Neil Heseltine - working to enhance nature
Neil Heseltine
Farmer: Hill Top Farm, Malham
Chair: Yorkshire Dales National Park & National Parks England
“I think there’s a real future in fell farming. I’m extremely optimistic about it, although people will have to farm the uplands differently”
When we chat with Neil Heseltine in the kitchen of his farm, and later walk among his herd on the cold, windy tops above Malham Cove in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales, our conversation hinges around the topic of change. It’s not surprising, given the shifts in policy and payments that are affecting upland farming, and the wider context of climate change and the challenge of reversing biodiversity decline. Our discussion weaves between the local – what’s happening on Neil’s own farm – and more broadly across the Yorkshire Dales and other upland areas in England.
Neil has been farming at Hill Top Farm all his life, and in the last decade he and his partner Leigh have dramatically changed the way they run their business: they reduced sheep numbers and introduced a small herd of Belted Galloways. The herd has now grown to around 200: they live outside all year round, mostly on the higher ground within sight of Malham Cove.
Feeling the benefits of change
This change has brought benefits in many ways, with a reduced workload for Neil, an increase in the farm’s profit, and an improvement in the quality of the stock. And it also shows on the land. Neil delights in seeing more and more wildflowers appear, and celebrates the arrival of curlews and other ground-nesting birds each spring. He and Leigh are Curlew Champions, and often contribute to discussions at events about regenerative, nature-friendly and soil-enriching farming approaches.
‘I think the best management for nature that we've seen here has been grazing land through the winter.’ Neil sees the animals doing well, and the land: both, he says ‘expressing themselves.’ It’s a phrase that sits well with a gentle approach that supports a fertile, circular system.
“The best management for nature that we’ve seen here has been grazing land through the winter - with the animals and the land doing well.”
The gentleness has clearly impacted Neil’s own wellbeing. And with his on-farm work having dropped from eighty to thirty hours a week, Neil has become more involved in National Parks discussions, and he has more time with his family. When we talk about the concerning incidences of poor mental health among farmers, Neil wonders if it’s largely down to the fact that ‘people just work and work and work, not necessarily progressing, and never get off the farm. They're not working towards retirement at 60 or 65, they're maybe just thinking, I'll work till I drop. And they’re not going to make enough money to get out of that situation.’
Mindsets, risks and information
It's a mindset, Neil thinks, that links self-worth with farm productivity. ‘I think we're still driven, as a group of farmers, and in certain organisations, by post-war thinking. Yet we're dealing with a completely different scenario now,’ he says. ‘We delivered for the nation at that time with regards to food, but now there's other important things we can deliver for the nation and for global society than only food. We've got to be flexible and adopt more modern and relevant thinking.’
A mindset is of course only one factor that contributes to mental wellbeing, and challenges often come from financial difficulties. Neil’s own positive attitude is in many ways underpinned by his experience of changing his farm business model, and I’m curious to know: was that easy, and how long did it take to move towards a more regenerative model? Neil, who repeatedly acknowledges Leigh’s part in this change, recalls how it was.
‘There were people saying, aren’t you taking a risk? No we weren’t, not really …’
‘… We examined the three or four enterprises on the farm. We worked out how much the sheep were making, what the cow enterprise was making, and then we worked out how many hours I was spending on each enterprise. We’d thought that the sheep enterprise was without doubt the most important because it was bringing in the most amount of money. But when we looked at the costs of that and the amount of hours I was working on it, the margin was 500 quid! And I was working 70 or 80 hours a week on that enterprise. So, taking that out of the equation, we weren't risking anything, we were just making ourselves loads of time, and a lot less risk of stress. That made the decision easy - but we were making the decision from an informed position rather than guessing.’
Decisions, money and a need for clarity
“For us, funding was without doubt what we needed. And we saw the results: that when we’re managing land in a different way, we get more nature on the farm.”
When Neil and Leigh introduced the Galloways, they had financial support from the Limestone Countryside scheme. Now, farmers around the country are faced with a complex array of choices, and a great deal of uncertainty. BPS (Basic Payment Scheme), which is critical for most farms, is being phased out, and there is a lack of clarity about alternative sources of funding which are being brought in as part of the UK’s emphasis on Public Goods. Farming is ‘in transition’.
Farmers are calling for clarity, and like many others, Neil is adamant that clarity is desperately needed. ‘Until you can go on farm and give clarity, of exactly how much money a farmer may get if they drop production, say by 20%, so they would see the rewards and the money ... But there's still fogginess, and in some cases, distrust. A farmer might think Why would I plant trees if that takes land out of production? We need to get to the stage where we can go to a farm and say there might be a business benefit in change.’
‘For us, funding through the Limestone Country project was without doubt what we needed,’ says Neil. ‘We saw the results: that when we're managing land in a different way, we get more nature on the farm. And that was an important step.’
Malham Cove, catching the light
A National Park perspective - finding balance
“Climate change and natural recovery are absolutely at the heart of everything we’re trying to do as a National Park at the moment, and I hope that I’ve had some influence on making that happen.”
In his role as Chair of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and of the National Parks England group, Neil is involved in conversations that are helping to shape a clearer path forward. As part of the drive to incentivise change, the National Park Partnership is working to help national parks move to a model of blended finance: raising money from private investment that can be used alongside government support for farmers, farm clusters, and other groups and organisations involved in land use. It’s not straightforward, but it’s a good start, Neil thinks, with some money already offered by Defra. ‘Not only are Defra saying you need to put more into private finance and potentially blended finance, they're actually putting some money in to help national parks to achieve that and deliver it.’
Neil is more optimistic and patient than some people we’ve met: ‘I have every confidence that the government are going to get that right eventually - the people I speak to within Defra I think have the right motivations about striking a balance between food, nature, the environment.’
What concerns Neil, though, are strong narratives that claim the future of upland farming rests solely in food production. ‘I don't think there's been money in food production for 30 years. So to say, now, our future is in food production doesn’t make sense. The whole world has changed.’ This attitude can also fuel polarised arguments that set food and nature against one another. Neil looks for a balance: ‘I’m always going to say, Let’s explore. What if we do that? What’s the scenario, with that … or that? That’s how the debate should be taking place.’
‘Commons hold the key’
We talk again about the upland commons, and Neil emphasises their value: ‘I think the commons hold the key in terms of delivering all the things that we need that are really important, for nature, for the environment,’ he says. ‘New forms of payment for this could rejuvenate commoners’ lives. But these would be from natural capital, not necessarily from meat. That doesn't mean you've got to stop producing meat, it just means you probably produce it in a different way.’
“I think the commons hold the key in terms of delivering all the things that we need that are really important, for nature, for the environment. New forms of payment for this could rejuvenate commoners’ lives.”
Looking forward, Neil is hopeful. ‘I think there's a real future in fell farming. I'm extremely optimistic about it – although people will have to farm the uplands differently. Whether that will be the people who are currently farming, I'm not sure. Some are resistant to change. Maybe the people who are most likely to take advantage of the opportunity that is currently presenting itself are people who come in with a completely fresh approach.’
Farming in transition
In Neil’s own fresh approach, his latest aspiration is to stop making hay. He wants to maintain thriving wildflower meadows but move to a system where the animals can benefit from different stages of vegetation growth across the year. This would satisfy his commitment to supporting the animals to behave as naturally as they can, and would reduce fossil fuel use. There will be risks – as hay is often necessary in a cold winter. Perhaps, Neil thinks, the need for winter feed will decline as winters warm. Neil is still making plans - it’s part of an ongoing process of adaptation. He has also recently acquired the rights to graze cattle on part of Ingleborough Common, and is looking forward to seeing how the Galloways get on in the new environment, and how the vegetation responds to their presence.
“It’s that extension of nature that we were trying to create - a sort of relationship between a person, the weather, and the animal, in a way that feels natural.”
‘I think we're still transitioning,’ says Neil. ‘The more we can leave the animals to express their own behaviour, the better, and the amount that we've learned from them is amazing when we aren't trying to put them in scenarios that are easier for us, like putting them in a building - it's at that point that it becomes an industrial process, rather than an extension of nature. And it's that extension of nature that we were trying to create - a sort of relationship between a person, the weather, and the animal, in a way that feels natural.’
Working as closely as possible with natural systems underpins all of the decisions on the farm, and extends beyond. Neil brings this attitude to his work as Chair of the National Park, where he helps to steer a direction of travel that support individual farmers and keeps the bigger picture in mind. ‘Climate change and natural recovery are absolutely at the heart of everything we're trying to do as a National Park at the moment, and I hope that I've had some influence on making that happen.’
More About Hill Top Farm
Visit the website here: hilltopmalham.co.uk