Like many other farmers, Tim and Hebe Easby were looking for an environmental scheme to complement their sustainable farm business and support their ongoing efforts to increase biodiversity on their land by restoring it to a far more natural state.
They wanted to partner with a provider that would take a collaborative approach to land management – one that could offer local ecological expertise and boasted a strong track record for habitat creation in partnership with farmers – so they chose Environment Bank.
Since 2021, Environment Bank has been helping to transform more than 40 acres of Tim and Hebe’s 100-acre North Yorkshire holding into a rich and diverse agricultural Habitat Bank that’s now managed, in part, by sustainably grazing their herds of native livestock.
We originally bought the farm in 2000, taking on the previous owner’s dairy farm just in time for the foot and mouth outbreak. It couldn’t have been a more awkward start! We then worked very hard for several years, farming intensively, to not make very much money.
After ten years, we decided to have a change and found a far lower intensity, more environmentally friendly way of doing things – replacing our suckler herd with pedigree Shorthorn cattle traditionally farmed in the North East and later with a flock of Hebridean sheep.
But we weren’t just trying to make more money from our farming. The wonderful thing here is that we have amazing wildlife, like the curlew and the lapwing. You could virtually put it in your diary the date in February when the curlew will come!
This might sound a bit over the top, but we feel like we have a duty to look after what we've got and protect our green and pleasant land for future generations. If you think of the number of tourists that come to the Yorkshire Dales; they come from the towns to look at the land and the beautiful scenery.
So, we really wanted to do more than just farm here and do something to actually increase the biodiversity of the place. Over the years, we’ve planted thousands of trees, including new hedgerows, and participated in various environmental schemes – this showed us just how much we could do for the land, and we knew we could do more.
What made you consider a BNG Habitat Bank for your land?
We had a lot of meetings here in 2021, looking at the land with different people to consider all the possibilities – and the team from Environment Bank were really helpful!
We didn't have any preconceived ideas about BNG, and it didn’t necessarily come down to the shillings and pence for us, it was what Environment Bank would enable us to do here. We'd already started on that sort of road ourselves, and somebody was going to help us do it.
We also did a lot of research into it from a legal point of view. Anybody who's going to enter a 30-year scheme needs to be absolutely convinced as far as they can. We've got two daughters, and we wanted to make sure that whatever we did wasn't going to be jeopardised for them.
For any scheme like this to work, the land management strategy has to adapt and evolve because it’s impossible to do something by a certain date every year, it just doesn't work. With the way that we're farming the land, there has to be leeway; you’ve got to be able to understand the weather and go with that. The last two years are a good example – under water this time last year and completely dry this year.
Why did you choose to partner with Environment Bank?
What the team at Environment Bank have done at our farm is exactly what they said they'd do. You can't just make trust; it’s developed over time – and there's a good deal of trust between us.
Nobody was precious about any idea or said that’s the only way you can do it. What’s been very sensible for us is that we can talk; we can discuss things and suggest what we think will work best. It's been a great collaboration.
[Tim] spent a year farming in New Zealand where they used to spread grass seed and use sheep to push it into the ground – and it worked incredibly! So, we suggested doing the same here, which meant we got to use something completely natural.
Last winter we planted four and a half thousand whips and scrub areas and they're coming quite nicely. There's a pond where we've just opened the fencing and let the cattle in to open it up a bit. If you go into there in the spring, you just hear the most incredible amount of noise from birds.
Last year we had phenomenal number of dragonflies, and we've got a lot of hares – they always say that if you've got a lot of hares, it's a sign of good land!
How have you found the early process of setting up a BNG Habitat Bank?
Next year, we've got a major project where we're deculverting the Crimble Dale Beck, opening the stream which is currently piped into the ground under our fields. We think that’s going to make the single biggest change to the land – it's ambitious and going to be quite exciting!
We've also got two more fields to seed next year and we're waiting for the phosphorus levels to drop to do the rest. You could just get on with it, but by taking samples and waiting for the levels to be right first, there's quite a nice sort of scientific approach to it so we get things right.
When we start work on all the meadows, there'll be flexibility in our management strategy. Some of it will need to be grazed, some of it will need to be cut – and we’ll be able to have that discussion with Environment Bank.
We’re also using seed from meadows owned by Environment Bank’s founder, David Hill, and that’s been quite nice – not just because he’s part of Environment Bank, but because he only lives over the hill, so it’s been sourced from the local area.
How is your land expected to change over the coming years?
We'll really get the benefit of what we’ve done already by 2026 – and we think everything is going to benefit. The soil will really benefit, and people always underestimate the value of soil and the importance of not applying stuff to the soil all the time. You can already see that the soil is improved where we've got wildflowers coming. The yellow rattle is brilliant at opening things up.
In time we're going to see more biodiversity here because the environment will become more suitable for all the native species that want to be here. In five years’ time, the fencing for the scrub patches will come down and they'll be opened up to make good habitats for wildlife. It's not rocket science, is it really? If you make it a good environment for them, they'll thrive!
We've got three types of owls here – little owls, tawny owls in the woodland, and you can see barn owls nearly every morning and night. We really think in the future we'll see more than we do now.
And the cattle seem really happy! We're producing seriously high-quality meat and that's important. If you're selling a grass-fed and naturally-grazed traditional breed of either sheep or cattle – you're not only going to keep your cost down, but you benefit in terms of quality. We're at the stage many years on when we're beginning to make some money because we've got the right product.
How will these changes benefit your land and farming business?
Ripon Habitat Bank: Our 30-year vision
It works for us, and we think it works for the countryside too, so we really feel we are doing our bit. It just seems more natural and it's easier to manage; everything about it just feels right.
You'd be mad under the current climate not to look at BNG, and the good thing about Environment Bank’s approach is that we get great flexibility and great cooperation, so we're not dictated to by fixed timescales that don't work.
All the government focus is now towards biodiversity and environment, so embrace it and have a look at it and if you decide it's not for you, it's not for you – but you have to take a long view on it because there's no ‘quick fix.’
We honestly don't think you’ll get another scheme that's going to allow you to have that level of cooperation as you do working with Environment Bank.
What advice would you give to others considering BNG?
GET STARTED WITH HABITAT BANK CREATION
Interested in partnering with Environment Bank to set up a BNG Habitat Bank on your land?