NI's Brook Hall Estate: Succeeding in true sustainability and inspiring other farms along the way

Now, little more than a decade on, Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend is a firm fixture in the diary and is not only helping visitors to better understand working farms and how local food is produced, but it’s also growing in popularity with almost 15,000 visitors taking part in this year’s event.

Bank of Ireland has been a proud supporter of the initiative since its beginning and George Higginson, Managing Director Northern Ireland and UK Strategic Partnerships at Bank of Ireland UK, recently spoke about the bank’s sponsorship and involvement.

He said: “A strong, successful and sustainable agri-food sector is essential to our economy and at Bank of Ireland we are proud supporters of the industry that helps to feed people locally and globally, employ tens of thousands of people and, plays a positive and vital role for the economy too.”

Sustainability was a key area of focus for this year’s event and, before the farm gates were opened to the public, George paid a visit to Bank of Ireland customer and one of this year’s participating farms, David Gilliland at Brook Hall Estate and Gardens on Culmore Road, Londonderry.

The estate has been the home of David’s family since 1858 with each generation bringing something new to the business.

Thirty years ago, that something new was a decision to diversify the arable farm to short-rotation coppice willow.

David explained: “We were the first farm in the British Isles to do that commercially and we used the willow to produce woodchip for renewable heat – which quickly became the farm’s focus.

“From there my father researched using willows as a biological filter for wastewater treatment for NI Water and now with me at the helm, we have several customers with waste irrigation systems installed in the local area.

“We’ve also worked with AFBI, the Foyle Food Group and Queen’s University Belfast to help reduce emissions by grazing our cattle in our willow fields. By enhancing the cattle’s diet by grazing willow leaves, we have measured a 28% reduction in methane.

“My family has spent the last 30 years researching and promoting energy, environmental, and landscape management strategies to succeed in true sustainability and inspire other farms on that journey.

“I am proud to say we are one of the first farms to be measured and found to be beyond net zero already.”

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs has just released Northern Ireland’s greenhouse gas statistics for 1990-2022. While still the largest emitting sector, agriculture was amongst those showing the largest decrease in emissions between 2021 and 2022.

Sustainability is only part of the story. The estate has been established for 400 years, and David wants to ensure its future for generations to come.

Since Covid, he and his family have developed tourism as a new revenue stream. With an estate which dates back to the early 1600s and with one of the finest arboretums in the northwest of Ireland, businesses can hire the estate for corporate events and there is self-catering accommodation and a myriad of attractions from wild BBQ schools to painting, cycle tours to horse-back trekking.

Brook Hall is not alone in taking this approach to diversify. The most recent report from the Agri-Food and Bio-Sciences Institute in 2019 shows that the top three diversification activities in farming were accommodation, manufacturing and engineering, and wind turbines.

The chief motivations to diversify include generating new income with greater stability and control over pricing, providing opportunities for children to take over the business and to provide additional employment opportunities for farmers and their wider families.

George Higginson commented: “We are a proud partner to our agri-food customers and see our role as being an enabler in helping them to achieve their ambitions and work towards a sustainable future.

“David and his family are a brilliant example of how the agri-industry is rising to challenges on sustainability by embedding good environmental practices into their business without compromising on standards.

“It’s another reason why Bank of Ireland Open Farm Week is such an important event. It enables farms to highlight the incredible work they are doing and gives visitors an important window into their world.”

Richard Primrose, Agri Business Manager for Bank of Ireland UK, added: “This year 18 farms took part with representation across every county.

“It was great to see such a diverse mix of farms and families involved and showcasing the wide range of farming activities that take place each day. The agri-food industry in Northern Ireland delivers some of the best practises in sustainable agriculture farming and is recording and monitoring how the industry is improving through projects such as ArcZero which was created and piloted by John Gilliland and the team at Brook Hall Estate.”

David said: “I was teaching in England when my grandfather passed away and I came back to take on the farm.

“I first heard about Bank of Ireland Open Farm Weekend last year and loved the whole concept of it – its mission fits perfectly with our own efforts to reach out and engage the local community to promote sustainability and help in educating people about the farm to fork message.

“We really enjoyed the school’s day and seeing the reaction of the children to the different activities here at the Estate.

"We have been with Bank of Ireland for nearly 10 years, and they have supported us through all our projects and continue to help us as we move into this next chapter of building community engagement.

“Best of all, because they are an all-Ireland bank we can work with them across the island, which as a border farm is really important to us as it means we are not restricted in any way when interacting with customers andsuppliers.”