Meet Stephen Honeywood

In Brief

Who  Stephen Honeywood

Where  Halls Farm & Little Haugh Farm, Suffolk

How big  440 and 350 acres

Grows  Wheat, oats, oilseed rape, sugar beet.

New kid on the block, or from a farming family?

My family have been farming in Suffolk since 1760. In that time we’ve moved 10 miles. Although I went off and got a degree in engineering, I always knew I wanted to farm. I worked with my dad – and still do. I hope my children will take over from me.

Most satisfying parts of your job?

Knowing that I’ve got the harvest in and we’re all set for the winter.

Most irritating parts?

Pointless form filling that’s a waste of time and money

What keeps you awake in the middle of the night?

The next project.

How is the way you farm good for wildlife?

We’ve restored meadows, left grass margins around fields, and replanted hedgerows – we have thin, tall ones and thick, low ones to suit different birds. We’ve also planted plants that produce pollen and nectar for bees and butterflies, and crops like mustard to provide bird-food over the winter. My dad’s put beehives into our ancient orchard. All this started because around ten years ago we were looking for a market for our oats; we contacted Jordans, they introduced us to Conservation Grade farming, and we got hooked on the idea. We were already part of government stewardship schemes, so it was a natural extension.

Any specific stuff you’re proud of?

Virtually all our fields are exactly as they were in the 1841 census – not many farms could say that. Once the shape of the countryside has gone, you can’t put it back. Habitats are hard to retrieve too. If I can leave this little bit of England to my children in a better state, that’s got to be good.

What difference have these conservation measures made?

The rise in birds has been phenomenal – at last count 77 species. We’re seeing birds like yellowhammers, grey partridge, tree sparrows and reed warblers. Lapwings have come back: when we started farming for wildlife we had just one pair, now we have 60. A huge number of wild flowers thrive on our grass margins. Hares too – they’re everywhere.

What about butterflies?

These are amazing. I never knew there were so many species! We have white admiral and white-letter hairstreak, which are quite rare. You’ll also spot silver-washed fritillary, holly blue, and brown argus.

What are you doing when you’re not farming?

Taking my children out on Flick and Pebbles, our ponies.

Come the floods, what would you save apart from your family and friends?

The family photo album – it’s such a precious record of the farm’s past 100 years.

Favourite breakfast cereal

Porridge, cooked slowly in the Rayburn overnight. My son William likes apple and cinnamon granola.

If you hadn’t become a farmer, what would you be doing?

I can’t imagine doing anything else. Anything near an office would be a definite no-no, although I did consider becoming a pilot.

Your life ambition?

To fly a plane over the farm.