Dairy farming matters to the environment
Dairy farmers, Ian and Stephanie Sharman, of New Holbeck Farm, Halam near Newark, are this year's Wilkinson Nottinghamshire Environment Award winners. The Sharmans beat second prize winners Bill McDougall of Park Farm, Blyth and the Severn Trent farm at Stoke Bardolph, managed by John Jackson, to the £5000 award. Andrew Parsons of Sutton on Trent was the runner up.
The competition, which is sponsored by Nottinghamshire-based home and garden retailer Wilkinson, is now in its seventh year. After the final judging, on 4 July, Richard Hezlet, NFU's regional director and one of the judges for the competition said:
"The decision to award the top prize to a commercial dairy farm shows that it is possible to run a successful dairy enterprise whilst at the same time looking after wildlife and the environment. The judges recognised that a great deal of thought had been put in to slurry disposal, the carbon footprint of the farm and encouraging wildlife.
"New Holbeck Farm is a great example of why we need our dairy farms: they are a haven for wildlife and the maintenance of permanent pasture, field patterns, hedges and a wide range of natural habitats in our countryside, together with the production of a vital staple food, is why dairy farming matters."
Ian and Stephanie Sharman are pleased and surprised to have won the first prize:
"Winning this years' Wilkinson Award is really good news," says Ian. "Commercial dairy farming is good for wildlife and we've proved this by integrating our dairy enterprise with the environment, here at New Holbeck Farm. We try and keep habitat management and wildlife in mind in everything we do. We're particularly pleased at the number of bird species we have on the farm, including a range of predators such as Tawny, Barn and Little Owls, Buzzards and Sparrowhawks, as well as all the usual farmland birds.
"We're also very conscious of our carbon footprint. We're able to grow most of our cattle feed on the farm, so we use less fuel importing food than some other enterprises and we use our own slurry, rather than artificial fertilisers, to maintain soil fertility, again reducing the overall amount of energy in our milk production. But we are a commercial dairy unit and are proud of the fact that our production is in the top 5% of dairy herds in the UK."
Runner up in the small farm category (<300 acres) was Bill McDougall who farms Park Farm, at Blyth in North Nottinghamshire. Bill runs an extensive beef herd in historic parkland. The judges, who included Donna Goodwin, representing Wilkinson, FWAG's national Director, Michael Woodhouse and Derbyshire farmer and chairman of Derbyshire FWAG, Peter Oldfield, were pleased to see the excellent mixture of historic features, good environmental practice and commercial beef and production. The runner up in the large farm category (>1000 acres) is the Severn Trent farm at Stoke Bardolph, managed by John Jackson. John and his staff have worked hard to maximise the wildlife benefit of this large arable and dairy farm whilst at the same time, promoting public access on a working farm of great wildlife value. Both Bill McDougall and John Jackson will receive cheques for £2000.
The winners will be presented with their awards at the Wilkinson head office in October. Further details of the presentation will be provided nearer the time. Photographs of Ian and Stephanie Sharman and New Holbeck Farm can be requested from NFU regional office; ring Alison Pratt on 01572 824250.
