The Countryside Farmer of the Year finalists – Jeremy Padfield

Church Farm, Stratton-on-the-Fosse,
Radstock, near Bath

Farmers may once have been  notorious for their insularity, their affable hostility to the rest of the population and their reluctance to get too involved in anything outside the narrow confi nes of the industry.

But when you talk to someone like Jeremy Padfield, you realise how much has changed in the way farmers view their role in society. Not to mention the extent to which they are prepared to get involved in things which are way outside the realm of gritty crop and livestock production.

There’s no denying Jeremy is a good farmer and a collaborator par excellence. On the arable and beef farm at Stratton-on-the-Fosse,Radstock, near Bath, that he farms with his wife Sue and father John,he is an integral part of the local rural landscape, enjoying a seamless involvement with neighbours,schools, local people and wildlife organisations.

Some of these are to do with  the day-to-day running of the farm. Like the fact that he shares all arable machinery with immediate neighbours John and Rob Addicott. But he collaborates with other farmers in the wider area,too, mainly through Bath District Farmers, an 11-strong farmer buying group, which is determined to increase the amount of local food supplied to local schools.

They now have contracts to supply milk, yoghurt, cream,bread, eggs and cheese to 20,000 schoolchildren in over 200 schools and a number of council-run nursing homes and are keen to tender for other public and private sector contracts.

He collaborates with local schools and the public in other ways. More than 1000 schoolchildren will have visited the farm this year and 800 members of the public.

Last year the farm hosted walks for the local Rotary Club, the Farm Crisis Network, the WI, local amblers,
FWAG and even two groups from DEFRA. And an amazing 1500 people visited on 10 June as part of Open Farm Sunday.

This is a side he is particularly keen on. “With a three-year old and a six-year-old, I’m very aware of the lack of understanding among schoolchildren about where their food comes from.” But it’s on the environmental side that this enthusiasm for getting involved is seen at its best.

The farm entered the Countryside Stewardship Scheme back in 2001 and now all land is also in
the Entry Level Scheme. They are enthusiastic LEAF members.

About 20% of the farm is under some form of conservation management,with 6m wildlife margins around every fi eld, wild bird feed blocks, skylark plots, overwintered stubbles, hay meadows and a big hedgerow management scheme.

Jeremy is happy to bring in new technology and techniques to boost his environmental friendliness.
They and the Addicotts have just bought a new GPS-equipped fertiliser spreader so that nutrients can be applied with pinpoint precision to avoid over-application.

What about wildlife? Well, they have close links with the RSPB’s Wessex Tree Sparrow project, have taken part in the Farmer and Volunteer Alliance and three years ago contacted the local Cam valley Wildlife Group to see if it would like to monitor birds on the farm.

They also won a Gold Award in the 2005 Duchy of Cornwall Habitat Awards, which was presented to them by Prince Charles.

As well as safeguarding their wildlife, they are trying to cut their carbon footprint by changing to low-energy bulbs, shifting cultivations to min-till and looking seriously at biofuels.