Wildlife tales from the river bank

Waiting two and a half hours as a herd of sable antelopes crossed the road in front is one of John Fenton's abiding memories of his homeland. "I was born and brought up on a farm in Rhodesia, where my father stayed after training RAF pilots during wartime, and all I had ever wanted to do was farm," says John. "Conservation has always been in my blood, particularly wildlife, which I enjoy 100 per cent."

John has just been announced as the East Riding's winner of a top conservation award for his work at Yokefleet Farms, near Goole. He came to England in 1982 after serving in the forces during the Rhodesian Bush War and a degree in accountancy. He arrived in Yokefleet following spells as a suit in the City, as a harvest hand on a farm in Hampshire and running a 300-cow dairy farm near Winchester.

"Some friends of my parents told me that if I was ever in the county I should look them up. Amongst those I visited was Charles Empson who had just had to sack his farm manager. I said if he was looking for someone I was in the market. The following year a letter arrived telling me the job was mine and I moved to Yokefleet in June 1985.

"The first thing that struck me was just how flat the terrain was and how sparse were the woods. One of the first tasks was to start felling all of those trees affected by Dutch Elm Disease and replant what we call the Big Wood."

In those days the business of Yokefleet Farms ran to 750 acres. Today it has grown to just under 1,200 acres of farmland plus woodland. Wheat, oil seed rape and vining peas are the main crops with a small acreage of short rotation coppice added six years ago, which goes

to Drax Power Station.

Some of the land is 1.5m below sea level and was one of the last areas in the UK to be "warped". Over a three to five year period in the 1950s, the banks of the River Humber were broken and the land flooded to capture silt deposits. "The land type is classed as Blacktoft Marine Alluvial. It's not Grade 1 classification, but it is at the top end of Grade 2. The fertility of that block of land is infinitely higher than anything around it."

John has focused his efforts on ensuring where possible that native varieties of trees are used when replanting. "'What I have also tried to do is to create corridors away from the river, further inland, so that we can interconnect various bits of woodland and new woodland. At the millennium we planted two new woods and when Charles Empson died in 2004 we put in a new wood to commemorate him. We have also tried to maintain what was already there rather than completely taking out an old wood and replanting. In total we now have just under 22 hectares (approximately 54 acres) of woodland."

The farm has been in the Countryside Stewardship Scheme and is presently in the Higher Level Scheme. "All of our arable fields now have six-metre margins around them which we established under the CSS. They have proved phenomenal in terms of attracting wildlife and predators." Lapwing nests are undisturbed.

"We work very closely with the Hawk and Barn Owl Trust on monitoring numbers of barn owls and they have a project that runs all the way from Spurn Point to Selby. They come and check annually and we now have nine boxes on our land – and I am delighted to say that eight of them presently have broods. If we're seeing that, then the lower ecosystem must be working well too. The marsh harrier is another that has done particularly well. Last year we also had a pair of peregrines."

Because of the "warping" there are areas that remain relatively undisturbed and that is good news for wildlife such as roe deer.

"We can have herds of 11 or 12 and they don't do a lot of damage. We know that when we put up trees we have to put up deer guards."

One of the latest and certainly more tangible sights at Yokefleet is the restoration of a 19th century windmill. "It was completely dilapidated but through the Higher Level Scheme we had the chance to restore it. Natural England were also very generous and we have had the roof re-leaded and replaced all of the timbers."

Orchard restoration was also on the agenda and John went to Kew Gardens to ask their advice on the planting of native apple, pear and plum trees which now all thrive. John was also a forerunner in yield mapping, leading to GPS and satellite technology used today, improving his yields massively through field analysis. He always has new projects – he runs an interactive page on the internet through the Driffield Agricultural Society's site about what's happening on the farm.

Fifteen years ago he and his wife Henrietta took on the running of Springwell Farm, part of Elmswell Farms near Driffield. They operate as JH Farming, as contracting partners to Elmswell Farms, which is owned by the Mackrill family. Graham Mackrill, who passed away recently, was John's father-in- law and a fervent conservation-minded man. "My father-in-law undertook all of his conservation work without using grants," says John.

"If you're fortunate enough to be sufficiently financially viable, then you can afford to invest in conservation.

"There are lots of people who would love to be involved but they can't necessarily afford it."

n John Fenton is the East Yorkshire winner of the Tye Trophy organised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society with the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group. Judging is based on how well the farm integrates the business with wildlife conservation and resource protection.

An overall Yorkshire winner will be announced at the Great Yorkshire Show.

The competition entitles all the winners to enter the national Silver Lapwing Award.

CW 12/6/10