On 12^th June, the Farm Advice team hosted the second Midsummer meetup event at Little Haugh Farm. The event was attended by nearly 100 people, including farmers, landowners and advisers and was a celebration of diversity in farming with nature at its heart.  

The jam-packed morning kicked off with a tasty breakfast, provided by Yew Tree Farm and Acre Bakery with a chance to network and catch up with a coffee in the sunny courtyard or peruse the stands in the beautiful old barn. 

We were then treated to introductions from our host, sponsors Barker Gotelee and SWT Farm Advice Team. Ben Mackinnon, founder of E5 Bakery and owner of Fellows Farm delivered the keynote talk and took us on a biographical journey and explained what had led him to growing heritage wheat back in his home county. A very inspiring talk on our theme for the day of connecting food farming and nature. “It’s only when we come together that we begin to share ideas and feel confident” and “we have to focus on farming for future generations and that’s only going to happen if we consider the whole system and look after our wider ecology and bring more biodiversity onto farms” (Ben Mackinnon)

The panel was chaired by John Pawsey (Shimpling Hall Farm), who introduced our five farmers – Rebecca Mayhew (Old Hall Farm), Jeremy Squirrell (Wattisham Hall Farms), Ryan McCormack (Dennington Hall Farms) and David Lord (Earls Hall Farm).  

The panel and chair represented diverse farming practices – organic, pasture fed beef and milk, crop seeds, long rotation regen and a Wild Farmed grower – all agreed on the value of quality food production and how this is best served by following nature-friendly farming practices.  

They also agreed on the real price point of well-grown food – food that is produced in ways that are careful of the farmed environment but also utilise its inherent benefits to develop flavour and nutritional content. What we eat is a fundamental part of our health. They spoke about how quality and care in production are frequently at odds with the demands of selling into the large commodity markets. Unsurprisingly the panel shared their experiences of direct selling or shortened supply chains. There was some gentle if appreciative mirth at the distance customers will travel for their freerange eggs! The message here is that some informed customers will exercise choice where they can, if they believe in the product. Persuading more people to make this choice is vital.  

No discussion of farming is free from the ongoing political uncertainties around farming and the dwindling support for the natural environments on farm. Neither can the climate emergency be ignored as the hot, dry weather threatens this year’s harvest. The farmers expressed their concerns about the on-going risks to their businesses. Did they have all the answers for resilience? No, but their stories provide road-maps that others can lean on when taking the decisions to diversify what they grow and how they market their produce 

The farm walk was very popular with 60+ guests staying after a light lunch of Acre Bakery pastries, to join Tatjana (Little Haugh Farm) and Sam Hanks (SWT) on the farm tour, hearing about decisions made to restore wood pasture and parkland, troubles with growing Countryside Stewardship options such as winter bird seed mixes, natural regeneration and holding your nerve, and looking at recent pond restorations and hearing about new plans for no fence collars, lessons in over stocking. The walk finished up at the beaver enclosure to hear how the beaver wetland is flourishing. 

The team have been grateful for all of the positive feedback on the day and also afterwards and hope that people left inspired thinking about what more they might be able to do for wildlife on their farm, and also feeling part of a movement of land managers across Suffolk. The event will be back in summer 2028, please get in touch if your keen to hear about specific themes or might like to host at your farm.