Dartmoor farm planting close to 20,000 trees

Written by: Danielle Semple

The herd of cows grazing the pasture in the shade of a sycamore tree. Credit: Ben Lee/WTML

Hall Farm has a special place in the Woodland Trust’s heart; it is where everything started. Ken Watkins bought Hall Farm over 50 years ago. It is in the village of Harford, Devon, where he lived, and founded the Woodland Trust around his kitchen table. The aim of Hall Farm was to lease the land to a young farming family to work the land, producing good quality food, with nature at the heart of every practise.   

Cue Seb and Freya, a young farming family, with the ambition of planting thousands of trees, whilst still producing excellent quality food.  They both come from a farming background, Freya in Yorkshire, and Seb in Devon. They both refer to moving into Hall Farm as a ‘homecoming’. Seb grew up in Finland where foraging for mushrooms was a regular weekend activity, and Hall Farm reminds him of a broadleaved version of the forest they would walk through. Freya grew up in the North Yorkshire Moors, and the dry-stone walls leading into the moor are reminiscent of her childhood. They were farming on an organic farm in East Dartmoor before taking their family and cows to South Dartmoor.  

Seb and Freya perching on their new favourite spot at Hall Farm, on the river Erme. Rumour has it, Sir Ken used to favour this spot too! Credit: Ben Lee/WTML

Hall Farm, just shy of 125 hectares, is made up of a collection of habitats; species-rich grassland, mature hedgerows, ancient broadleaf woodland, temperate rainforest, wood pasture and woodland plantations. There are 96 veteran trees, and 5 ancient trees on the site which is high for a typical farm on Dartmoor. Seb and Freya see this as a good starting point to build on what is already established.  

Seb and Freya’s vision is to convert the farm to an organic, regenerative system. Practically speaking, they are prioritising soil health by not disturbing the soil too much, having diverse crops, and grazing animals sensitively. It also involves relying less on artificial inputs like fertiliser and pesticides, which they are aiming to use little if any. By regenerating the soil and using less chemicals, it allows wildlife to thrive on the farm.

Bluebells carpet the floor in late spring across the woodland on the farm. Credit: Ben Lee/WTML

Seb said, ‘there was never a point where the farming was more important than regenerating the farm’, and having children was a big part of reinforcing that message. Farming and nature work in a holistic way, and they claim they don’t know another way of farming.   

Seb and Freya have 50 Jersey cows, 20 of which will calve this year. Milk, yoghurt, and beef are sold through both wholesale and direct markets. Thanks to the premium on these products, the farm can maintain a lower stocking level, ensuring there is room for nature to flourish.

They plan to keep their cows outside all year round, fed on 100% pasture. The dairy is a calf at foot system, meaning their calves stay with the mothers until they are 3-6 months old. This inevitably means Seb and Freya share the milk from the mothers resulting in a lower yield, but adding value to the milk by making into yoghurt helps cover costs.   

The cows enjoying the lush grass in the foreground of some old oaks. Credit: Ben Lee/WTML

In order to maximise the pasture, Seb and Freya are mob-grazing. This involves giving the cattle a relatively small paddock of land to graze for a short space of time. The aim is for the cows to eat a third, graze a third, and trample a third of the pasture. The cows then won’t return to the same paddock for at least 60 days. This gives the pasture a chance to grow, the soil to rest, and in summer, for the grass to set seed.   

In winter they are planning on using standing hay to graze, and when it gets colder, bale grazing. The bales, not wrapped in plastic, are placed at the top of the field so when the cows come to need it, it can be rolled down the hill easily, without the use of any machinery. The added benefit of bale grazing means they can spread the diverse grass seed across the whole farm.   

When it comes to trees, Seb and Freya are planning on planting in most fields of the farm. The total number of trees planted in year one, comes to just less than 20,000. These will be integrated on the farm in a variety of ways.  

An oak sapling naturally regenerating close to the farm house. Credit: Ben Lee/WTML

Dehesa is an Iberian agroforestry system that involves planting at 50 trees per hectare in regular intervals. This is an experimental idea that means the cows can graze freely, with shade and shelter from the trees, as well as benefitting from the additional browse in the summer months when the grass might be suffering from drought.  Species like cork oak and walnuts can also provide a secondary income for the farm as they are sold locally.

Seb has termed the phrase XXL hedges, as he plans to buffer existing banks. Across the farm, the traditional banks have been damaged over the years. So instead of taking them down and starting again, trees will be planted either side of bank, and the existing trees will act as a nursery for them. Not only will this make all field boundaries stock proof so cows can’t escape, but it will act as a wildlife corridor running through the whole farm.  

Alley planting, lines of trees orientated North to South, will be used to separate the paddocks in smaller grazing blocks. When the cow's mob-graze them there is no need to move fencing, and they receive additional shade in the summer and shelter from wind and rain in the winter. The species here include willow, hazel and holly. These are known to be palatable for the cows and can act as natural painkillers. The mix here is more experimental to Seb and Freya can see which species are popular with the cows.   

As well as this, Seb and Freya are planning on letting the cows graze in the existing woodland. The cows might even thin the smaller trees as they rub against them, which aids the thinning process that Seb and Freya would have to do anyway. In the first spring of them arriving, in the cooler months, some cows decided to calve in the existing woodland, which is proof enough that the wood pasture has an important role on the farm. When this happened, Seb and Freya said ‘that gave us confidence in our planting plans. It is just one example of how important trees are for the future of the farm’.   

The young the calves running around their new home. Credit: Ben Lee/WTML

The trees are not only for the benefit of the animals and pasture. Sweet chestnut has been planted to be used for fencing in the future. Fruit trees are being planted close to the house so in time, the yoghurt flavours and produce in the shop will diversify.   

Seb and Freya are also excited to be involved in some rainforest trials. Sam Manning from the Woodland Trust is keen to explore planting trees at different densities with different species to see which combination promotes epiphytic establishment the quickest. Alongside the rainforest trials, Seb and Freya are undertaking some re-wetting work in the wettest fields. Land that had previously been drained to extend the grazing season is now being left to flood. Willow will be planted in this developing wetland, and this will hopefully become a biodiverse wetland in time, where insects, fish and birds will benefit from.  

Newly planted hedge species acting as a wildlife corridor and wind break. Credit: Ben Lee/WTML

The farm borders Burford Down and is near Harford Moor and Ugborough Moor. Like many upland farmers on Dartmoor, Hall Farm comes with historic rights to graze the moors with their livestock. Seb and Freya are excited to engage and utilise these rights in a responsible manner that will benefit the farm business, and wider landscape.   

Not only are they keen to engage with the other commoners, but they are also keen to engage with locals and visitors that visit the shop so they can understand how they are farming. They have already been pivotal in creating a farming cluster to work with the neighbouring farmers. The long-term vision is to work with farmers, neighbouring commoners, and people in the catchment area, to find a common interest, be it nature, water, grazing, to transform the valley to benefit all.   

It is quite incredible that everything they have planned and already established has happened in the space of 6 months. Seb and Freya state the extensive and bold tree planting plans are the most exciting part of the farm business plan. They form the basis of a regenerative farming journey, and we look forward to seeing them grow and transform the Dartmoor farm.  

If you are interested in planting trees on your land or farm, please contact southwestoutreach@woodlandtrust.org.uk or visit here for funding advice.