green and lush rather than chemically green and lush. The need to move away from oil is obviously close to Neil s heart. 1 Stewardship Schemes such as HLS (Higher Level Entry Scheme) and ESA (Entry Level Stewardship Agreement) are determined by Defra and delivered by Natural England. The schemes outline land use including numbers of grazing animals, where they may graze, and periods of the year where grazing is permitted, within each individual common, and on each individual farm within that common. Primary goals are to improve and maintain biodiversity and protect sites of special scientific interest. Agreement to the terms of a stewardship agreement is required for receipt of an annual support payment. In the case of inbye land, according to Neil, many farmers have presumed that Natural England will not permit the spreading of lime to reduce soil acidity, the maintenance of drains or the controlling of weeds, whereas in fact these activities can be carried out if farmers demonstrate the need and apply for permission. More on Natural England s approach can be found in the interview with Simon Humphries.

4 Farming has become heavily industrialised in terms of solutions being bought in a bag or a bottle oil derivatives. Our food production system is essentially around turning oil into food, but increasingly, people are starting to say we need to turn sunshine into food. At this point, the old joke about sunshine being a rarity in the Lake District springs to mind, but it is a serious issue. We need an understanding of soil health and soil management. This has been lost for one, possibly two generations of farmers, and managing land through cultural methods rather than through chemical methods is something to be relearnt by the industry. Speaking truth to power I wonder what power the National Trust has to influence this kind of change, as well as the way support payments filter down from the UK and European governments. The National Trust itself is a non-political organisation but it does play a part. We re in a good position to influence and help steer land management and agricultural policy decisions. We have a dual role as both land owner and practitioner, so we can hopefully give the perspective of our own experience and of practical land management as a conservation organisation that also has to consider the issues faced by our farm tenants. We look at the external world, the Common Agricultural Policy, in terms of how we inform and how we influence European funding decisions; and also when decisions have been taken, at what impact they will have on our ability to continue delivering high value land management. At grass roots, the National Trust s influence ideally rests with the relationship between the National Trust and the tenant farmers, regularly sitting around a table to talk about the farming business, management plans and progress being made. Neil s role often finds him across the country; the main contact with tenant farmers happens through the National Trust s team of Estate Managers and Rangers. It also helps if they can be in conversation with the Natural England staff who discuss land use with farmers in accordance with the stewardship schemes that result in significant payments and stipulate what can and can t be done with specific pieces of land. Managing many viewpoints At a regional level, the National Trust contributes its voice through the Lake District National Park Partnership, regularly talking with 22 other organisations including United Utilities, Cumbria Wildlife Trust and the National Park Authority. In order for a landscape partnership of this size to have any chance of being productive and effective, it s vital, says Neil, for each party to be clear about their own principles. This is where the National Trust s new working document, the Sustainable Land Management Plan, comes in. Through this, there s a move towards a holistic view of the land and practical steps towards getting the most from it. to move forward we have to be proactive and find the positives, start conversations based on shared values. Hopefully that s the point we re getting to now. The partnership has taken a while to settle in, but Neil is positive about its future and its usefulness. It s very difficult to win an argument based just on the negatives, and that seems to have underpinned the stalemate between the conservationists and the agricultural industry: we were in a stand-off based on negative and defensive arguments. I think the Partnership has given us the opportunity to move forward, to be proactive and find the positives, starting our conversations

5 based on our shared values, and then work towards our shared and individual goals. Hopefully that s the point we re getting to now. Getting clearer? The National Trust can now be clearer about its own direction, as it starts to answer those golden questions: Why do we own this land? What s important about it? How are we going to make sure that importance continues into the future? And being clear about these points is vital. They will form part of the Trust s ongoing discussions with its tenants, its neighbours and its partners, as it plans and acts for the future. The Lake District has to have a future, and that future has to have farmers in it. We have an obligation to put our farmers in a position where they have a more than even chance of running a successful business. There s a moral imperative that we set out a clear direction and clear objectives so the people we are working with understand what they are helping us deliver, rather than following short term views. This is a pressing task: 50 or 60 of the 90 National Trust farms in the Lake District are likely to see a tenancy change in the next ten years either a family succession, a new Farm Business Tenancy with current tenant or a new tenant. Neil is positive about incoming farmers. In the last few years we ve seen a significant change in the quality of the applicants we re getting for our farms. People who have got the core skills, they ve got the need to be farming, they ve got the Lake District and the Herdwick in their blood. They can do the job with their eyes closed almost, but they ve also got that wider world view and the understanding of the things they need to be considering as part of their business, and they ve got the opportunities for their business of being more open minded about the different approaches. We need tenants who can combine strong conservation skills with sound business acumen and first class stockmanship. This is what sets us apart we are increasingly working in partnership with our tenants, more than just a business relationship. But it s not an easy challenge. We don t want to be looking back in ten years time and saying there was an upsurge in interest in young dedicated, experienced, committed people who came onto our farms and none of them survived. It s finding a model and an approach that works for us and works for them. It s about the right opportunities the right people, in the right places, at the right time and with the right support. The Lake District has to have a future, and that future has to have farmers in it.