Helen Browning
Born and brought up on the family farm in Wiltshire which she runs today, Helen is also Chief Executive of the Soil Association and has served on the Curry Commission into the Future of Farming. She remains first and foremost a farmer and was awarded the OBE in 1998 for services to farming.
Helen knew from an early age that farming was for her, she told her father she wanted to be a ‘proper farmer’ aged just 9. In 1986 by the time she was 24 her father had passed the reins on to her and not long after, she began the journey converting Eastbrook Farm to organic.
Helen says, “Of all the benefits I love about organic farming – the wildlife, the landscape, the delicious food – what motivates me more than anything is allowing our animals to have as good a life as possible. The biggest contribution I’ve made has been developing our organic pig systems. Very few pigs get the chance to feel the sun on their backs – so for me, my saddlebacks are very precious.”
“One of the ways I measure success in the farming business is how many livelihoods it sustains and how much vitality you can create from a place. For me complexity is what one needs in life. Everything that I do in life is about the farm and the countryside. When I’m outside; when I’m walking the farm – that’s when I feel most like me.”
The team
The farm is run by Eastbrook Farm Partnership, comprised of my daughter Sophie, her husband Dai, Henry Stoye, and myself. Henry is generally more interested in crops and machines than animals – without Henry the place would grind to a halt. No problem is insurmountable once he has deliberated in his idiosyncratic manner. Sophie and Dai run all the livestock here, they love all things cattle and grass! Sophie also splits her time with her veterinary practice. Their son Bob, who’s starting young at 1, can often be found helping out! He’s a very welcome visitor on the farm, especially popular in the office.
In the arable team is Daz, who once was the fastest sprayer man in the West, but is now reformed, loves ploughing and driving his vintage car. He’s been here since 1984, on and off – I sacked him once, and he ran away to Africa another time (it’s a long story), but he keeps coming back for more. Then there’s Harvey who also left, only to come back for more. He assists with all things arable; from silage to ploughing, he spends most of his time with the tractors.
Clive, our man that can, loves birds of prey and indeed all wildlife; in an ideal world he would spend most of his time planting hedges and making habitats but needs to keep repairs and fencing on track…a never-ending task! He also helps transporting the livestock and anything else that might need doing. Then there’s David, who looks after the pigs. This is probably the best job in the world in the summer, and tough through the winter months when the ground gets wet, and they are working in wind and rain all day long. He is also the assistant herdsman at Cues Dairy and helps with the youngstock too. Rachel, accompanied by Luna, her Basset Hound, helps to look after the pigs too. She also looks after all the calves and youngstock on the farm, which gets very busy in the spring.
We have two wonderful herds people, Lily-Rose and Danny who look after the Cues and Starveall dairy herds. They are all hands on deck milking, calving, and making sure the dairy herds are fit and well. It’s a never-ending job keeping the cattle sound, clean, healthy, and most importantly happy.
Pete, more commonly known as Pete the Veg Man, unsurprisingly manages the growing of our vegetables and salads. These are sold in our farm shop and used in the pub kitchen, they’re delicious! Managing the agroforestry we have Ben, who is also head of Horticulture at the Soil Association. The agroforestry is responsible for producing the botanicals for our award-winning gin. We are also trialling other exciting trees, even growing Almonds! He is ably assisted by Paul who keeps the agroforestry ticking over and has the lengthy and tiring task of harvesting the delightful fruits.
In the farm office we have the amazing Sue, who keeps us all in check and organised, the hardest job of it all, and juggles a million balls.
Have you read
“Pig”
By Helen Browning
Pig: Tales from an organic farm written by Helen Browning is available to buy online, or from Foyles and Waterstones
A gloriously book written by Helen Browning with Tim Finney, mostly following nine sows from the week of their farrowing, around the shortest day last year, through one of the hardest, longest winters we can recall. It includes the sow that died, leaving nine orphans, and how three of them escaped to the sanctuary of the farmhouse to begin their slow recovery.
One of the major players is Mrs Messy Bed, who behaved a little bit like a brazen hussy on occasions, who wasn’t that bothered about her kids, and who happily slept outside in the snow when it suited her, rather than making her own arc clean, dry and presentable.
Helen’s life of progressive agricultural and environmental politics is woven through the story, as are the characters that make this farm such a different place to be.
Reviews
“Helen Browning has that rare combination of a being a highly successful, hard-headed farmer with real emotional intelligence and a burning commitment to the sustainable health of our environment and the food we produce as well as the ability to express all these things in beautifully-crafted language. Anyone who has any interest in what we eat, how we produce it or how we should manage the landscape for our children should read this book.”
Monty Don
“I can think of no-one better equipped to tell it how it is. A lifetime tenant farmer and an organic pioneer who needed to make her farm profitable. A campaigner for the values of this farming method – not as a niche market but a vital means of farming in a sustainable way for all our benefits – is not a preacher but a practician. This makes her story invaluable.”
Jonathan Dimbleby
“Entrepreneur, mother, farmer, idealist: Helen Browning is the best of modern heroes. PIG is full of brilliant, vivid and eye-opening detail about the realities and hard work of a modern organic farmer’s life, but more than that it is a book about Helen’s championing of values – her care for the animals she raises and for the land on which she farms, for her own family’s wellbeing and their future, the natural networks of which they are a part, the political world in which all this operates and the welfare of the customers who will eat the food she grows. What deeper or richer engagement could there be with what matters in life?”
Adam Nicolson, author of The Seabird’s Cry (Winner of the Wainwright Prize 2018)
“PIG is something of a revelation! Weaving strands as diverse as pig-husbandry, advising ministers, organic farming, family dynamics, animal welfare and the challenge of leadership, Helen Browning has created a multi-coloured garment that warms and delights in equal measure.”
Jonathan Porritt, Co-Founder of Forum for the Future