WNIJ’s newest reporter Jess Savage covers the environment as part of Report for America's Ag and Water Desk. But right now, Savage is wrapping up a reporting trip from the bogs near Yorkshire, England studying peat-land restoration. It’s part of a reporting fellowship with the Pulitzer Center. What Savage is learning there will help as they begin reporting on the relationship between agriculture, the environment, and fragile ecosystems.
The Broughton Estate in Skipton has taken on restoring their landscape, which used to be heavily grazed by sheep. They’re planting trees, introducing beavers and wild boars, and letting grassy fields grow tall again.
Kelly Hollick is the manager of the Broughton Nature Recovery Programme. Hollick explained how the estate used to draw visitors in with rolling green pastures dotted with sheep. Now, visitors are excited about how the environment has changed.
“It’s a desert that is a green desert," Hollick said. "And it’s completely transformed. And you can see there are habitats, there are different colors and structures and textures and life buzzing around. And that’s what I mean about, 'No, you can’t go back.'”
Savage says this reporting expedition blends interviews with conservationists and farmers about considering new ways to use farmland.
“It's really about scale and acknowledging that England's landscape should be more of a mosaic, instead of a blanket of sheep grazing,” Savage heard from conservationists. “But there is definitely still a place for sheep farmers, especially because it is such an iconic aspect of Yorkshire and rural England in general. At the same time, managing a landscape for the few species of grass that sheep like is not a home or a habitat for many other species.”
Savage toured a sheep farm to learn more about the perspective of the farming operation.
“And hearing all the pressures that sheep farmers are under and how dependent they are on government subsidies,” Savage heard. “They're switching to something called ‘public good,’ which means it's less about the numbers of sheep and more about biodiversity.”
Savage found that infuses a political pull to conversations about changing practices to increase species in these areas of the country.
“I talked to someone who's trying to sit down and really listen to farmers and their concerns,” Savage said. “She was talking about how ingrained this work ethic is. Farmers are working hard to feed the United Kingdom and having to change that is really tough and it's a really big ask.”
Above all, Savage says reporting on this topic shows the complexities of evolving agricultural processes globally and back in the United States.
“I can see how important it is for farmers to be able to have control of their land and make the choices that they want to make," they said. "And [at the same time] they're heavily reliant on these government subsidies. It’s a tough place for them to be in.”
Savage says they plan to bring this insight back to their reporting in northern Illinois.
“I've just had such an interesting time learning and listening from people," they said, "and listening to their challenges and their issues.”