Restoration of a historic landscape

The landscape of Coopers Farm, located in the heart of the Sussex High Weald is essentially medieval: this can be said of few other places in the country. Eight thousand years ago, the High Weald was an untamed wilderness: mainly wooded but with grassland and heathland clearings. These were kept open by the grazing action of large herbivores such as auroch (the ancestor of modern cattle) tarpan (the ancestor of modern horse) and deer.

Over the centuries, the High Weald became an important source of raw materials for the iron, brickmaking and forestry industries - all of which have left their mark on the High Weald AONB landscape. Early farmers use to graze their pigs in local woodlands (eg. Waste Wood in Hadlow Down) (pannage circa 1086) year after year.

These isolated woodland pastures were called dens. They can still be identified on historic maps and are the key to understanding how the High Weald first became colonized by human settlers - and why it has such a distinctive, dispersed pattern of settlement today.

The isolated, scattered nature of the original dens developed into a pattern of small, individual farmsteads dotted across the countryside: this pattern of settlement is characteristic of the High Weald today. Coopers Farm used to form part of this isolated farming landscape.

When the dens became settlements in their own right, the roughly north-south routes originally made by pigs hurrying to their acorn feasts remained - and can be seen today in the pattern of our lanes, bridleways and footpaths. The routes are often deeply sunken. This is due to the action of trotters, hooves and feet wearing the soft ground away over many centuries of use. School Lane was one of these routes, with Five Chimneys Lane connecting with it.

As permanent farmsteads replaced seasonal dens, some of the uncultivated scrub, wood and heath came into agricultural use. By the 14th century the High Weald had become a landscape of woods, healthy commons, and small fields. This is very characteristic to the original historic landscape at Coopers Farm.

As pannage ceased, grazing animals (such as the Sussex cattle) ensured that livestock continued to play a key role in the shaping the landscape of the High Weald. The rearing of livestock was (and still is) one of the main uses of the land.

Grazing played an important part in the creation of the High Weald's character and still plays an important part in maintaining its pastoral landscape today. This supports the High Weald AONB strategy.

With 76 per cent of Britain’s land surface occupied by agriculture, and 65 per cent of that comprising grassland (Brockman 1988), the importance of livestock farming for conserving grassland as a landscape feature remains paramount. Many conservation managers today rely on commercial farmers to implement the required grazing regimes on their nature reserves whilst some farmers are directly responsible for managing their own SSSIs (such sheep grazing at Stocklands Farm in Hadlow Down) or other biologically important grasslands.

Herd free of TB after routine test

Our Sussex herd has recently been tested for bTB (Bovine tuberculosis)and has been cleared of any traces of the disease.

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is an infectious disease that is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium bovis. The number of cattle identified as bTB positive has increased dramatically in the UK over the past 15 years. The disease is now a significant problem for a large number of livestock producers in Britain, particularly in south-west England and south and west Wales.

The root causes and continued incidence of bTB are complex - it is the Soil Association's view that no single factor, whether culling badgers or controlling cattle movements, could be the complete answer to tackling bTB. The polarisation of the debate on whether or not to cull badgers has diverted vital effort and resources from investigating other factors. Defra must redirect resources into approaches for managing the disease, which address the underlying causes of its increased occurrence, and investigate potential practical measures for reducing livestock susceptibility. Increased support should also be made available for affected farmers - given the economic and psychological impacts on farmers who have reactor herds can be devastating.

Peter Melchett, policy director said: "The Soil Association is clear that reducing the susceptibility of cattle to infection is vital. Healthy, stress-free animals are less likely to be infected, and there is some evidence that suggests trace element deficiencies caused by depleted soils may induce a susceptibility to TB. Official attitudes have tended towards attempts to eradicate disease, but we consider such approaches are not sustainable, practically, economically and politically in the long-term. A new emphasis should be on creating ‘positive health’ within livestock. Nevertheless, we accept that strict measures should remain in order to contain the further spread of the disease."

The root causes and continued incidence of bTB are complex - no single factor, whether culling badgers or controlling cattle movements, could be the complete answer.

In June 2007, ahead of the publication of the ISG report, the Soil Association brought together a group of organic farmers (including those affected by bTB), vets, agronomists, dairy industry representatives and Soil Association staff to review the organisation’s policy on tackling bovine TB and to consider constructive, practical ways forward.

That meeting found agreement on some common principles and urgent actions for government:

Government must urgently move beyond polarised debate to investigate wider causes and possible solutions
The polarisation of the debate on whether or not to cull badgers has diverted vital effort and resources from investigating other factors - estimates are that £1000 has been spent for every badger killed.

Defra must redirect resources into other approaches for managing the disease, which address the underlying causes of its increased occurrence, and investigate potential practical measures for reducing livestock susceptibility.

Increased support should also be made available for affected farmers - given the economic and psychological impacts on farmers who have reactor herds can be devastating.

Official policy must shift from ‘eradicating’ disease to building positive health
Official attitudes to animal health and management of livestock diseases tend towards eradication of target diseases from the environment (‘stamping out’) or to achieving ‘biosecure’ conditions, in which it is attempted to prevent all exposure of livestock to potential pathogens.

Such approaches are not sustainable practically, economically or politically. A radical rethinking is required in official thinking with a new emphasis on creating ‘positive health’ in livestock. Nevertheless, we accept that strict measures should remain in place to contain the further spread of the disease.

Investigate why some farmers appear to have ‘beaten bTB’ through practical management strategies
Trace element deficiencies, especially of selenium, have been linked to the incidence of diseases, including bTB. A significant body of farmers, organic and non-organic, have ‘remineralised’ their soils using trace elements, with apparent success in reducing susceptibility to or breaking the cycle of bTB infection.

It is common knowledge that maize, widely fed to cattle, is low in selenium and other trace minerals. Many farmers supplement their cattle to balance these deficiencies. Research should be conducted into investigating any links with the increased growing of maize as fodder and the spread and incidence of bovine TB in both cattle and badgers (which feed on maize cobs where they can).

Some farmers, with veterinary advice, have treated both their cattle and the badgers present on their farms with mineral supplements. The focus on badger culling to control bTB has polarised the farming community and wildlife conservation bodies. This approach offers opportunities for constructive collaboration - for example in distributing such mineral supplements around badger setts.

The above practical approaches, potentially available to all livestock farmers, have been largely ignored by officials, despite achieving apparently beneficial and sustained results.

Investigate why some regions remain bTB-free
There are unexplained anomalies across the UK in the presence and absence of bTB ‘hotspots’ – for example, the Cheshire Plain, a major dairying area has not been subject to widespread bTB outbreaks. Research should be directed at identifying what factors are different there to other dairying areas affected by bTB.

Wider husbandry issues
TB in cattle or badgers, as in humans tends (but not exclusively) to affect stressed animals with suppressed immune systems – breed type, husbandry practices, housing and diet are factors that merit more research as to susceptibility and resistance.

The trend towards bigger dairy herds composed of cattle breeds developed for increased milk-yield above all else is acknowledged by some vets to be a possible factor in susceptibility to outbreaks. We have heard of some very large units, where herds of up to 1000 cattle are regularly moved and spread between over a dozen different farms during their lifetime. Some vets consider such management systems create perfect conditions for the spread of disease through stress and multiple contacts.

Published research supports this theory that bovine TB may be more closely correlated with the husbandry system and thus animals’ susceptibility, rather than just exposure to the pathogen per se. The UK Agriculture Select Committee cited such research in 2001, suggesting that improvements in animal husbandry could be significant in reducing bTB – see: Griffin JM, Hahesy T, Lynch K, Salman MD, McCarthy J, Hurley T, 1993, The association of cattle husbandry practices, environmental factors and farmer characteristics with the occurrence of chronic bovine tuberculosis in dairy herds in the Republic of Ireland, Preventive Veterinary Medicine, 17 (3-4) pp 145-160

Greater research into this factor is needed, given the ongoing economic pressures on dairy farmers to run larger herds of high-yielding cows.

Culling badgers
The latest ISG report confirmed previous findings that, ‘there is little evidence to support the view that proactive culling could provide a substantial contribution to control’ of bovine TB (bTB) in Great Britain, and that reactive culling of badgers ‘may well be counterproductive’. Given the ISG’s unequivocal conclusion that, ‘…badger culling cannot meaningfully contribute to the future control of cattle TB in Britain’, it seems unlikely that the government will go against the scientific evidence.



Whilst the Soil Association concurs with the findings of the ISG report that cattle are themselves are, ‘likely to be the main source of infection’, there seems little doubt that badger to cattle infection occurs as well as the other way round. The scientific evidence is that any reactive culling of badgers is likely to increase spread of bTB. There is an old farming adage, ‘never kill a good badger’ that supports the scientific evidence here. The only justification for killing badgers to control bTB would be if it were possible to identify live badgers that carry the disease - so following the same principle as with cattle.

Vaccination
Whilst prioritising husbandry that maximises positive health in livestock, the Soil Association welcomes the reported more imminent availability of an effective vaccine for both cattle and badgers. The availability of a vaccine would take pressure off both farmers and wildlife in the short-term, whilst long-term research is undertaken into building a national herd with naturally robust immune systems.

Status of Bovine TB as an animal disease
The Soil Association recognises the need to manage and minimise incidence of bovine TB and accepts that if left unchecked animal welfare and human health issues could arise, but government policy on controlling bovine TB appears to be as influenced by trading, economic and political factors as health and welfare.

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Biodiversity and Farming must work together

Did you know that we have lost some 97% of our flower-rich meadows and there are now half the number of farmland birds that there were 50 years ago. The continued deterioration of the natural environment has clear economic implications for the High Weald as it directly underpins many things that we take for granted such as pollination, flood protection and clean air, as well as, the amenity that the area brings.

Wealden will be a much poorer place in the future if widespread decline of many of our most important, and loved, habitats and species continues.

All the evidence points to the fact that the quality and extent of our natural environment across the Region will continue to decline unless current policies and land management practices are changed. Failure to respond will have enormously damaging implications for our wildlife, our landscapes, our health and our quality of life.

The importance of Habitats and Farming at Coopers Farm

Unimproved Grassland
Unimproved grasslands on neutral and acid soils are ancient habitats that have evolved through traditional land management by our ancestors over tens, hundreds or even thousands of years. Unimproved neutral grasslands in particular are extremely rich wildlife habitats with over a hundred plant species present in the sward of a single field. This is a product of inherently low soil fertility combined with a long history of grazing (pastures) and/or hay making (meadows) which prevents the domination of a few vigorous species or succession back to scrub and woodland. Additionally, grazing creates variations in habitat composition and structure, which increase the wildlife value particularly for insects and other invertebrates. Many species of bumble bees, moths and butterflies, grasshoppers, flies, wasps and beetles etc. are associated with or depend on, a continuum of grassland flowering plants for at least a part of their life-cycle. A number of nationally rare or scarce plant and animal species occur in unimproved grasslands in Sussex such as the green-winged orchid, meadow thistle and corky-fruited water dropwort. The considerable invertebrate fauna and also small mammals, in turn provide a foraging habitat for their predators. Barn owls, nightjars, woodpeckers, badgers, stoats, weasels and bats regularly visit from neighbouring habitats.

Traditional Grazing Regimes
Low intensity grazing creates a varied vegetation structure of short sward, areas of taller herbage and grass tussocks, and small patches of bare soil which offer a range of plant and invertebrate micro-habitats. A long history of traditional grazing can also result in considerable variation in ground conditions. Large ant-hills often develop and provide localised drier soil conditions, whilst at the other extreme are wet flushes, springs and marshy areas. Each supports a different and additional range of plant and animal species. For example ant-hills are an important food resource for green woodpecker, and wet flushes can be of special importance as feeding areas for wading birds such as snipe and woodcock. Birds such as skylarks and lapwings favour the open conditions of a varied pasture for nesting and/or feeding. Pasture provides excellent habitat for invertebrates, especially the insect groups mentioned above, because unlike hay meadows there is a continuity of vegetation structure throughout the year.

Hay Meadows
Traditional hay meadows are especially important for an additional range of annual plant species such as yellow rattle, eyebright and fairy flax, which cannot survive spring grazing or trampling because of their need to flower and set seed on an annual or near-annual cycle. The tall spring growth of hay meadows can also provide cover in spring for the ground nesting skylark, and the ungrazed flowers and foliage provide an important food resource for a wide range of insect species. Many of these insects visit from adjoining habitats, and indeed a number of scarcer woodland species (such as long-horn beetles) actually depend on the close proximity of flower-rich grasslands as an early summer food resource. Once the hay has been cut the traditional grazing of the aftermath (grass growth in autumn helps to keep coarse competitive grasses such as Yorkshire fog suppressed, and provides the short sward conditions required by annuals germinating from seed each year.

This is one of the core aims of Coopers Farm that farming and biodiversity can work in harmony.

Restoration of Barn complete

When Coopers Farm was purchased by the current owners, the holding was in a terrible state of repair. It was in effect unfarmable, because every fence was beyond repair, and needed to be replaced to hold any animals. Another aspect of concern was the original barn, which was built after the 'Great Storm' in October 1987. The barn had not been used for some considerable time, and had become an eyesore, with rotton hay, and flytipping.

After discussions with the District Council planners and local neighbours a planning application was submitted to repair and restore the barn into a useable building for housing our livestock. Following planning permission worked started to restore the barn. The restoration of the barn also included an owl box to help encourage barn owls onto the farm. The clean up and local workmanship has certainly made a visual improvement on the barn and of course the High Weald landscape. But more importantly, it provides a viable building for winter housing of our Sussex Beef herd.



Winter housing of beef animals is really important especially in the High Weald, because the clay soils become waterlogged and can lead to poaching of the ground. With the restoration of this barn, it will allow our animals to keep dry and warm without having any detrimental impact on the soils during the winter months.

Bringing Farming back to the Heart of the High Weald

The landscape of the High Weald AONB is essentially medieval: this can be said of few other places in the country. Eight thousand years ago, the High Weald was an untamed wilderness: mainly wooded but with grassland and heathland clearings. These were kept open by the grazing action of large herbivores such as auroch (the ancestor of modern cattle) tarpan (the ancestor of modern horse) and deer.

Over the centuries, the High Weald became an important source of raw materials for the iron, brickmaking and forestry industries - all of which have left their mark on the High Weald AONB landscape. Early farmers use to graze their pigs in local woodlands (eg. Waste Wood) (pannage circa 1086) year after year. These isolated woodland pastures were called dens. They can still be identified on historic maps and are the key to understanding how the High Weald first became colonized by human settlers - and why it has such a distinctive, dispersed pattern of settlement today.

The isolated, scattered nature of the original dens developed into a pattern of small, individual farmsteads dotted across the countryside: this pattern of settlement is characteristic of the High Weald today. It is also very different to that of most of lowland England, which was settled and communally farmed by village communities, using large, shared open-field systems. In the High Weald, villages developed late - as centres for trade, not agriculture. The historic context of the High Weald was made up of isolated farmsteads and not bolt on development onto villages or random placed dwellings. This is particularly relevant to the rural village of Hadlow Down.

When the dens became settlements in their own right, the roughly north-south routes originally made by pigs hurrying to their acorn feasts remained - and can be seen today in the pattern of our lanes, bridleways and footpaths. The routes are often deeply sunken. This is due to the action of trotters, hooves and feet wearing the soft ground away over many centuries of use. School Lane was one of these routes, with Five Chimneys Lane connecting with it.

As permanent farmsteads replaced seasonal dens, some of the uncultivated scrub, wood and heath came into agricultural use. By the 14th century the High Weald had become a landscape of woods, healthy commons, and small fields. As pannage ceased, grazing animals (such as the Sussex cattle which graze at Coopers Farm) ensured that livestock continued to play a key role in the shaping the landscape of the High Weald. The rearing of livestock was (and still is) one of the main uses of the land.

Grazing played an important part in the creation of the High Weald's character and still plays an important part in maintaining its pastoral landscape today. This supports the High Weald AONB strategy.

With 76 per cent of Britain’s land surface occupied by agriculture, and 65 per cent of that comprising grassland (Brockman 1988), the importance of livestock farming for conserving grassland as a landscape feature remains paramount. Many conservation managers today rely on commercial farmers to implement the required grazing regimes on their nature reserves whilst some farmers are directly responsible for managing their own SSSIs (such as Bob and Anne Spencer at Stocklands Farm, Stockland Lane, Hadlow Down) or other biologically important grasslands. With only 5 per cent of permanent grasslands in lowland Britain having escaped agricultural improvement since 1930 (Hopkins & Hopkins 1994) the survival of the low-input, extensive livestock systems that have developed and maintained the ecological character of these semi-natural habitats through the ages should be a key concern for conservationists and planners (Tubbs 1997).

Farming needs to be promoted and encouraged if we are to continue to enjoy these landscapes for next 1000 years.