A River Runs Through It

Filford Farm has the River Simene running right through it, a defining feature of the agricultural landscape – and influential on the wider environment. On the day I visit Martin Huxter on the farm it seems to be running peacefully enough, and he tells me that in high summer the river bed can be almost as dry as a bone. But he shows me the steeply carved banks and the adjacent signs of flooding, that result from massive surges in the through-flow down river after heavy rains in winter, which are becoming increasingly common.

“In 20 years, the climate is changing. It's massively changing, it's just wet so wet, right? It's not so much a steady downpour, it's almost like a weather bomb. You just get a deluge of water and, you know, we often see water coming up over the road down at the bottom down at my Mum and Dad's house. And the colour of it tells me that's my fields washing away. It’s crazy! We have got things wrong and need to do something about. So now we’re just trying to do our bit...”

Such pressing environmental pressures clearly a powerful motivator for Martin – both personally and professionally. But it also ties neatly into some of the opportunities the Brit Valley Project is now offering for changing the way farmland, and the wider river system, is managed. Firstly, he recognises that some of their least productive land – and most directly flood affected – is also where they could make a difference in allowing the water flow to be mitigated, slowed down, rather than running straight off the fields, taking the topsoil with it. At the same time, he hopes that these same measures could create winter water habitats for wildlife to thrive. It is potentially a win-win-win situation, not much loss to farming, but big benefits for both water management and wildlife with in the catchment area.

“We've got areas that lend themselves to being useful for the project that are not really doing anything at all; we're not able to grow anything on there. It’s only relatively small pieces of land, but we’re choosing the places that probably could have the biggest effects. And when you you think about it, if everyone does a little bit then that makes a big difference in the end.” 

Filford is a multi-partner, multi-generational farm including Martin’s father, Albert and his two brothers, plus one of his nephews. Overall, it is a lot of people to bring on board in terms of making changes to farming practices and land management. His father and uncles were brought up in the 1950s and 1960s, when farming was all about producing food from the land, with subsidies to take out ‘unproductive’ hedges and ponds. Martin tells me now there's some understandable resistance to change, as it doesn’t come naturally for that generation to let farmland revert to wetland, or other rewilded habitats. It might seem like going backwards to allow land to be less productive, even if there are realistic reasons and environmental benefits.

In this respect, Martin is not neither shy about discussing the future, even trying to make ambitious plans, but also aware of the need to make compromises. Like several other partners in the project, although viewing farming in the longer term, he recognises the value in working progressively – small, practical steps that can be assessed properly before developing further. They’ve already started to do what they can, through wild bird seed mixes and tree planting... 

“We've planted a heck of a lot of trees. It was a lot of orchard trees to start with. We were regenerating the orchard out at Broad Oak and I've planted another one down here as well. My great grandfather started the orchard many years ago. He used to just break off a branch off the tree and just stick it in the ground….”

In recent times they’ve held a grafting workshop on the farm, and some of those trees from that day are now growing and fruiting well. Thay have also planted oak trees in one of the fields that is part of the project. As a species they are obviously slow growing, but he tells me there are starting to get established. “Funnily enough, that was for a project for the National Grid. They wanted to mask the pylons with one of the slowest growing trees!”

They have recently bought a couple of fields further upstream adjoining their own farm, that he thinks would lend themselves well to joining the Brit Valley Project in the future. “There's a number of other fields up through that valley which could be important. So, we'll be doing that, and it's just little bits here and there, thinking about birds and other wildlife. I mean it’s limited, but I think we just need to keep progressing…” It might seem like a small-scale, piecemeal approach, but it is gradually creating a living landscape, with patches of natural habitats across the farm. Ecologically, rather than having nature-friendly havens all in one place, a mosaic of such habitats may well hold the best benefits for reviving and sustaining wildlife populations within the catchment as a whole. 

I’m struck by Martin’s own sense of responsibility to leadership: doing the right thing, even when it’s hard to manage other interests and influences. Successful leadership involves the need to convince others to come along with you. As part of his commitment to change It’s a motivation for why he put himself forward a member of the steering group [for West Dorst Wilding] “With the whole idea of being in the steering group, I always feel as if you're not there at the beginning, then you can't come in halfway through and try to change things. But if you're there from the word go, then your input is valid and hopefully listened to. Then maybe you can make a change, maybe you can help push things forwards. You know, change things from within.” 

I also talked about public access to Martin, who like several partners is keen to make this an integral and visible part of the project. Although they are not currently extending any extra rights of way at Filford Farm, they have many footpaths that are not currently well used at all. Martin wants to make sure everyone knows where they are, and is committed to making them accessible and well-maintained. At the same time, he also wants people to know more about the farm and how it is being currently managed, especially in respect t water management and wildlife. Martin particularly likes the idea of having positional QR codes around the farm, so people can use their mobile phones to find out more about what they're doing, as well as help create greater engagement and positive rapport with the general public. It’s also about trying to share the delights and benefits of the countryside with those who might need it the most:

“It's beautiful here in the summer and we have lots of people coming through on weekends on a horse or walking, or a bike, or whatever. And we’ve talked about having some benches in places for people to sit down to look at that view, and things like that. You know, the world is full-on, so if you can come down here and literally just sit in the countryside and look at the sky and, listen to a cow – that's about totally switching off.”

Recently, Martin and his parents have renovated a small barn on the farm, called The Granary. As part of the stay, visitors are encouraged both to explore the area, and get involved with the farm if they want to: “Yeah, we tend to give them a bucket of cattle-cake and let them feed the cows in the field right behind the barn...”

Like with most livestock farms, however, there’s real concern around walkers with dogs, especially during lambing season. Gates left open and dog faeces left on the ground can cause real problems. Martin is keen to use better public engagement as a means of encouraging more responsible behaviour. It is, perhaps, another example of being both ambitious for positive change as well as being practical about what needs to be managed carefully.

Martin is clearly in the thick of things, both with day-to-day farming and trying prepare for the future. He sees the value of holding a vision and leading by example, but also understands compromise and pragmatic approaches. “There’s still time in my generation, although it's tough times at the moment. So, it’s about trying to keep the farm viable. I think it's just striking that balance between being profitable and being able to do your bit for the environment as well. Yeah, we're going to have to do a little bit of both.”