16 June 2016
11,510 miles to Waitara
In my last post I mentioned that a New Zealander owns the farm between Swinbrook and Asthall, where the Mitford sisters once lived. I got to meet him today. Stephen Jennings is his name.
I drive into his “farmhouse” and the first thing I see is a classic yellow AA road sign pointing to Wellington and Waitara and other places in New Zealand he has lived in. This is a grand statement about where his heart lies and I am moved by it. It is 11,510 miles to his home town Waitara – he’s come a long way in every sense.
His wealth is off the New Zealand scale but my interview is nothing to do with that. I know even less about investment and economics (and I’m not proud of it) than I do about farming. I’m here to learn something about the latter. I want to know what he’s doing with his land at Swinbrook, and what his thoughts are about land use here and at home. Stephen grew up on a farm, and his Dad is an expert stockman. So he knows more than a bit about farming.
“Isn’t it heaven here,” I say, meaning the Cotswolds and Swinbrook and this house, an epicentre of loveliness. He compares New Zealand’s beaches and half ‘n half wilderness (don’t kid yourself New Zealand; the forest is so de-feathered you can just about hear the sound of 25 million possums masticating) and raw and rough round the edges farmland, with this EU-designed arable patchwork, bordered with soft hedgerows and trees to die for… but with very few wild places. Just bear in mind that the emotive terms I use here are mine and not his when I report his summation, “I know which one I prefer”.
It is immediately obvious, even to my untrained eye, that he is lavishing care on his 260-acre Swinbrook dream farm – 4000(!) trees he’s planted, and kilometres of hedgerows. His father personally selected his small herd of black Angus cattle. The garden of his Cotswolds stone farmhouse is a dramatic composition of deep purple salvia and red roses. OK, so he’s got the money to do it, and there are lots of agri-environment funds here farmers can draw on if they have the energy to fill out the forms, but every time I drive around Hawke’s Bay, I wonder why it is, that after 50 years, some farmers don’t seem to have planted a single tree to shelter their stock or bind the earth, which is flushing out to sea in sick-making volumes. There are notable exceptions like Bruce Wills at Trelinnoe, David Thompson at Takapau, and Nick Lourie next to our farmhouse in Norsewood. The others know who they are.
Stephen says that while most farmers are very good managers here, and competitive in the presentation of their land, some rest on their EU subsidies. The UK is a net contributor to the EU, and so is actually paying more than the 100 pounds an acre – what’s more, Stephen points out, your ordinary city worker is paying taxes to subsidise the lifestyles of wealthy landowners who receive these subsidies in the same measure. On the other hand, the EU does not take into account the above-the-EU-reporting-line improvements landowners make. The Brexit Referendum is now one week away. Jo Cox, West Yorkshire MP, was murdered later this day.
While New Zealand farmers have learnt to live without subsidies, and are fantastically efficient, we have advanced hardly at all in product differentiation and branding – despite the endless cant about it. We’re the bulk buy bin of world commodities. Our national dairy herd has grown to over 6.5M (it peaked at 6.7M in 2014) in a very short time. Stephen is opposed to having a single dairy buyer and seller like Fonterra, with its intensive production policy that relies on the import of thousands of tonnes of palm oil kernel feed at the expense of animal habitats in other countries. In fact, the profit margin is a lot less for the extra stock over and above what can be naturally grass-fed. At a time of below cost prices, importing feed surely doesn’t make sense. And look what happened when consumers detected palm oil in their dairy milk chocolate! They switched brands overnight. The Fonterra monolith is a disincentive to farmers developing and branding their own niche added value products, says Stephen. There used to be local dairy processing factories throughout the country, now there are only two.
He’ll be talking about these and other economic issues in New Zealand in mid July, sponsored by the NZ Institute. Two presentations in Auckland, one in New Plymouth. Off topic, but he brought it up – Stephen is worried about our falling achievement standards in science and maths. Having had some little experience of the demands of teaching, I rush to defend our teachers, though not necessarily our tick-box, over-thought, overly-quantitative testing system. My personal theory, suited to my prejudices, attributes the recent decline to the increasing unteachability of children who are malnourished, lacking sleep, lethargic or hyperactive as a result, unable to concentrate, and experiencing more stress and emotional problems than my generation did. Our biggest issues as teenagers were being forced to eat tripe and the white stems of silver beet, and the terrible television on Sunday nights. We shared these with almost every other teenager, but we couldn’t post disturbing photos of tripe and onions on facebook. I expect Stephen owes part of his extraordinary business success to silver beet and the self-discipline that went with it.
I heard about Stephen from highly regarded river restoration expert, Vaughan Lewis*. He is advising Stephen – and other landowners on the Thames, Windrush and Evenlode catchments – on flood mitigation measures. Stephen is one who has been quick on the uptake. It is always good to meet someone like Vaughan who actually knows how to do practical things. The 4000 additional trees will be a considerable help in slowing the downhill water slalom. The Windrush River that goes through Stephen’s property climbed to the top of the bar at the Swan Inn in 2007. Too much water is not a problem in Hawke’s Bay, where the Ruataniwha Dam is now a goer by the looks of things. I didn’t ask Stephen what he thought about that, and I don’t know what to think myself. Local proponents say that it could save the small towns my family are associated with – Otane, Waipawa, Takapau and Norsewood.
The obvious question to ask Stephen, who could live anywhere, is why here? Apart from being unarguably one of the most beautiful places in the world, it is also within easy commuting distance of Africa, his current continent of interest. Heathrow airport is an hour’s drive away (joke) – well, maybe at 4am on a Monday morning. We had a bus-ride from Heathrow to Oxford on Bank Holiday Friday that made me fear for the driver’s sanity. That bus needs tuning, too. It vibrated like mad when stalled in traffic. The poor man had to then go back to Heathrow and do another run to Gatwick. He was incredibly patient, as were the people waiting to catch the long overdue bus at Heathrow – standing quietly in a well-formed queue for three-quarters of an hour. The Dunedin Longitudinal Study, led by Professor Richie Poulton (NZers, I hope you have been watching the four-part documentary on it, called Why am I? See TVNZ on demand), has shown that self-control is a strong early indicator of success in later life. If you’re not born with it, it can be taught and learnt. Just thinking back to what we were saying about education.
I don’t ask Stephen what his plans are for Africa. But I can’t resist asking him about the housing crisis in Auckland, the eternal topic of conversation at home, as Brexit is here right now. His answers are sure and crisp. Make more land available. Oh, right, I say lamely.
We go outside for a photo by the direction sign on his driveway. He puts his jandals on.
*More Information about Vaughan Lewis, from Vaughan himself
I was born in Berkshire, and have lived in Oxfordshire for 35 years. I obtained an honours degree in Zoology from Exeter University. I then started as a water bailiff with Thames Water, progressing to be Area Fisheries Officer for the National Rivers Authority. When my daughter arrived in 1994, I looked after her for 3 days a week, whilst setting up my own business. Challenging! Both moves were the best I’ve ever made – a lovely 22 year old daughter and business that has kept me profitably employed for 22 years.
My work focus has evolved over time. Professionally it now focuses on delivery of river restoration projects. I also have more time to link in with the voluntary conservation movement, both nationally with the Wild Trout Trust and locally with river trusts and catchment partnerships. The Evenlode Catchment Partnership is particularly dear to me. The River Evenlode has suffered immensely from degradation on all fronts; physically, chemically, hydrologically and biologically, that it deserves our attention. The local partnership is engaged on a number of fronts to try and reverse the damage. Not easy.
