Event focuses on resilient Upland Farming in the Shropshire Hills

Pasture for Life ran an event which included a farm walk hosted by Duncan Bennett, a workshop given by industry renowned farm consultant Chris Clark, and a demonstration of the Upland Farm Toolkit. 

Farmer Duncan Bennett has been making changes to his upland farming system over the last few years, following an inspirational visit to author and sheep farmer James Rebanks in the Lake District with the Upper Onny farm cluster. 

Ever since he has been experimenting in techniques to lower inputs, such as out wintering. 

Duncan showed the group how he grazes his cattle on the slopes of the Stiperstones, where he has reduced his stocking rate initially, with the view to increasing to a maximum maintainable level grazing off 100 per cent pasture in the future.

Chris spent much of his farming life working a hill farm in Yorkshire. 

During those challenging years he learnt that the measure of success is not output, but profit. 

From this experience Chris launched Nethergills Associates and the theory of Maximum Sustainable Output. 

Modeling a farm using MSO allows the farmer to identify the ‘sweet spot’, which is when the natural energy resources of the farm are used to make as much produce as it is able before buying inputs. 

Not only does this maximise profit, but it also minimises impact on biodiversity and the environment. Chris emphasised that to be a business, a farm needs to be profitable before incomes from subsidies.

The group learned that this is where the Upland Farmer Toolkit can help. The Upland Farmer Toolkit offers valuable resources to help upland farmers build resilient businesses. 

Designed to support farmers, their families, and advisors, it provides guidance as Basic Payments are gradually phased out in the coming years. It signposts farmers to useful resources to help plan for the future. It also contains useful tools which allows farmers to explore the efficiency of their livestock systems, model up how their farm profits look after the removal of BPS, and a tool to identify potential agri-environmental scheme actions that are specific to livestock farmers in the uplands.

Pasture for Life champions the positive impacts of 100 per cent pasture-fed farming on nature, human health and animal welfare, while safeguarding the future viability and sustainability of British livestock farmers. 

Membership is made up of all different types of farms, butchers, artisans, academics, vets and more, as well as members of the public interested in our work, all working together for restorative ways of farming and to be a part of efforts to enhance food, farming and the countryside.