Countryfile - Shropshire’s Nature Comeback
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00We're in central Shropshire, a landscape of rolling countryside where deep river valleys
00:12weave their way through patchwork farmland, ancient woodland and parkland estates like
00:18this one.
00:19Let's be honest, it looks absolutely perfect, but apparently there's room for improvement.
01:00As part of an ambitious 10-year strategy, the National Trust is embarking on a series
01:04of projects all with nature at their heart across two of its sites.
01:09The Dudmiston and Attingham estates both sit on the banks of the River Severn at the heart
01:14of Shropshire.
01:15It's all about creating connectivity in and between the two sites, from what's in the
01:20soil all the way up to what's going on in the skies.
01:23Now I'm going to be based here at Dudmiston.
01:26And I am heading just up the road to its sister site at Attingham.
01:30And the National Trust isn't the only one trying to make a difference in this area.
01:36Farmers are re-imagining their land.
01:38Oh, so that's going on my shoulders?
01:40Yeah, it should rest on your shoulders.
01:41Do I look as ridiculous as I feel?
01:44Er, yeah.
01:45Local volunteers are re-wilding flat plains.
01:48You're drilling the field.
01:52You've got a little spoon bit on the end.
01:56Away from Shropshire, Adam meets two young farming brothers in Wrexham, working hard
02:00to grow the family farm.
02:02Can't have a joke with each other.
02:04The hardest work award each day, so if I wait until like 9, 10 o'clock, I get to clap as
02:08he comes in.
02:09Well done, you.
02:10Well done, mate.
02:11Carrying the team.
02:13And Vic attends a very special event about mental health and farming alongside His Royal
02:17Highness Prince William.
02:19For quite some time now I've been trying to work on breaking the stigma and the taboo
02:24around mental health.
02:33Just outside Shrewsbury, beside the River Severn, lies 1,500 hectares of woodland, parkland
02:41and farmland.
02:43All part of a 10-year nature recovery project aiming to restore habitats and increase the
02:49climate resilience of this fertile agricultural landscape.
02:54Attingham Park is nationally important for its ancient and mature trees, but out on the
03:00estate they're trying something new.
03:04Countryside manager Paul Roberts and area ranger Harriet Cade are working on giving
03:09their new woodland a head start.
03:12Hi, what are you doing?
03:15So we're starting today translocating dead wood from elsewhere on the estate to this
03:20new woodland.
03:21I mean, you have to be quite imaginative to see this field as new woodland, don't you?
03:26You do.
03:27It's coming.
03:28It's coming.
03:29Depends on your time frame.
03:30Yeah, I guess.
03:31Why old wood in new woodland?
03:34That seems bizarre.
03:35Woodland normally grows up and as things break off, they die, they decompose, they rot down
03:42into the soil.
03:43We know that soil is really the lifeblood of trees and all plants, so if we can get
03:49the right sorts of soil for the woodland now, then we're hoping that the woodland itself
03:54as it's growing through will do really well.
03:57OK, I'm aware I'm interrupting.
03:59No problem.
04:00Thank you very much.
04:02The introduction of dead and rotting wood is being trialled here as a way of improving
04:06the soil and bringing woodland insects into this former wheat field.
04:11A bit lighter that one.
04:12Yeah, oh yeah, very much so.
04:14Right, that's probably enough, isn't it?
04:15So we're going to make it two heavy.
04:16Right.
04:17Where are we heading?
04:18In that direction.
04:19Find a spot over there, yeah.
04:21But it's not the only thing they're trying out here.
04:24I suppose it doesn't really matter if I drop it, does it?
04:26No.
04:27I'll just pretend I'm placing it.
04:30So if you look around the hedgerows, we've got tall fencing, that's deer fence with a
04:40rabbit fence underneath.
04:42The idea was to fence the entire woodland and then to leave everything inside unguarded.
04:47Because this is the real difference between almost every other new woodland I've been
04:52in.
04:53You have very few plastic guards, which means they're going to get eaten.
04:58One of the things we've done is we've popped these handy little raptor posts around to
05:02try and encourage some of the raptors to come and do a little bit of the work for us.
05:08By building a healthy ecosystem from the ground up, the whole food chain will benefit.
05:13And the raptors play a part in keeping that in check.
05:16Hopefully they'll start using this new woodland as a feeding ground.
05:20Job done.
05:21Meanwhile, in the estate's historic parkland, entomologist Will Heaney is on the hunt for
05:26soil engineers.
05:31Hello.
05:32Hello.
05:33You look like a little wood elf in here.
05:35I feel like a little wood elf.
05:37What have you managed to find in there?
05:39There's not a great deal at the minute, but there's plenty of holes showing things has
05:42been living in here.
05:43So what makes these holes then?
05:45There'll be some sort of wood-boring beetle.
05:47What do you expect different beetles and things in this sort of woodland?
05:50Because it's spacious with the grass and everything.
05:52Yeah.
05:53There's a lot more light coming through to the forest floor.
05:55So you've got a wealth of flowers coming up from underneath, which is a nice pollen
05:59source for all the deadwood invertebrates.
06:01This has probably been a wooded landscape for 400 years.
06:04So you've got that continuity of trees being able to pass the baton on of deadwood
06:08invertebrates through the generations.
06:10So you were here all morning.
06:11What did you find?
06:12I found several different species of beetles.
06:16They're not the biggest of longhorns, but the longhorn beetles are starting to emerge
06:21now.
06:22Oh, oh, oh, oh.
06:24This one is Allosterna tabasicola, or the tobacco-coloured longhorn.
06:27Oh, you can see why, yeah, because he's tobacco-coloured.
06:30And you can see the long antennae there as well.
06:32Yeah, yeah.
06:33Where's he going to go?
06:35Eee, he's off.
06:38And the nicest longhorn I've found today is one called Anaglyptus mysticus.
06:44Oh, he's bigger.
06:45It is, and he's much more patterned as well.
06:48Oh, yeah.
06:49So that's probably a little male.
06:51He's quite small.
06:52So this one would have been feeding on the sugars and the glucose and all that sort of
06:56stuff, and the fungi within the wood.
06:58He's probably been in the tree as a larvae for two years, sometimes maybe three if the
07:02conditions haven't been great.
07:04And this is a black-headed cardinal beetle.
07:08And that'll be a predator on Hawthorne, so that'll be looking for flies and...
07:12Aphids and things.
07:13Anything it can get in its jaws, basically.
07:15Right.
07:16I think they're called cardinal beetles for the red colouration on them.
07:19It's a very smart-looking thing.
07:21There we go.
07:22There we go.
07:23Do you think putting bits of dead wood into this new woodland works for all the creatures
07:29that live in the dead wood?
07:30Yeah, it'll certainly get things going within the new woodland.
07:34A lot of the things that you'll be transferring over will be a lot of the detritophores and
07:37fungivores and things, so the woodlice, the spiders, the ground beetles and that sort
07:40of thing.
07:42And they would naturally migrate over there, but there's no reason that you can't just
07:46kick things off a little bit.
07:47Yeah, it's a city at our feet, isn't it, really?
07:49It is a city at our feet, yeah.
07:51Yeah, you could spend hours sifting through it, and I often do spend hours just with a
07:55little sieve, sifting away, pooting things up and seeing what there is in there.
08:04Back at the new woodland, the hope is that adding dead wood will begin to draw in all
08:09manner of creatures, starting at the forest floor.
08:13And good indicators of a healthy ecosystem are raptors.
08:20Hi, Paul.
08:21Hi.
08:22Hi, what have you found?
08:23Well, let's have a look.
08:26Let me just pop this on here for a second.
08:292.51am.
08:30Crikey.
08:31That's early.
08:32We've got a little tawny owl.
08:33There we go.
08:34Oh, yeah.
08:35And off it goes.
08:36Wow.
08:37We've got quite a lot of footage of that, so we know it's coming back.
08:40Yeah.
08:41That's what's really exciting about it.
08:42It's not just a one-off capture.
08:43It comes back time and time again, and it uses different parts of the woodland.
08:46So these are the ones that are going to look after the little mammals that might threaten
08:50the trees otherwise.
08:51So you're getting a predator to eat them to save your trees?
08:55Yeah.
08:56In theory?
08:57In theory, yeah.
08:58Well, in practice, I suppose, because you've got an owl.
08:59And we've also got some footage from last week of a kestrel hovering just beyond the
09:05end of one of the posts and dropping down.
09:07Off it goes.
09:08There it goes.
09:09How does this woodland fit in, then, with the rest of the estate and, indeed, the whole
09:13rest of the area?
09:14Yeah, well, we're right on the banks of the Severn.
09:16Our estate captures the Severn in parts and the River Tern, so we see lots and lots of
09:20flooding.
09:21Now, I'm not claiming that this woodland's going to stop that from happening, but what
09:25we're hoping to show, and it will take some years, but we're hoping to show that this
09:28approach does work.
09:29It'll be great in about 100 years, won't it?
09:31Yeah.
09:32I'm going to have to come back then.
09:33Come back, yeah.
09:34Yeah, you're on.
09:49Trace the picturesque River Severn 25 miles downstream and you reach Dudmiston Estate,
09:55where, at times of high water, its might is felt.
10:00Whilst the river offers postcard views, it also brings problems which are becoming more
10:05frequent and forceful.
10:09Last year, the river burst its banks four times, engulfing the surrounding areas.
10:16The rising torrents caused chaos to locals and long-term damage to property.
10:22With Dudmiston Estate placed firmly in the river's reach, the river's water level
10:27With Dudmiston Estate placed firmly in the river's reach, a team of volunteers has been
10:31assembled to help stop the surge.
10:35For countryside manager Ewan Chapman, flood management is a constant challenge.
10:41We've got four and a half kilometres of the River Severn that we look after.
10:44Where is the River Severn?
10:45If you look at the tree line over here, just on the other side of the tree line there,
10:48that's the edge of the river there.
10:50And what is it about this section that means it always floods?
10:53The proximity to the river and the fact that it's very low-lying land as well.
10:57And obviously we've certainly seen a big increase in severity and frequency of flooding here.
11:03And what do you put that change down to?
11:06It's probably a combination of factors really.
11:08We know that with climatic change that's going on at the moment, we see more extreme weather events,
11:12heavier rainfall, but also the way in which the land is managed up and down the river catchment as well
11:18means that there's an increase of flow of water into the river and an increase in those flood events
11:22that we're seeing as well.
11:23Right. So how bad does it get?
11:25I mean, if that had flooded recently, would we be in water at the moment?
11:31It would probably be well above our head at some stage.
11:33Would it?
11:34It would indeed. I've got some images somewhere actually to show you what this field looked like.
11:37It would be above our head?
11:38It would be above our heads.
11:39Dear me.
11:40Do you get the boats out then, do you?
11:42Funnily enough, there's a couple of tenants that live up here
11:44and the only way that they can exit during those times is on paddle boards and canoes.
11:48That's unbelievable.
11:49So here you can see an image of one of our car parks just down the flood plain here.
11:52Significantly underwater.
11:54That is incredible.
11:55And then I've got a video just here of the field.
11:57So this is pretty much where we're stood at the moment. This was last January.
12:01No.
12:03We've had bridges wash away.
12:05One of the biggest impacts is probably to our farmers and our farm tenants that manage this flood plain
12:09because the more and more time it's spent underwater,
12:11the harder it is to farm in the ways that they have been doing historically.
12:15This flood plain used to be farmed as arable, then permanent pasture.
12:19It's natural vegetation replaced with crops and then grasses
12:23to produce hay and silage for livestock feed.
12:27Now Ewan and his team want to restore the flood plain
12:30with plants truly evolved to be in this environment.
12:34The idea of putting this sort of habitat back again means that we can store more flood water.
12:40So in areas of the state where we're seeing sort of arable land on the flood plain,
12:44it means that water will flow much faster through the landscape into the river,
12:48having that knock-on impact of flooding.
12:50Whereas this sort of habitat that we're creating here, this flood plain meadow,
12:53which we've lost 99% of across the country,
12:56it has a real great benefit in regards to water storage,
12:59slowing that flow of flood water but also creating really high-quality habitat for nature as well.
13:04In a field that floods, water often sits on top of plain grass
13:08because the roots are shallow.
13:10But the plants they're using today have deeper roots,
13:13creating channels in the soil which helps the water to drain away.
13:17Horticultural company director Rob Lee is tasked with restoring these flood plain plants.
13:25Individually, they're not going to prevent flooding,
13:29but part of the whole habitat here, they hold a crucial role.
13:33Together with all the plants within this habitat,
13:36they'll all play a role in filtering out the silt that gets washed through here during floods,
13:41helping it settle within the sward, and they'll absorb the nutrients within that silt.
13:47So you've got these trays then, and they're all individual little plug plants?
13:51Yeah. There's 200 in a tray, and these were sown in the spring, so they're about three months old.
13:57Have they been grown in a greenhouse, polytunnel, or something like that?
14:00Yeah, they've just been grown in a polytunnel, which we compost, of course.
14:03And to create that beautiful little plug, and then you put a hole in the ground,
14:07pop that in, and then you let nature do the rest.
14:10Exactly. Yeah, and this will grow quite rapidly once planted,
14:15and all these long stems will also take root,
14:18and help the plants spread throughout the areas we plant them.
14:24Rob's chosen typical damp meadow species, such as Greater Bird's Foot Trefoil,
14:29Great Burnet, and Devil's Bit Scabious.
14:32With 3,000 to root down, it's no small feat.
14:37You're drilling the field!
14:39So this is how you're creating the little plugs then?
14:42You've got a little spoon bit on the end.
14:44Yeah, normally it's got wood.
14:46Yep. And look at that! Simple as that!
14:50Where do you want the next one?
14:52Pretty close.
14:55Beautiful!
14:57There you are.
14:58Thank you, Garlick.
14:59Good work, team.
15:01Spanning 220 miles, the Severn is the longest river in the UK.
15:06In recent years, its catchment area saw some of the highest river levels ever recorded.
15:12With the flood zone on their doorstep,
15:14this is one of the few chances volunteers like Nick Taylor have to turn the tide.
15:21It feels like a place of extremes to me,
15:23because here we are in the baking heat, yet at certain times of year,
15:26you'd come down here, you'd be underwater.
15:28Well, we have been lots of times.
15:30I've been here once when there's been waves coming down here along the sea.
15:33It's incredible that what you're doing today is part of trying to cope and prevent that.
15:39Yes, a little bit towards it.
15:41Yeah. Do you think it'll work?
15:43Well, we hope so.
15:44Yeah.
15:45We hope so. I think it should do.
15:46I mean, the science is there to say these things help.
15:48Yeah.
15:49So hopefully what we've planted today will survive.
15:52Yeah. It'll help in coping with what are very challenging situations here.
15:57Yes.
15:58Well, I think you're doing a brilliant job.
16:00Keep it up.
16:01We will.
16:02And what a workforce you've got.
16:03Oh, yes.
16:05MUSIC
16:18In the quiet uplands of the River Severn's catchment area
16:21lies Polydyne Farm's 200 hectares, where nature is on its way back.
16:29This has been a traditional sheep farm for most of its existence,
16:33but the farmers here are hoping to reap the rewards of some major changes.
16:38Jane Houlton Harrop has farmed here for more than 35 years,
16:41most of that time with her husband Roger, two children and hundreds of sheep.
16:47Today, the farm is utilising both cutting-edge technology
16:51and age-old farming methods to enhance the land and areas downstream.
16:58What was it like when you first came?
17:00It was sparse.
17:02The amount of cover or shelter was very limited,
17:05so over the years we have planted, like, thousands and thousands of trees
17:10for shelter belts or for cover,
17:15and then things changed and we got older and my husband got poorly
17:20and then we had to... We let a lot of our ground on grass keep.
17:25With her children, Lizzie and Tom, having moved away,
17:28Jane found herself unable to manage the farm and care for Roger on her own.
17:34When your husband died, did that mean you had to rethink what you were doing here?
17:39It was precipitated, I suppose, by the fact Lizzie came home to help me,
17:44you know, sort everything out, and then we got quite upset
17:49about the way the ground looked, the way the farm looked,
17:53and it was overgrazed and it was compacted
17:57and it didn't look like it used to look.
18:00Anyway, between us and talking, we decided that we had to make different decisions
18:06and actually she was going to stay and we'd become partners
18:11and we would farm using a holistic framework.
18:16Three years ago, the intensive sheep flock went
18:19and the family embarked on their new system,
18:22a cattle breed that calves outside and has a lower impact on the land,
18:26eating only grass with no need for extra feed.
18:29Now they have 87 of these pedigree Aberdeen Angus,
18:33which benefit from being moved to fresh grazing every few days.
18:3770 of the cows are due to calve in the coming weeks,
18:40but Jane's daughter Lizzie isn't taking any chances on surprise arrivals.
18:45So before we'd move the cows into the next paddock, which is already set up,
18:49we make sure there isn't a cow that's gone off to calve somewhere,
18:52so we're just doing a scan really, a perimeter check,
18:54to make sure everyone will be going ahead on the move when we call them through.
18:59The herd mob graze the farm.
19:01It's a style of grazing which involves moving the cattle every couple of days
19:05to mimic how they'd move in the wild and encourage the growth of deeper rooted grasses.
19:13When we were changing systems, we wanted it to have the right impact on the land
19:16and we felt that with cattle, with a slightly larger animal,
19:20that that would be more easily achieved than having sheep back again.
19:24We've been chatting, but I don't, I mean, I don't see anyone hiding.
19:27What do you think?
19:28Yeah, I think all clear.
19:30Yeah? OK. Onwards.
19:33And the theory with this herd is that they'll calve on their own,
19:36you won't have to get too involved. Yeah.
19:38Yeah, so that's, I mean, that's largely down to Rob's work,
19:40so he has been breeding cattle that work in regenerative systems for the last 20 years.
19:46A recent addition to the Polodyne farm team is Lizzie's partner Rob,
19:50who's brought with him a wealth of experience.
19:55Job done. There we go.
19:57What's really striking to me is the trees in here.
20:00Yeah, it's really exciting to see the development, the wood pasture here.
20:04So obviously today, because it's so lovely, they're all in the shade.
20:08Yeah, that's it. It's just giving them that choice.
20:10So whether it's a storm or rain or if the sun's beating down like this,
20:14they've just got that option to go in the shade.
20:16So we keep talking about this holistic farm management.
20:19What is that? Because is it regenerative? Is it organic?
20:23What label can we put on that?
20:25It's actually a framework to make decisions within for your farm.
20:29And it's to take into account the environment, the social element,
20:33but also the financial, to make sure all those three things are working.
20:37Because if the farm isn't profitable and providing a living for us here,
20:41then we can't do the environmental work.
20:43We can't do the social benefit stuff as well.
20:45So is it working?
20:47Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
20:49I mean, we have a good profit figure for our business.
20:51And the key thing for us is, again,
20:54talking about having the whole picture in the holistic management,
20:57is making sure that everything's ticked off.
20:59So you need the animals, you need the right plant genetics,
21:02the wild plants, the natural plant communities.
21:04And everything that's in balance with all of that will mean we get more nature,
21:08but we still have family farms and have all of that together.
21:13Traditional methods of managing the land aren't their only approach.
21:16Being upstream of areas that regularly flood
21:19means Jane, Lizzie and Rob feel a responsibility
21:23over how their farm affects areas downstream.
21:26And today, they're enlisting some leading technology to help.
21:33Luke Blakemore is a mobile mapping specialist,
21:36gathering detailed data on the farm's topography.
21:40The resulting information can be used for an array of purposes,
21:43but for Polydyne, it'll help with water management across the farm.
21:49Right.
21:52There you go. So this is the front.
21:54Oh, so that's going on my shoulders?
21:55Yeah, it should rest on your shoulders,
21:57and then you've got a handle there just to support it.
21:59Do I look as ridiculous as I feel?
22:01Er, yeah.
22:02Now's a good time to lie. Right.
22:05Luke hopes this high-tech scanner will help gather data
22:08from the harder-to-reach areas of the farm.
22:12So if I just toddle off down there and see what happens?
22:14Yeah.
22:15OK.
22:22So as we stand here, what's it doing?
22:25So currently it'll be scanning the environment
22:28with these two profilers on top, one on top and one on bottom.
22:31And what useful information does it actually give you
22:34about something like a woodland?
22:36So from the data, we'll be able to obviously get all of the trees,
22:39we'll be able to get spot levels, to get the gradient of the ground.
22:42What can a farmer do with all that information?
22:45So they can take our information
22:47and then make recommendations for flood risk management.
22:49So really what you're looking at is, once the rain falls,
22:52where will it go? Where will the gradient of the land take it?
22:55Yeah, that's it, yeah.
22:56Right. Onward.
22:59OK.
23:01OK.
23:08This is a little bit like the parking sensor on a car
23:11because it's panicking because of this,
23:14which obviously is not really a problem because I can just do that.
23:17No, it doesn't like it, though.
23:19Relax, relax!
23:21Oh!
23:26Hiya.
23:27Hello there.
23:29Lizzie, I've just been wandering around your woodland
23:32trying to get this information.
23:34How useful will it be for you?
23:36I think it'll be fascinating.
23:38There's so much funding towards putting scrapes on the land or ponds in,
23:41but there's actually nobody monitoring whether it's in the right place or not.
23:45With flood mitigation being so important
23:47and we're in such a prime position in the headwaters
23:50to be able to hold on to a lot of that water
23:52before it hits the streams and enters the nearby villages,
23:55so we really want to show that we're responsible for that,
23:58put those in the right places,
24:00but actually then having as much water storage on the farm as possible.
24:03I've got to be honest, I don't want to manage your expectations.
24:06The bit of mapping I've done might not be perfect.
24:08No, no worries at all. I'm sure we can make it work.
24:12THE NEXT GENERATION
24:23Throughout this year, I'm travelling across the UK to meet young farmers.
24:29I'm keen to see how the next generation are gearing up
24:32to tackle the fast-evolving challenges in our farming industry.
24:36Today I'm in Wrexham meeting brothers George and Will Tomlinson
24:40of Rosset Park Farm.
24:42The two brothers have recently taken on the family's organic dairy farm,
24:46milking 590 cows twice a day and setting up a new beef enterprise.
24:51Older brother George looks after the livestock
24:54while younger brother Will focuses on growing all their feed on the arable.
24:57Hello, gents. Can I interrupt?
25:00Today they're weighing some newly weaned calves
25:03and they'll check them again in a few weeks
25:05to make sure they're still growing well on the new diet.
25:10655.
25:12George is also trimming the hair on their backs
25:15to help them keep cool in the warmer weather.
25:18Do you want a haircut, Adam?
25:20Well... Very experienced.
25:22I think you're looking good at it. Maybe later.
25:24I did George earlier.
25:26I know. I can see you don't do your own.
25:29We've always done bits on the farm.
25:31I mean, I've been feeding calves since I was about 12, 13 years old.
25:35Never really forced into it.
25:37Wasn't an expectation for you?
25:39No, not at all.
25:41It's an opportunity. We saw the farm as an opportunity.
25:44We both enjoyed it from an early age.
25:46Probably one of the most rewarding jobs, when it's going to plant.
25:49Quite often it's not going to plant, but when it is, nothing beats it.
25:53And does that help being shoulder-to-shoulder as brothers?
25:56We have our ups and downs.
25:58Can I have a joke? We each have the hardest work award each day,
26:01so if I wait till like 9, 10 o'clock...
26:03Gets a clap as he comes in.
26:05Carrying the team.
26:07That's great.
26:08And if you've got a strong team and a good relationship,
26:11at least you can share.
26:12The work dynamic here is great fun.
26:14Everyone's always laughing and smiling.
26:16It's a pleasure to be around.
26:17Everyone has their days, though.
26:19It's when people sink as well.
26:23Six, four, one.
26:25Off we go.
26:26And if it's not a rude question, are you making money?
26:29Yeah.
26:31I think diversification is subsidising some of it.
26:33The performance has been lacking.
26:35If you're putting too many new things on the system,
26:37it's hard to figure out what's working and what isn't.
26:39So you're learning by your mistakes and working out what's paying and what's not.
26:42Yeah, learning the system and the farm and the soil.
26:44Every day you're learning, year on year.
26:46I mean, we could do this for 20, 30 years and still not master everything.
26:49That's the benefit of having a sector each.
26:52I'm still learning so much about mine, and George is learning about his.
26:55If we try to do both...
26:57I don't know if I'm for a joke.
26:59I need a terrible driver.
27:01Stick to your skills, eh?
27:03Let's catch another calf.
27:05There are only a few calves left away.
27:07Yeah, all done, last one.
27:09OK, I'll let it go.
27:10But as well as looking after the cattle,
27:12the brothers have big plans for the way they bring their products to market.
27:18So you guys are quite keen on engaging with the public.
27:20Is the idea then to start selling to them more direct?
27:23That is the overall goal, isn't it?
27:25Cut the middleman in the supermarkets.
27:27And how might you do that then?
27:29We're in the process of getting planning for a milk vending machine.
27:33We've then got the beef, so they'll be ready in the next 12 months, hopefully.
27:37And then we'll put them through the vending machine as well,
27:39maybe do some box schemes.
27:41The sky's the limit with stuff like that.
27:43As long as you have a customer base, we can start doing some fun stuff,
27:46get some different animals on the farm, provide different content,
27:48and just have a bit more fun with it, really, and that's the aim.
27:51As well as their future plans for diversification,
27:54they've recently opened a dog-walking route around the farm, the Tail Trail.
27:59It's a two-mile dog walk around the farm, and it's split up into sections.
28:03And what these sections basically allow is that dogs who aren't very well trained
28:07can walk freely in between each section and not have to interact with other dogs.
28:11But there's a huge investment here, isn't there, with the fencing, the path?
28:14Yeah, yeah. We saw lots of these dog walks with, like, you've got a field
28:18and it's like £10 per person, and the cost adds up.
28:21So by doing this, you can get more people round,
28:24and it interacts with the social media, it links in to both.
28:27They see what's going on on the farm and they can see it firsthand, so it's great.
28:30And is that part of your ethos, then, that engagement?
28:33Yeah, 100%.
28:34It's the whole premise of the business, really.
28:36It's something that we're very, very passionate about,
28:38bridging the gap and educating people on what goes into their food
28:42and what a great job British farmers do,
28:45following high welfare standards and producing great quality food.
28:49And also show the struggles we have on season to season,
28:52like with weather and everything.
28:54Yeah, I mean, the last 18 months was horrendous with the rain and now it's bone dry.
28:58We're being positive or we want to moan.
29:01So these are dairy cows?
29:02Yeah, they're the girls right there, gleaming in the sunshine.
29:05Brilliant.
29:07Will's off to do some tractor work, but just across from the tail trail,
29:11George and I are checking on their group of Angus dairy cross cattle
29:15that they're rearing for beef for the first time.
29:17And what sort of age are these, then?
29:19So these mixture between September to November, born.
29:24So we have a nice mixed age, which is really good,
29:26because they're going to finish at different times.
29:28So if we're going to try and sell these direct to the consumer,
29:31we have a nice, steady influx of beef.
29:34And why have you set up this as a business, then?
29:36Well, apart from the fact that I just love steak,
29:39it gives us another income stream.
29:41So if our dairy sector is underperforming,
29:44we have the beef to try and pop it up.
29:46It's just a more resilient business.
29:49And for that business to set up, that's quite an investment.
29:53You've got a lot of money rearing all these animals.
29:55Yeah, it's cost us about £550 to get them here now.
29:58£550 an animal, that's a lot of money walking around here, isn't there?
30:01An awful lot of money, and unfortunately,
30:03we're not going to see the money until the back end of next year.
30:07But it's a risk that we're willing to undertake,
30:09because we see that profit at the end.
30:11They're good-looking cows, aren't they? They're smart.
30:13Yeah, they're loving life.
30:15It's great with the tail trail,
30:17because the customers that are coming on to it
30:19can see your animals and how they're living.
30:21Yeah, they can see the beef grow throughout their life
30:24and then taste them at the end. I mean, what could be better?
30:28One of the key selling points for the brothers' produce
30:31is its organic label.
30:34But that means they can't use chemicals anywhere on the farm,
30:37presenting a real challenge on the push to grow all their own feed.
30:42Will's out with a harrow trying to control weeds
30:44in their emerging feed crop.
30:46It works a bit like a giant rake that rips out shallow-rooted weeds,
30:50while leaving the deeper-rooted crops relatively unscathed.
30:54That idea of being self-sufficient with cattle feed
30:57has got to be a good thing,
30:59because of the price of feed fluctuating, etc.
31:02Oh, yeah, massively. Massively.
31:04Especially with the aim of reducing our carbon footprint as well,
31:09importing feeds in.
31:11They're quite often from overseas,
31:13especially with the organic cropping.
31:16As the business becomes more profitable
31:18and there's more money around,
31:20how will you and George balance that
31:22and make sure you don't fall out over it?
31:25We're both not really that materialistic.
31:27I've got my hobbies, and that's probably what I spend my money on,
31:30and George will just keep pumping money into business.
31:33He just doesn't stop. Neither do I.
31:35It's like, I've got to beat him, haven't I?
31:39That didn't take long, did it? Nearly done.
31:48He's good at that, George.
31:50Yeah, it's what we pay him for.
31:52I'm really impressed by the amount you've got going on here.
31:55A lot to deal with. Where do you see the future?
31:58Well, I'd say farming is a bit uncertain at the minute.
32:01We have increasing regulation, increasing taxation,
32:04increasing costs, and the inability to control the price
32:07we get at the end of the day.
32:09But we're trying to manage that by changing the business,
32:12diversifying more, to try and build some resilience
32:15and ensure that we can keep farming.
32:18And you seem to be doing it with a smile on your faces.
32:21Laugh or cry, Adam.
32:25You must be feeling confident, though,
32:27because you've put a lot into this, haven't you?
32:29Yeah. Next year is going to be our year.
32:31Every year we say that.
32:33We're definitely on the right track.
32:35If we keep going as we're going, keep plodding along,
32:37I think we'll definitely get there in the end.
32:39Well, thank you very much for letting me interrupt
32:41your incredibly busy lives.
32:43It's very impressive what you're achieving so far.
32:45Good luck in the future. Thanks for coming.
32:55I've been exploring Attingham Estate's woodlands,
32:58where habitats are being created
33:00that'll benefit the whole food chain,
33:02from the skies all the way down to the soil.
33:06In a meadow not far from here,
33:08the Shropshire Mammal Group are hoping
33:10that some of the smaller residents will give them a clue
33:14as to whether conservation efforts there are working.
33:21My name's Julia Casper. I lecture in wildlife conservation.
33:25My relationship with the Shropshire Mammal Group
33:27is that I'm the academic advisor for the group.
33:29So I support them in every aspect of their surveying and reporting.
33:36My passion started very early.
33:38I was very fortunate to be born in Uganda.
33:40I was surrounded by animals all my life.
33:43It was back in the 60s,
33:45and at that stage we had a chimpanzee that had been rescued.
33:49My father worked at Macquarie University.
33:51We had snakes everywhere, crested cranes.
33:54And then when I came back to the UK,
33:56my mother had a smallholding.
33:58Yeah, always been involved with wildlife groups
34:01and always had that interest in animals.
34:04We're doing a survey today with my team,
34:06and we're trying to evidence the presence of small mammals,
34:10especially the harvest mouse, for the National Trust
34:12as that indicator species,
34:14and to get some idea of what the habitat condition's like.
34:18The harvest mouse is very important in terms of
34:21it actually uses a number of different habitats.
34:24So it will use wetland habitat.
34:26It uses hedgerows in the winter, arable margins.
34:29So all of these habitats need to be in good condition
34:32to support the population.
34:35If there are small numbers of harvest mice,
34:37that's indicating that the habitat that you have,
34:40the woodlands, the grasslands, the hedgerows and so on,
34:43are not in good condition.
34:45So that basically impacts on other species as well.
34:48So birds, bats, all these animals use those habitats.
34:51So it's indicating that they're also not in high numbers.
34:55And then the predators that are feeding on them,
34:57the owls and so on,
34:59potentially they're suffering because they haven't got enough food.
35:02So harvest mice are quite small mammals.
35:04They're only about seven or eight grams.
35:06They have a prehensile tail, which means that they can grip.
35:09So it's like a fourth limb.
35:11They're fast moving.
35:13They're arboreal, which means during the breeding season
35:15they spend a lot of time off the ground.
35:17But also they've got to weave these incredible nests.
35:20And so I think they have to be quite careful in their choices.
35:23They have to choose the right stem to shred.
35:25And then they've got to do this weaving to make the nest
35:28and make it compact and stable enough to breed in.
35:32We're going to set up a longworth trap here.
35:34Ideally what we would do is we would put it undercover.
35:37When you make the decision to live trap,
35:39you have to do it for good reason.
35:41And you should have scientific and best practice protocol in place.
35:44We will have to check these every four hours.
35:48So when you set up a trap, you need to set that trap up ethically
35:52because potentially you are confining the animal to a small area.
35:56So you need to include some nesting material.
35:59You need to make it like it's home.
36:01So food and some kind of water source.
36:03You can't put water in because you'll wet the bedding.
36:05So we use soaked apple and that provides the moisture
36:08that it needs over the period of the trapping.
36:10So then you set the trap up and hopefully you will get a live mammal.
36:16During that process you can find out the condition of the animal,
36:19what its weight is, is it healthy, is it diseased.
36:22And you can also look at its breeding condition as well.
36:25So you can work out if it's actually breeding or not.
36:28And that's very important to know whether they are actually reproducing
36:32and replenishing the population that's already there.
36:35I'll take this out and we'll have a look and see what's on.
36:38So if you could hold that for me please.
36:40Trail cams are a great way to record different animals but small mammals as well.
36:45Ah, here we go.
36:47We do have a mouse of some description.
36:51Today we've been lucky enough to find a wood mouse on camera from last night.
36:55The wood mouse was busy and feeding on our feeding stations which is lovely to see.
36:59It's got large ears and was having a root around and has nibbled on some apple.
37:04Teeth marks on there.
37:05Definitely.
37:06It's very hot today, it was 25 degrees yesterday so they were clearly thirsty.
37:12Harvest mice are cryptic, that means they're not easy to be seen.
37:15You don't often get them on camera unless you set cameras up on actual nests that are already present.
37:22We have caught a harvest mouse on camera here at the National Trust.
37:25We were actually looking for presents of otters but we happened to find a harvest mouse
37:30which was very exciting just flitting along in the background.
37:33So the fact that we caught the harvest mouse on camera indicates that for one they're present
37:39but also that they need to be monitored.
37:42We need to have some idea of how many there are and what habitats they're actually using
37:47and then how those habitats could be improved to support the population.
37:51We're in the very early stages of collecting data here but this will be an ongoing process
37:56and then as they improve habitats or they change land use then you'll be able to see
38:01is that a good thing, has that worked, is that not working, let's change it, let's adapt.
38:07The government has said we need to protect 30% of the land for nature by 2030.
38:12I'm really personally proud to be part of this and you know all the volunteers and the public,
38:17every little bit helps and everybody should be doing their little bit to help this action.
38:30This week is BBC Wellbeing Week and away from Shropshire,
38:34Vic's been finding out how some farmers are coming together to find ways to improve their mental health.
38:44Being a farmer can be a lonely business with the risk of failure, financial pressures,
38:49even the weather affecting mental health.
38:51Today though I'm at an event where mental health is being put at the heart of the farming agenda.
38:59Today's event is bringing young Duchy of Cornwall tenant farmers together.
39:04One of the main talking points is mental health, including the work of We Are Farming Minds,
39:09a Herefordshire based charity that helps farmers access mental health support.
39:15The charity was founded by Duchy tenants Sam and Emily Stables.
39:19Both have had difficulties with their own mental health in the past,
39:22including Sam attempting to take his own life some years ago.
39:28Emily and I set up We Are Farming Minds to break the stigma surrounding mental health in the farming community.
39:34Farming has had a massive stigma around mental health.
39:3814 years ago I was that person, that person that didn't feel that I could share,
39:43felt weak, felt embarrassed that all this was going on and as a proud farmer
39:48I didn't have the courage to speak to anybody, I didn't want to load that onto anybody else.
39:54Suicide affects so many people.
39:58What it leaves behind is, it's just so sad.
40:04And had I known that back there, that people were there to support,
40:08I'd never have got to where I was that day.
40:11And all we set out to do was to try and make sure, as much as we could,
40:15that we could maybe make sure that that doesn't happen to any other family.
40:21The farmers at the Duchy event are familiar with the importance of mental health awareness.
40:27The word isolation, it is what comes to mind often when I think of those long days in your tractor.
40:32How do you cope?
40:34I sing a lot in the tractor cab.
40:36I sing a lot because sometimes it can be so lonely,
40:40but actually I've got a really good community of friends on social media,
40:43this group of like-minded people and actually that's something that I do,
40:47I really enjoy the way that that works.
40:49For anyone who doesn't find it as easy to reach out, there is a community there, right?
40:53What advice would you give?
40:55Don't suffer in silence, even if it's just a text message to one of your friends
40:59and it doesn't have to be anything to do with farming,
41:01just start the conversation and it'll instantly lift your mood.
41:04Did you feel pressure in trying to prove yourself?
41:07What advice would you give?
41:09Definitely to reach out before you get there,
41:11before you start feeling really isolated in yourself.
41:14Because then it's almost too late, so it's just really important to just ask for help,
41:19and you'll find it in the most unexpected places, but people are so generous.
41:25I think it is about having a network,
41:27so we very much have friends outside of farming but also friends within it,
41:32but also keep hobbies and things,
41:34so make sure you're doing things off-farm too, take a break,
41:37because burnout is not good for anyone.
41:40I can imagine burnout is quite prevalent amongst the farming community,
41:43particularly young farmers.
41:45Yeah, we've been very guilty probably as a sector for celebrating hours worked.
41:49If you're not doing it, you're paying someone else to do it often,
41:52and so just trying to remind people you can't be 100 hours, 200 hours,
41:57it just doesn't work, and trying to celebrate, yeah, taking time out.
42:03Today's event is particularly special for Sam,
42:06Today's event is particularly special for Sam, Emily and We Are Farming Minds.
42:09Today's event is particularly special for Sam, Emily and We Are Farming Minds.
42:12Alongside the opportunity to meet other farmers,
42:15they're announcing a very special new patron for the charity.
42:28I've joined His Royal Highness and Sam and Emily on stage
42:31to discuss what they hope to achieve together.
42:34Welcome everyone.
42:37I mean, it's a special day because you're being named as a patron of We Are Farming Minds.
42:42Mental health has been a big part of my work and my interests,
42:47and for quite some time now I've been trying to work on
42:50breaking the stigma and the taboo around mental health.
42:53That is why I'm so pleased to be sat here with Sam and Emily.
42:56It was clear not only that Sam and Emily had been through their own journey,
42:59but also very much understood from the sharp end of it all
43:03how that all transpires and how to manage your own mental health,
43:07stay resilient with all the pressures and the asks
43:11that we as society put on the farming community.
43:14Emily, I'll come to you.
43:16Tell us a little bit about We Are Farming Minds.
43:18Why did you want to start this initiative?
43:20We've both had personal battles with mental health
43:23and we realised there was a real lack of support.
43:27So we started the charity initially to offer a 24-hour support line
43:32which is run by volunteers,
43:34and we provide counselling within one week
43:38to anybody really struggling within the farming community.
43:41Also offer mental health awareness training
43:44to anybody working or living in the farming community,
43:47so whether that be TB testers, vets, farmers themselves,
43:51just so they can have those open and honest conversations,
43:54recognise the signs that somebody might be struggling
43:57and be able to signpost them a direction to get help
44:00and just break the stigma and get it out there more really.
44:03Sam, what does it mean for His Royal Highness
44:05to become a patron of the charity?
44:08You don't have to be nice, I'm sorry.
44:10He's sitting right there.
44:12I know I've got a rent review in another 12 months.
44:14That's a challenging question.
44:16British agriculture is under stress, beyond stress,
44:20and with the Prince's passion in mental health and the countryside,
44:25for us to really push it out there
44:27and know that, you know, you're not on your own
44:30and there are people there to support,
44:32and that's so, so amazing.
44:35I set out to talk about mental health.
44:38I never realised quite what I stumbled into.
44:41Once you scratch away at the surface,
44:43the nation's mental health was very fragile
44:45and almost unspoken about.
44:48The new generation coming through, the younger generations,
44:51will hopefully not have the barriers
44:54and the challenges around mental health
44:56like current generations and past generations.
44:59What's in your toolkit when you need it?
45:02Because we can all learn from each other, I think.
45:05You've heard me say this before, Vic,
45:07but have a toolbox that is your mental toolbox
45:09and in it you need to have certain tools in there
45:11to deal with certain problems that come along in life.
45:14And if you don't have that tool,
45:16then go and find somebody who will help you
45:18because people like Sam and Emily can do that.
45:20When people suffer a mental crisis,
45:22it is important to remember that those crisis moments
45:25are actually quite short-lived.
45:27They do pass, and I think that's where
45:29having a support network around you,
45:31whatever that support network looks like,
45:33gets you through those moments, then things can build.
45:36I just want to say on behalf of everyone here,
45:38thank you to We Are Farming Minds,
45:40to both of you for all the work that you're doing.
45:42It means the world. It makes the world of difference.
45:44And I know that all the work that's been done by the Duchy as well,
45:47it's spreading, so thank you so much.
45:50And best of luck with growing it.
45:52I know you've got a lot on your plate.
45:56With the charity's new patron raising awareness of their work,
45:59Emily and Sam are looking to the future.
46:02How do you want to keep growing?
46:04Oh, well, I mean, our vision, a very big vision,
46:08would be to make sure that there is support in every county,
46:14whether that be something like our model in every county,
46:17providing that 24-hour support line
46:19or counselling within a week, social events.
46:22You know, it works really well in Herefordshire.
46:25It would just be great if every county had that sort of support
46:28so that farmers don't feel alone.
46:30Just one person turns to the help that they need,
46:33then that's a result.
46:35It's a massive thing, isn't it, with the charity,
46:37when somebody comes up to you and says,
46:39do you know what, without you, we wouldn't be here,
46:41and that really hits home. It's massive.
46:43If you're suffering distress or despair and need support,
46:48a list of organisations that can help
46:50is available at bbc.co.uk forward slash action line,
46:54or you can call for free to hear recorded information
46:57on 0800 066 066.
47:06The weather's been all sunshine here in Shropshire,
47:09but what will the skies be doing in the week ahead?
47:12Here's the Countryfile forecast.
47:18Hi there, good evening.
47:20Meteorological spring lasts until the end of May.
47:23No big surprises.
47:25The UK as a whole is on track to see its driest spring
47:28in more than a century, with all four nations recording
47:31well below the average amount of rainfall,
47:34just 27% in England.
47:37Now, the sunshine has also been well above average.
47:40In fact, totting up all of the numbers of hours of sunshine,
47:43you can see that we've seen more sunshine
47:45so far this spring, still another two weeks to go
47:47than we had in the whole of last meteorological summer.
47:50That, of course, is unusual.
47:52Now, so far, this very settled spell,
47:54we've seen the best of the sunshine,
47:56the highest of the temperatures out towards the west,
47:59whereas eastern coastal areas, particularly close to the North Sea
48:02with that onshore breeze, have been cloudy
48:04and they've also been a lot cooler.
48:06It's more of the same for the next few days,
48:08but it will be turning more unsettled.
48:10So there'll be some showers, even some thunderstorms,
48:13at times, and that is all change,
48:15with more of a westerly wind developing
48:17into the bank holiday weekend.
48:19So what's the reason for the showers over the next few days?
48:22Well, there's a cool pool of air very high up in the atmosphere.
48:25This is the position of the jet stream, of course.
48:27It's going to be tracking further westwards
48:29and then further southwards for the next couple of days or so,
48:32and that instability will spark off a few showers,
48:35and some of those showers could be heavy and thundery.
48:37So some showers across parts of northern England overnight tonight,
48:40sinking further southwards,
48:42into Wales.
48:43Elsewhere, it is dry.
48:45There'll be some clear spells and maybe a touch of frost again
48:48across parts of northern Scotland.
48:50Otherwise, temperatures generally emit high single figures.
48:53And then into Monday.
48:55Now, there will be some showers,
48:57mostly across southern areas of Scotland,
48:59down through north-west England, some of them heavy, thundery.
49:01There could be some hail as well.
49:03Some showers, too, developing across parts of north Wales, perhaps,
49:06maybe even into the Midlands.
49:08Elsewhere, it's dry.
49:09The cloud towards the east coast again will break up
49:12and there will be some sunshine here.
49:14Tuesday is looking a little warmer across the board.
49:16A lot of sunshine to start the day,
49:18but as the daytime heating gets going,
49:20there'll be more showers developing again,
49:22mostly for south-west Scotland, north-west England,
49:25and down through parts of Wales.
49:27Now, these showers, remember, will be hit or miss.
49:29They won't be everywhere.
49:30Your garden may not be one of the lucky ones.
49:33Temperature's just that little bit higher, the low 20s.
49:36Now, the focus for the heavy, thundery downpours on Wednesday
49:39will actually be across the southern half of the UK,
49:42so across England and into Wales.
49:45Again, some of these showers could be particularly heavy.
49:47They won't be everywhere, so some places will miss them.
49:50Slight drop in temperature again, the low 20s, out towards the west.
49:54But Thursday, well, by the time we get here,
49:57we've lost that cold pool of air,
49:59so it does look dry again across the board.
50:01Again, there will be some more sunshine.
50:02Temperature's cooling off a little.
50:04We've still got that north-easterly wind blowing,
50:06so once more towards the north sea-facing coast,
50:08it is still going to be cool.
50:10Temperature's in the mid-teens here.
50:12High pressure towards the north pulls away.
50:14The Azores High sinks further southwards,
50:16just opening the floodgates for these westerly winds.
50:19Showers, longer spells of rain through Friday
50:22and into the bank holiday weekend,
50:24so things are going to feel very different
50:26by the time we get to the end of the week.
50:28But Friday, probably still dry for most of us,
50:31with rain eventually approaching the north-west.
50:33Keep an eye on the forecast,
50:34because the timing of this could all change.
50:36But still some sunshine.
50:37We're drawing in more of a westerly wind,
50:39so the highest temperatures could be out towards the south-east.
50:42Here's the outlook for our capital cities.
50:44Keep an eye on your forecast on the BBC Weather app.
50:47Bye for now.
50:58We're in Shropshire,
51:00where estates, farmers and communities
51:03are bringing landscapes back to life.
51:05Where do you want the next one?
51:07Pretty close.
51:10Beautiful.
51:14I suppose it doesn't really matter if I drop it, does it?
51:17I'll just pretend I'm placing it.
51:22Back at Dudmiston, I'm with project manager James Lawrence.
51:26He runs a scheme to return arable farmland
51:29back to a more traditional landscape.
51:32The National Trust is one of the largest landowners in the country,
51:36with over 80% of its grounds used as farmland.
51:40To ensure their fields remain in harmony with nature,
51:43the Trust has a duty to work closely with the farmers
51:46who tenant their land.
51:49Farmers have such a complicated challenge.
51:52Yeah, it's incredibly difficult,
51:53and that's why we're trying to work with our tenants
51:56to look at all the different benefits they can get from the land
51:59and how that fits with their farm business.
52:01The Trust has picked out plots that they see as less productive
52:05and is working with tenant farmers to turn that struggling land
52:09into thriving, wildlife-rich heathland.
52:13In many ways, we're just working with the land
52:15and farming with nature,
52:17where we get the right approach to the land management
52:19in the right location.
52:21So what's happening with the patch
52:22that we're driving across at the moment?
52:24So this is currently a grassland mix,
52:26but this will be reverting back into heathland
52:28as part of the project.
52:29Oh, wow.
52:30Can we get out and have a look?
52:31Yeah, of course.
52:33Oh, yeah.
52:36This is incredible, isn't it?
52:38It's fantastic.
52:40360 hectares of this farmland is rented by a tenant farmer.
52:45He's ring-fenced nearly a third of it
52:47to be restored back to a more natural heathland.
52:50So what we're doing is we're looking out over the restoration area.
52:53It's got a single fence that's about six kilometres long,
52:56and it's slung all the way around the entire heathland restoration.
52:59Right.
53:00And then you've got fields that used to be in arable,
53:02which have been reverted back to heathland.
53:04OK.
53:05And then acid grassland and hay meadows
53:07and a mixture of wood pasture and other things.
53:09So when you say heathland,
53:10what are the techniques and the species that you're using
53:13and putting in here to create that?
53:15We've established a base acid grassland mix
53:18of a variety of specialist species,
53:20and then we're creating bare earth.
53:22And then on that, we'll spread heather seed and brush,
53:25and then we'll allow the hedgerows to grow out,
53:27and then we'll monitor how that works,
53:29and then we'll create a mosaic of different habitats
53:32all the way from bare earth all the way through to heather,
53:35scrub, gorse, broom.
53:37And what's the ultimate vision?
53:38What is it going to look like?
53:40I can show you.
53:41So that photograph was a drone image taken about 18 months ago,
53:45so it shows the landscape as was when it was still in arable.
53:49So we can show that if you want to scroll.
53:51I'll just pull that across.
53:53Yeah.
53:54Oh, yeah.
53:55Well, it is a difference, all that lovely purple heather in there.
53:59How far into the future am I looking?
54:01We'd expect to see heather and dwarf shrubs
54:03start to establish within about five years or so,
54:06but to see this change would probably take about 10 years
54:09into the future from when the scheme started.
54:11I see.
54:12But this really is a generational project,
54:14so what we've got is a reversion back to the historic
54:17cultural landscape that we've lost from this part of the world.
54:20And who's doing the work then?
54:21So that's our tenant farmer, Martin Bebb,
54:24and we can go and meet him if that's OK.
54:26Brilliant. Yes, I would love to talk to him,
54:28because obviously it's a very different way of farming.
54:30Absolutely.
54:36Hiya, Martin.
54:37Hi, Martin.
54:38Martin Bebb comes from a long line of farmers
54:41with roots that stretch back centuries.
54:43Coming in.
54:44Good to see you.
54:45Good to see you as well, yeah.
54:46Before being involved in this project,
54:48he used to grow arable crops such as barley, maize and rapeseed
54:52in this section of the farm.
54:54His task today is to cut and collect the newly planted grass
54:58as part of its transformation into heathland.
55:01What did you have in here before, Martin?
55:04Well, they were arable fields for sort of at least 50 years.
55:09Are they?
55:10So...
55:11What was the last crop that you grew in here?
55:13It was a barley crop.
55:14I've been trying to increase nutrients for the last 50 years
55:18and now I'm trying to do the exact opposite.
55:20You do the opposite.
55:21Yeah.
55:22So this changed then.
55:23I mean, how did that come about?
55:25Well, the National Trust approached me, it's maybe 2020, 21,
55:30and so I didn't know anything about lowland heath.
55:33So what was your reaction initially?
55:35Were you like, hang on a minute?
55:37Yeah, just hang on a minute, yeah.
55:39And how are you feeling about it now?
55:40I'm fine with it now, yeah.
55:43Turning these fields into heathland is no small task.
55:47It means making the soil more acidic
55:49and stripping away the nutrients once needed for arable crops.
55:53That's why it's so important to remove the grass cuttings
55:57instead of leaving them behind.
56:01What are you going to be doing with these grass piles now then, Martin?
56:04Yeah, well, they'll just stay here
56:06and we're hoping they're going to heat up
56:08and create some habitat for some snakes to come and...
56:12Oh, grass snakes?
56:13Well, grass snakes to come and lay their eggs in
56:15because I believe I've been told that they lay their eggs
56:18in compost heaps and places that have heated up
56:21and they sort of incubate.
56:23And as far as kind of the management and grazing is concerned,
56:26are you going to put any animals on here?
56:27Yeah, we've got highland cattle here now, yeah.
56:30Brilliant, and where are they at the moment?
56:32I think they're in the corner of the wood keeping cool.
56:35I'm not surprised.
56:36Let's go to the shady area and see if we can find them.
56:40Keeping highland cattle is a new venture for Martin,
56:43one that helps with the transformation of this land.
56:47How many have you got in all?
56:48Well, it's 14 altogether.
56:51As they graze, their hooves naturally break up the ground
56:54and help scatter seeds,
56:56playing a vital role in helping the heathland to take root and thrive.
57:00Have they grown on you?
57:02They definitely have grown on me, yeah.
57:04Come on, Annabelle. Come on to the top.
57:06She's so gorgeous.
57:08Hello, darling.
57:09Well, I've been hearing all about your new home.
57:12They're hopefully going to spend their whole life on this heath,
57:15creating habitat and having a nice time, generally.
57:18You're a big part of the future of this place, Annabelle.
57:21You are, you're very important.
57:23And beautiful.
57:35It has been a blissful spring day exploring Shropshire, hasn't it?
57:40Honestly, we've been so lucky, haven't we?
57:42We've met some wonderful people, we really have.
57:44But that is all we've got time for, for this week.
57:47Next week, Vic and Jo are going to be in the village of Storrington
57:50in West Sussex, celebrating the resurgence of a charismatic creature.
57:55This is something that is completely beyond our wildest dreams,
57:59to become European legend.
58:03Oh, my gosh! Is that... That's the white stork?
58:06Yep. There'll be chicks in there.
58:11So we've got three chicks.
58:14Oh, that's amazing.
58:16There's a fourth one there.
58:18Oh, wow. Is four a good number?
58:20It's a great number.
58:24That's next Sunday at four o'clock.
58:32Hope you can join us then. Bye-bye. Bye.
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