John Billington is the winner of the 2024 Whitegrove Farm Conservation Trophy which is kindly sponsored by Staffordshire & Birmingham Agricultural Society. The competition assesses how environmental management is successfully integrated into commercial farming.
This family farm extends to 260ha of arable land north of Newport, in west Staffordshire. Arable cropping includes winter wheat, oilseed rape and barley.
Stewardships on the farm began in 1994, where over 15% of the farm is now in land management options which equates to 12% of income. These options include wild bird seed mix and pollen and nectar mixtures as well as legume fallow introduced last year. Other habitats include five ponds and 7.5 ha of native woodland, which feeds a log burner heating two houses and a grain drying system. All watercourses and woodlands have grass buffer strips.
Attention to soil structure has been a long-standing focus of farming operations. Management has included Low-pressure tyres, precision farming with a GPS sprayer, and liquid fertiliser. Within the last 10 years, auto steerage and no ploughing was introduced improving soil resilience and nutrient holding capabilities. No till drilling and variable rate fertiliser was introduced with funding from Staffordshire Leader in 2018. In 2022, molasses and bacteria was trialled with reduced fertiliser leading to a lower overall use and increased fungal activity in the soils.
These environmental management practices have fostered a diverse ecosystem, with hares, lapwing, barn owls, red kite and buzzards present on the farm. This walk will provide the opportunity to view this environmentally responsible farm business.
If you would like to join us on our annual farm walk, this year hosted by John Billington, then please don’t hesistate to contact Chris Seabridge & Associates on tel: 01785 594402