Meet our members: Stuart Johnson farms beef, sheep and arable near Hexham

Stuart Johnson, 38, farms 540 acres with beef, sheep and arable, near Hexham, alongside father Richard, brother James and mum, Rosi. He lives on the farm with wife Rachel and boys Alfie and Isaac.

The family have been making the move to regenerative farming for the last 10 years.

“The drivers for us to begin taking the regenerative route were all financial really; to see if we could still produce quality food but without the high input costs,” says Stuart.

“You get a much more resilient business but off the back of it there’s all these wonderful side effects which appear with the environment as well.

“The soils are far better and we’re growing plants and arable crops in a way that we know is actually improving the soil year on year, rather than taking things out all of the time. It’s like building a bank account, you have to keep on investing over the years without withdrawing more than you are putting in. It’s still production agriculture but we’re doing it alongside the environment and working with it rather than imposing on it.

“I already knew some of the members of the Regenerate team and with subsidy payments disappearing in the run up to ELMS we were exploring options for making extra income on the farm.

“Regenerate Outcomes are offering a whole package of mentoring and education. It saves us the job of hunting for the right information because they can help guide us to what we need to know. You are pointed in the right direction for your farm from the very start.

“It’s really beneficial to have access to all that information and experience in one place, rather than spending hours trawling through books or YouTube videos to find it and decipher it yourself.

“The collaborative side of it means there is a group of farmers who you can bounce ideas off. It’s less daunting than just setting out and doing it on your own. It’s quite important to have that reassurance.

“The fact they’re working with Verra to certify the carbon credits to the highest standard also gives you confidence that the certification will remain strong in the future. There’s no cutting corners or risk that they may lose their value at any stage.

"I’m really looking forward to continuing to work with the team. If we can work together to farm in a way which is better for me, my family, the environment and future generations then that’s going to have benefits for everybody.”