Dartmoor Hill Farm Project

Helping farmers to help themselves, providing guidance, advice, collaborative activities, communication and funding.

Dartmoor Hill Farm Project was originally set up in 2003 following a survey commissioned by Dartmoor National Park Authority and the Duchy of Cornwall which investigated the state of farming on Dartmoor. It revealed a need for a support body for a sector of the farming industry which is quite different from any other; one which would help provide a viable future for the men and women whose work is so important to the moor’s iconic landscape.

Project officer Sandra Dodd, whose own family farms on Dartmoor’s western slopes, joined the project in 2005. ‘I originally came here to cover maternity leave and I am still here!’ she said.

The ethos for the project is all about helping farmers to help themselves, providing guidance, advice, collaborative activities, communication and funding. One of the most important ways of doing this is through training and recently, co-ordinator David Attwell, joined the project, which is based at the Old Duchy Hotel in Princetown. As Sandra explained David oversees all the training advice workshops, sources the best deals and facilitates them happening on Dartmoor itself, so the farmers don’t have to travel long distances to attend.

‘We also have a contribution programme whereby farmers pay in £50 at the beginning of the year, which gives a discount on the training and study days. Last year one of our farmers reckoned he saved nearly £500 on training, just through paying that £50 to start with.’  Sandra explained that modern day farming requires a huge amount of administration when it comes to form-filling and box ticking and training was extremely valuable in this area. ‘The trouble is it can be expensive and means a day away from the farm. We try and make it as easy as possible for them,’ she said.

The year-round training programme covers a wide variety of activities from dry stone walling and hedge laying, to thatching and sheepdog handling. ‘Beekeeping has also been extremely popular this year.’

The HFP is also developing closer partnerships with tourism providers. The thousands of tourists that visit Dartmoor every year would not see the traditional landscape they expect from Dartmoor unless it was managed by hill farmers and their animals. From 2015, the Hill Farm Project has been funded by Dartmoor National Park Authority, The Duchy of Cornwall and the Prince’s Countryside Fund. It is also taking part in the Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme, which over a five year period will be offering support to up to 1,200 farm businesses through a programme of one-to-one support and business workshops. This programme is open to family farms whose main commercial enterprise is livestock or dairy. Farms sign up to the programme as a family business and the whole family is invited to attend the workshops. Support for these has also been received from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Sandra explains: ‘We can have a maximum of 20 farms involved. Basically it enables the farmers to look at everything; their financial input and output and getting them to think about whether they are using every opportunity available to them. There are five workshops run by professionals available to them and these workshops are really good at making you stop and think about all the possibilities that might be an option for a family farm - they’ve been really interesting.’

Support for the next generation of Dartmoor hill farmers comes in the form of the Moorskills Apprenticeship, which is run in conjunction with Duchy College at Stoke Climsland. This will provide young people with qualifications and skills in a wide variety of agricultural areas such as lambing or calving, shearing, beef and sheep production systems, pony and dog handling, use of all terrain vehicles, tractor driving, hedge laying, stone walling, fencing and key skills in literacy and numeracy.

One of the most valued services provided by the HFP is its regular, free newsletter, which is sent to 548 farmers every two to three months. From the diary of training and advice workshops, through news on grant funding and the latest on Forestry Commission work to the creation of wildflower meadows, it’s an important source of information for those involved in agriculture on Dartmoor.

The HFP is constantly on the lookout for new ideas and innovations which will help ensure the future for Dartmoor farmers. Work is currently being carried out to see if links can be made with military veterans - providing them with opportunities to see how farming on Dartmoor works and whether the skills and knowledge they have gained as service personnel can be transferred into agriculture.

And one new partnership which Sandra is very excited about involves Dartmoor sheep - or more precisely, their wool. ‘Enchanted House Beds at Okehampton are looking for more wool from Dartmoor for their mattresses. We are working with a group of farmers to look at the opportunities with this and adding to the pilot wool project we ran a few years back, which is really exciting. We need to add value to the sheep that graze the commons so I am really hopeful for this move,’ she said.

Dartmoor Hill Farm Project has a steering group made up of farmers and representatives of the national park and the Duchy of Cornwall. Steering group member Ed Pollard farms near North Bovey with his son George - the fourth generation of his family to work the farm. They run a suckler herd of Charolais cross cows run with Charolais bulls. The offspring are kept until 18 months of age and sold as forward store cattle. Some heifers are retained as breeding replacements.

Ed said: ‘My first involvement with the Dartmoor Hill Farm Project was the Mineral Deficiency Programme, run in conjunction with the local vets in 2013. I joined the steering group in 2014 for three years and rejoined again in 2017. The project not only helps farmers on the high moor but is open to all farmers in the Dartmoor National Park.

‘More farmer involvement helps the project to inform.  Farmers can gain advice on new legislation, undertake training courses on all aspects of farming, from the office to hedge and wall maintenance, health and safety, chainsaws, telehandlers, cattle foot trimming, sheep and  lambing - the list is endless. Also the HFP organises farm visits, study tours and social evenings.

The Dartmoor Hill Farm Project has an important role at present and in the future, to help keep farms on Dartmoor as profitable as possible. It also plays an important role in bringing farmers together both through business and socially, as many farms on Dartmoor can be very isolated places.’

Jane Honey