February 2018
Now 14 months into his tenancy, Yorkshire Water’s occupant at Humberstone Bank, Jonathan Grayshon is cracking on with stocking the farm and bringing to life the Beyond Nature ethos, which underpins his Vision. With the tenancy still in its early days the implementation of Jonathan’s plans at Humberstone ‘from scratch’ provide an insight into establishing a business on an upland farm.
In the last few months the number of livestock on the farm has increased (mostly sheep, but not forgetting Moss, the new sheep dog!) and building work has started on a new education hub. Jonathan is also tackling the application process for farm environmental payments, and has been selected to take part in a project funded by the Friends of Nidderdale AONB – focusing on Farm Business Planning.
Growing the flock
Humberstone’s sheep flock has grown in recent months with 200 more sheep – mostly Swaledales purchased in the Autumn sheep sales. A New Zealand Texel tup has also taken up residence – Jonathan has selected him for specific traits of the breed – including a slightly narrower carcass than the traditional Texel (which should make for easier lambing) less foot problems, and the ability to thrive on a purely grass fed diet. Time will tell whether the breed is well suited to Humberstone when the first offspring are born – lambing time is due to start in early March.
A new hub for education
The idea for establishing an educational facility at Humberstone was first considered when the tenancy came up for renewal. The wide range of biodiversity on the farm, it’s (not too remote) location and range of buildings provide an excellent backdrop for a wide range of groups to learn more about the special qualities of Humberstone, as well as groups looking for a great meeting venue with excellent facilities. Plans to convert a stone barn on the farm into an educational hub were approved before Christmas and work has recently started.
Conserving Biodiversity
Humberstone is a very special place for wildlife – with more than two thirds of the area of the farm designated as ‘Site of Scientific Special Interest’. This means the land has been designated for protection because of its exceptional conservation value. Results from last year’s reptile surveys completed by Nidderdale AONB on the farm provide an insight into what this means in practice, suggesting that Humberstone Bank supports an important population of reptiles – including adders, slow worms and common lizards. Land management practices in the future will need to ensure their habitats are well looked after.
Business Planning
Jonathan has also recently been selected to be involved in the Friends of Nidderdale AONB Farm Business advice project. Funded by the Prince’s Countryside Fund, the project is working with farmers in the AONB to improve their resilience and profitability, and consider their options post Brexit.
Just around the corner – lambing time!
In the next couple of weeks day to day work will be focusing on preparing for lambing – cleaning out the lambing shed, preparing pens and feeding areas and ensuring the heavily pregnant ewes are well looked after. Two veterinary students from Liverpool University will be arriving on the farm to join the team for a few weeks and provide extra people power throughout lambing time.
Humberstone Bank Farm joined Yorkshire Water’s ‘Beyond Nature’ vision in September 2016, with Jonathan Grayshon taking on the tenancy of the 904 hectare upland farm above Thruscross reservoir in Nidderdale AONB. The Vision for the farm is to demonstrate Humberstone Bank as an exemplar in upland management for water, biodiversity, carbon and farming and sporting enterprises.
BeyondNature 