rewilding farming

The land management here at Old Lands is informed by ecology, the restoration of our farmland biodiversity being the thing on which we place the most importance. Over the past century, the industrialisation and intensification of agriculture have led to a catastrophic decline in Britain’s farmland flora and fauna. Like Rewilding, we are not looking to offer a solution to feed an entire population; still, we hope to be an example of how a farmed landscape, managed in a low-intensity manner, allows open country species to thrive while also providing food. We are just a small part of the necessary mosaic of regenerative land management that is needed to restore what we have lost.

Over the last 30 years, Sam Bosanquet — our ecologist and the current custodian of Old Lands — has mapped many of the best grasslands and wetlands in Wales for the statutory conservation agencies. Putting into practice all that he learned from the farmers who managed them, he started making changes to the farming here at Old Lands some 18 years ago. He saw the vital role that traditional, low-intensity grazing plays in maintaining these diverse habitats and how these species underpin our open-country biodiversity.

Having learned his craft in the lost hours of childhood as a boy roaming the fields barefoot, piles of jotters full of sighting notes dating back to the early 90s show the universal decline is undeniable — shifting baselines in sharp relief. He has watched as the Tree Sparrows, Dyer’s Greenweed, Wall Brown butterflies, and Common Lizard disappear from Old Lands — all having now gone from lowland Monmouthshire. To date, he has recorded just over 3,500 different species here.

“Old-Lands,” as it appears on the old maps, is a tussocky field to the north of the estate. When Sam and Clare took on the southern part of the 1,250-acre Dingestow Court estate, they adopted the name to define the parcels of land that were being farmed agroecologically. With the unexpected and fortuitous ending of three neighbouring tenancies, a regenerative farm cluster began to form. The shift also created an opportunity to welcome new entrant farmers — those trying to break into a market that’s often difficult to access. In the summer of 2024, a landscape-scale natural flood management and rewetting project was carried out with support from Monmouthshire County Council. As more of the estate is gathered in, nature is noticeably bouncing back.

Almost all of the land that skirts the big house was ploughed in the Dig For Victory campaign in the 40s and then ‘de-hedged’ in the 60s and 70s to make more ‘efficient’ arable fields. The small fields gone, it came to be known by the family as The Prairie, and only one corner of marshy grassland survived. That corner — the Caewern Triangle — was protected due to its inaccessible nature, and the flora and fauna that sought refuge there have now moved back across the landscape to the arable that was left bare under the Set-aside scheme in the late ’90s. This was the start of a slow recovery, which saw native flowers and grasses return, accompanied by the invertebrates that feed on them. In order to aid this recovery, the complete avoidance of fertilizers and a gentle balance of cattle grazing and hay cutting was put in place in 2008. None of the fields have been reseeded, as the species that originated here are best placed to support the full lifecycle of the native insects, offering nectar for adults, and food plants for their larvae and the cover for them to pupate. A reseeded herbal ley might look flower-rich, but its annual plants only provide nectar for adult insects.

That said, recovery hasn’t come without its challenges. Airborne ammonia from the surrounding intensive farms has slowed the pace of the reversion to species-rich permanent pastures. We are not alone in this — it is the case across much of lowland Britain — but this form of rural pollution is as yet little discussed. Nearly 30 kg of nitrogen per hectare annually falls onto our land from nearby dairies and poultry units. This ‘free fertilizer’ favours grass growth over flowers, resulting in the Nettles, Thistles, Docks, Goose-grass, and Bracken thriving. To help mitigate its effects, hay-cutting helps to reduce fertility, and the arrival of Yellow Rattle a few years ago has, and will, significantly reduce grass dominance. As an additional long-term solution to help stall the nitrogen drift across our land, we are looking to plant carefully sited tree and scrub screens.

As for what’s been achieved so far: we now have 40 acres of species-rich grassland priority habitat, as defined by Save Our Magnificent Meadows, with a further 160 acres of herb-rich semi-improved grassland surrounding it. Grasshoppers, moths, butterflies, soldier beetles, leaf beetles, robberflies — all are thriving. Tree Pipits and Redstarts returned 15 years ago, Kestrels bred here for the first time in decades in 2022, and Stonechats colonised a scrubby patch in 2023. Grey Partridges have returned after a 40-year absence. A Curlew spent three days prospecting here in early summer 2023 and, with luck, may return to breed. When the Cuckoo finally shows its head, that will be our ultimate sign of success. Until that day comes, we will be working our utmost to lure back the large moth caterpillars on which they feed in readiness for their return.