James Johnson is chairman of the Northumberland Farmer Network management council, having taken on the role while running his family’s mixed unit near Haltwhistle.

Composite breeds feature strongly within the business, which carries 160 Innovis females and a flock of 600 commercial ewes, as well as 70 Stabiliser cows, a suckler replacement enterprise and a small arable acreage used to grow barley. There are two tenanted units, with a sizeable block of rented grassland taking the total acreage to 1,100.

The business is managed in partnership with James’ brother, Stuart, and their parents, Richard and Ros. James runs the Broomhouse holding with help from his partner, Claire Irving, who is the regional technical sales adviser for Innovis. The couple has a daughter, Georgie, who has just turned one year old.

The Innovis flock is used to produce breeding tups and to provide replacements, while lambs that are not required for breeding are finished and marketed deadweight. Progeny from the Stabiliser herd leave the farm as seven to eight month stores.

The farm has been adopting regenerative practices for more than a decade, and Stuart is a past winner of the ‘Soil Farmer of the Year’ award.

“We have learned that decisions on regenerative farming require solid science behind them, in order to achieve the required performance. The livestock is mob-grazed on our multi-species swards and permanent pasture the fields are left to rest for long periods, to encourage regeneration. This maximises soil organic nutrient content and promotes root depth,” said James.

“The soaring price of livestock concentrates has made it unviable to feed large quantities, so we have had to look at other options. The sheep at the other holding, West Wharmley, have not received bought-in feed for the past decade years and it is provided on a very limited basis for the cattle.

“The composite breeds suit the farm, in combination with the regenerative approach. The most recent figures showed 98 per cent unassisted lambings for the Innovis, and the best lambs were ready for slaughter within ten weeks. The Innovis lambs will grow at an average 300gms a day on herbal leys and pasture without any supplementation and this type of performance is a big help to the bottom line.”

James’ introduction to the farming networks began when he was asked to host a farm walk for the neighbouring Cumbria Farmer Network in June 2023. He was one of the first to sign up when the Northumberland Farmer Network (NFN) was launched in early 2024 and was asked to join the committee.

“I am quite a sociable person and I wanted to see the NFN succeed, as it is an excellent way for farmers to collaborate and make progress. My current role is to chair meetings and represent the organisation. Meanwhile, the farm business has benefited from the opportunity to obtain discounts for the group buying of fuel and utilities. We also get a reduced price for plastic waste disposal.

“From my perspective, the main advantage of group membership is the sharing of knowledge, not only between ourselves, but also to learn from the expert speakers that are brought in for some of the events. The aim is to present the information to producers and allow them to decide on its potential for implementation within their own businesses.”

A recent NFN farm walk was focused on the effect of various grass cutting heights for silage-making.

“It looked at timescales for grass re-growth and we learned that the nodule halfway up the stem represents the ‘brain’ of the plant. If this nodule is left intact, the grass will grow back much more rapidly, so the cutting height should be set with this in mind.

“The concept was trialled on our farm last year and although regrowth was fairly good, the lack of summer rainfall meant it was difficult to evaluate. The next step is to cut one field short and leave another slightly longer, so that the results can be compared.”

Born at West Wharmley, James went on to study geography and sports.

He said: “I went to university partly because, at the time, the foot-and-mouth outbreak had taken out half of the livestock and we were farming about half of today’s acreage. I thought the qualifications would add strings to my bow.

“After working as a rugby coach part-time, a cut in educational funding coincided with an opportunity to expand the size of the farm. Therefore, I returned home to work full-time and the business now supports our three family units.”

The family is celebrating its 150th year as tenants of West Wharmley.

“In our opinion, farming is entering some difficult times and information sharing is one of the elements that we feel will promote business survival. The NFN will help us to maintain the flexibility that will be needed to adapt to the changes ahead,” said James.