Located in the middle of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) near Etchingham in East Sussex, Limden Brook is the family-owned farm of Sam and Becky Newington. Having taken on the farm Sam and Becky are dedicated to adopting regenerative farming practices in the management of the organic pasture and ecologically significant water meadow habitats that make up their grazing.
On the home farm they run what’s known as a ‘mob grazing’ system. This low impact system involves moving small groups of livestock from area to area of pasture with the aim of improving livestock and soil health. Areas grazed under this system suffer less damage during grazing, are quicker to regenerate, and require fewer inteventions and additives in the form of fertilisers and livestock treatments. The success of this system has encouraged them also to begin implementing a similar grazing approach on land rented from Bellhurst Nature Conservation Trust. Sam and Becky are working in collaboration with the AONB as part of their regenerative agriculture programme on this site.
On a recent visit by the Sussex Wildlife Trust to the water meadows and surrounding pastureland, 13 different types of dragon and damselflies were spotted. The farm is home to a multitude of other wildlife inhabitants and visitors including dormice, roe and fallow deer, nightingales and cuckoos as well as various birds of prey and invertebrates. The diverse range of flowers including Early Purple Orchids and Bluebell woods alongside grasses, clovers and flowering trees provide a perfect habitat for a large number of bee species.
Sam and Becky are striving to be mindful of how their farming practices impact both the local and the greater environment. They farm with an eye to the future – aiming to look after and improve the farm’s soil health through these regenerative practices. There are more organisms in a teaspoon of healthy soil than there are people on the planet and in order to support us these tiny organisms need our help too! At Limden Brook they have recently begun regularly testing the soil organic matter to enable them to monitor the carbon storage in their pasture. As well as improving soil health, nutrient content, and helping to retain additional water to give greater drought resilience the increase of soil carbon can also have a mitigating effect on the greenhouse gas impact of livestock farming. At farms like Limden Brook carbon is being actively locked away in the soil at the same time as the landscape is being managed to promote biodiversity and produce high quality food.
Sam and Becky are lucky enough to be positioned in a highly wooded part of the country and as a result are moving towards incorporating agroforestry practices within our grazing systems. With the involvement of the Sussex Wildlife Trust, they are currently planting even more trees to provide health benefits to the livestock as well as the wider environment.
At Garlic Wood we share Limden Brook’s belief that by growing livestock in a sustainable way, we not only have the ability to positively impact the land that we farm but also provide better, healthier and more nutritious produce to those who consume it. If consumers demand that this standard of farming practice becomes the norm we will start to see a fairer and more ethical food system, a viable rural economy, and a system of land management that works in harmony with nature rather than to its detriment.
We’re delighted to be able to work with Sam and Becky in bringing our customers the stunning quality sustainable beef produced from their farm.
Visit our online shop to buy beef from Limden Brook and our other nature-friendly farmers.