Farm of the Week: Changing ways and ending overgrazing above the 'limestone line' in the Yorkshire Dales

Neil is a hill farmer of cattle and sheep at Hill Top Farm in Malham with his partner Leigh Weston and said that the way in which he farms today has in part been guided by projects that have changed his grazing patterns, livestock numbers, have seen him bring back native breeds and that through how he farms today the flora, fauna and wildlife habitat has been improved.

“Eighty per cent of the land I farm is above the moorland line. It is on limestone pastures and is termed severely disadvantaged, a less favoured area, every derogatory designation applies to our land.

“The experiences I’ve had and changes I have made to the way we farm during the past 15 years has put ourselves into a place where we think nature and farming complement each other and co-exist well.

“Over that period we’ve switched our grazing patterns and our emphasis on livestock from sheep to cattle. We have continually reduced sheep numbers and almost continually increased head of cattle.

“What started it all was the Limestone Country Project. What had been found was that there had been overgrazing of sheep, largely because of headage payments, a system whereby farmers were being paid by the head for the number of breeding animals they had. The overgrazing had changed the flora and fauna that were growing, particularly on the limestone pastures.

“The Limestone Country Project was about reintroducing native breeds of cattle to limestone pastures to graze in a different way, changing the species that were grazing and the stocking densities for a lighter graze overall. Probably more importantly was the timing of the grazing.

“It is now very much about a winter graze on the limestone pastures, having cattle out in winter is imperative to the biodiversity and nature of flora and fauna to come again in the spring. The cattle graze on the limestone pastures from September to April.

The cattle and the numbers that are now used to graze has been a winning combination both for the Yorkshire Dales National Park and for Neil, so much so that he has also been inspired to try other native breeds in more recent times.

“Our main reason for transferring over from sheep to cattle was that we’re trying to farm with as low inputs as we possibly can. Our cattle live outdoors. They feed off grass and moorland. Keeping input costs low in relation to the income from the cattle is now putting us in a good place financially.

“We had 800 breeding ewes and 19 breeding cows and a bull in 2004 when we started with Belties (Belted Galloways), but our livestock numbers are now 180 head of cattle and 100 breeding ewes. Around five years ago I added Riggit Galloways to the herd. They are a rare native breed identifiable by their white stripe running down their spine. They are easy calvers and good mothers. I’ve also just taken on six Northern Dairy Shorthorn cows more recently which I’m considering milking.

Neil said that as a result of the changes made at Hill Top the farm is now in a financially more resilient position.

“By keeping input costs to a minimum and running native breeds that suit the weather conditions we are less vulnerable to the vagaries of farming, such as the weather, and increases in input costs.

“The sheep are more profitable now with 100 than when we had 800 because we also farm them with less inputs. We are applying the same principles we’ve learned with the cattle to the sheep.

Neil has also added a native breed to his Swaledales, taking on Wensleydales, starting with Black Wensleydales.

“We started with them around five years ago. They provide a significant additional income from their wool. We lamb our flock of 60 Swaledales and 40 Wensleydales in May when the weather is better and we have more grass.

Neil’s farming enterprise sees him with 350 acres at Hill Top. He farms around 1200 acres overall.

“I own some land, I rent some from my parents and have tenancy agreements with private landlords. My income is from a variety of sources including selling boxed beef with my beef cattle going slow-grown at four and a half years. We retail privately and look for butchers looking for the beef and lamb we are producing as organic and Pasture for Life approved.

“Our income is supplemented by a Native Breed Cattle Supplement and the majority of the land is under countryside stewardship schemes.

Neil said it was his experience with the Green Lanes Advisory Group that led to his further involvement with Yorkshire Dales National Park.

“I was really impressed with the ways in which Yorkshire Dales National Park managed, through mitigation and diplomacy, to take a room full of people with opposing views and gradually worked through stuff.

“I realised there was more to the national park and as a result I went on to the local access forum, became a parish member, then deputy chair and now chair.

“I’ll do something with Yorkshire Dales National Park every day of the week. So much goes on from access to land management to cultural heritage.

“We have a very close relationship with Defra. Probably the best example of how we have worked together more recently has been with the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FIPL) project, which has shown that locally delivered ideas, assisted by our farm teams, who know the landscape, territory and the farms, are a way forward.

“Engagement with farms within the national park and those in protected landscapes is the key and the government’s Environmental Improvement plan announced recently will also feed into that.

Neil believes the Limestone Country Project (LCP) and work with native breeds and improving flora, fauna and wildlife was his most important step.

“I now realise how important getting involved has been. I was educated conventionally on livestock production. It was LCP coming along that I started to realise how we could influence the amount of nature and wildlife on the farm and that by farming with nature I was creating a more profitable business. LCP has been so influential in changing my whole philosophy. It’s not just making space for nature, it’s farming in a way that takes on natural processes and behaviour.

Neil and Leigh have a daughter, Violet, age 9. Neil is the third Heseltine generation to have farmed at Hill Top since his grandparents arrived in 1950. Neil followed his parents John, who sadly passed away in February, and Annie. It was Annie’s side of the family, the Hudsons, who were at Hill Top before the Heseltines arrived. You can catch up with all Neil and Leigh’s farm activities today by inputting @hilltopfarmgirl