The Charms of Challon's Combe

‘Pasture fed’ farming is a system that champions grazing animals on 100% pasture, bringing positive impacts for biodiversity and carbon, human health and wellbeing, and animal health and welfare. Pasture for Life is an organisation that certifies farms and their animals that are 100% pasture fed. Angus D. Birditt meets Peter and Mary Fish of Challon’s Combe in Devon, a certified organic and pasture fed dairy farm, to find out how pasture-based farming can be so beneficial.

Angus D. Birditt: Tell us about Challon’s Combe farm

Peter: So, we farm at Challon’s Combe in the South Devon, a small organic and pasture fed dairy farm with a few sheep and pigs as well. We farm 53 milking cows that are British Friesian with a few Jersey and Angus crosses in there. We produce organic and pasture fed milk, which we process in our own dairy which we sell locally and to local shops. The beef, pork and lamb go through our shop in Kingsbridge in Devon, which is run by one of our two sons, with the other son helping us out on the farm, so it’s a true family business.

Why did you decide to transition to a pasture fed system?

Mary: Well, it seemed ridiculous that we were buying in cake and other grain ingredients that had come from abroad to feed our cows here in Devon. So, one spring in 2012, when we turned the cows out, we thought we’d stop feeding them barley and never went back to it. Obviously, the yield dropped but we weren’t buying in this expensive feed. The cows were also calmer when it came to milking them in the parlour and at calving which apparently happens when you’re not feeding the cows concentrates that changes the pH in the rumen. If they are just on forage, their temperament is pretty steady. Not something we realised would happen. The cow’s general health is better as well. We get near to no metabolic disease problems.

The pasture fed system is also much simpler, as you are only feeding the cows a natural diet of grass and forage of some variety. If you are feeding concentrates – that are not natural to a ruminant – you may need to sort out potential problems that may occur by feeding ‘this’ and ‘that’ to correct it, but feeding 100% pasture, we don’t get any of those problems in their diet. Pasture is just more natural and healthier for the animals.

"For a lot of people, it may be getting over the hurdle of ‘it can’t be done’ because it can be done."

Was the transition to 100% pasture fed easy?

Peter: As we said, it was just one spring when we turned the cows out that we stopped feeding them concentrates. The difficult bit is getting your head around the change. For a lot of people, it may be getting over the hurdle of ‘it can’t be done’ because it can be done. But don’t get us wrong, we are still learning, each day we are learning. The transition was easy but there are always improvements and the key to it is getting top quality silage for the winter – which isn’t always easy with the weather – but our cows are only in for around three months. You can keep the cows out as much as you can, but you don’t want to damage your leys. It’s a process!

"Since transitioning to a pasture fed dairy system, we have definitely seen an increase of biodiversity on the farm."

Can you suggest ways to help other farmers wishing to transition to pasture fed?

Peter: The first step was to diversify our swards with different plants that had different attributes like root depths. For example, we planted different types of clover, plantain, sheep’s parsley, salad burnet, yarrow, chicory and a few different species of grasses. We simply bought a diverse organic sward mix off the shelf and planted it.

Diversity in your pasture will provide benefits for wildlife, the insects and the flowers, and of course the cows, it’s much better for them to have a diverse and natural diet. We’ve also seen that the combination of plant diversity and no fertiliser use has encouraged other species to grow which were already in the seedbank like speedwell.

All farms are different, but we found that perennial ryegrass doesn’t suit our farm, so we have gone to more cross breeds like festuloliums, designed for dry ground and suited our pasture fed system more.

So, you want your swards and soils in good condition to go pasture fed, but it’s also about changing the mindset to ‘it can be done’. It came naturally to us, but because we have been organic since 1999, and we have never been an intensive farm, perhaps it was easier for us to transition.

How is your pasture fed approach improving biodiversity on the farm?

Mary: Since transitioning to a pasture fed dairy system, we have definitely seen an increase of biodiversity on the farm. We have always had quite good birds here, but since we have transitioned, we have had a lot more crickets and grasshoppers here on the farm, including plenty of the Great green bush-cricket that likes long pasture.

With our in-calf heifers and dry cows, they graze on a rotational basis, and we will leave them for a week grazing in each paddock. When we move the cows to fresh pasture, the pasture is very tall and when you walk through it, you’ll see all these crickets and grasshoppers jumping in front of you.

We have also seen a higher number of nesting skylarks, plus a greater presence of other invertebrates like dung beetles, moths and butterflies.

The dung beetles are especially good for the farm, not only are they a food source for our resident bats, but they also eat fly eggs and larvae, so we don’t need to use fly repellent on the cows. The dung beetles only came back because we stopped using the antiparasitic, Ivermectin, about 15 years ago.

So, by using pasture-based approaches like rotational grazing and removing the use of artificial chemicals on the farm, we are not only providing diverse food for the cows, but we are also providing a habitat for these wildlife to thrive.

How can someone support what you’re doing? Where do you sell your produce?

Mary: We sell our produce via our shop in Kingsbridge in South Devon, run by our son, Andrew.

We also sell our produce to local shops in the region, plus at a number of events around the UK. If you go to the Oxford Real Farming Conference this year, you’ll be sampling our 100% pasture fed, organic milk in your tea and coffee!

The Charms of Challon's Combe

Article & Photography by Angus D. Birditt

Interview with Peter and Mary Fish