# Indie Farmer > Stories of farming, food and land –– from the ground up. Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### About Indie Farmer URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/about/ Last updated: 2026-02-23T22:04:43.000Z **Indie Farmer is an independent magazine documenting farming, food and rural life through journalism, photography and film.** We publish honest stories from farms across the UK, exploring how people are making a living from the land, adapting to change, and navigating the realities of modern agriculture. Alongside personal stories, we look at the wider forces shaping the countryside — from direct sales and diversification to how soil health, wildlife and rural livelihoods are being rebuilt. **Written from within the working landscape, not from the sidelines.** --- ### Find out more If you’d like to learn more about the background and thinking behind the magazine, you can read [**Our Story**](https://www.indiefarmer.com/our-story/). Indie Farmer also connects directly with food production through the family farm. Details on **upcoming farm-gate sales**, **how to order a meat box**, and other produce can be found [**From the farm**](https://www.indiefarmer.com/sussex-meat-boxes/). For contributors, collaborators, brands or organisations interested in getting involved, information on **submissions and partnerships** is available on our [**Work with us**](https://www.indiefarmer.com/work-with-us/) page. --- **Stories of farming, food and life on the land** Thoughtful stories from farms, fields and food makers — delivered occasionally direct to your inbox. ## Sign up to Indie Farmer Receive new stories direct to your inbox Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### From the farm URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/sussex-meat-boxes/ Last updated: 2026-08-22T07:59:58.000Z Alongside Indie Farmer, our work is rooted in a small family farm in East Sussex. Founder **Nigel Akehurst** is a third-generation farmer who returned home in 2014 to help care for cattle and sheep, while building a more direct relationship between farm and customer. What began as a small experiment has grown steadily, connecting people with the land their food comes from through meat boxes and monthly farm gate sales. --- ## Sussex meat boxes We offer a limited number of **Sussex beef and lamb meat boxes** throughout the year, produced from livestock raised on pasture and finished slowly for flavour. Our cattle include native-breed Sussex cows and **Angus × Sussex** crosses, most of which graze the **SSSI Pevensey Marshes**, carrying out conservation grazing in partnership with **Sussex Wildlife Trust**. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Nigel-Beef-Box-copy.JPG) ### 10kg beef box – £170 A typical box includes: - Sirloin steak (450-500g) - Rump steak (450-500g) - Selection of slow cooking cuts (Shin of beef, Chuck steak, Braising 500g each) - Rib of beef *or* brisket (1–1.5kg) - Two other roasting joints (Topside, Silverside or Top rump 1–1.5kg each) - 5–6 × 500g packs of mince All beef is **grass-fed, minimum 21-day dry-aged**, vacuum packed, clearly labelled and delivered chilled or frozen (**note**: individual weights are approximate). ### 5kg beef box – £90 A typical box includes: - Sirloin *or* rump steak (450-500g) - Slow-cooking cuts such as shin, chuck or braising steak (500g) - One or two roasting joints (topside, silverside or top rump, 1–1.5kg each) - 2–3 × 500g packs of mince We usually release **one to two batches of boxes per month**, with availability limited. --- ### Lamb boxes We also offer **half and whole lamb boxes** from our Suffolk Mule flock. - **Half lamb — £170 (Out of Stock - until late autumn / early winter)** - **Whole lamb — £320 (Out of Stock - until late autumn / early winter)** Boxes include a wide range of cuts such as shoulders, legs, chops, mince and offal, with options to keep joints whole or split. Availability is seasonal and numbers are limited. ### How to reserve a box Because we farm at a small scale, all boxes are **reserved in advance**. When a batch is ready, we’ll share: - box options and prices - collection or delivery dates - reservation deadlines To reserve: 1. Register your interest via email or complete the reservation form 2. We’ll confirm availability and details 3. Payment is arranged ahead of collection or delivery This helps us plan processing carefully and avoid waste. For questions, you can always email **hello@indiefarmer.com**. --- ## Monthly beef & cheese farm-gate sales We hold a **monthly farm-gate sale at Hockham Farm**, usually on a Saturday morning (10am to 1pm). These days bring together: - individual cuts of beef and lamb - meat box collections - cheese from the **Pevensey Cheese Company**, also based at the family farm Cheese available includes **Pevensey Blue** and **Tilley Lane**, both produced on site. Farm-gate sales are relaxed, friendly occasions — a chance to collect food, chat, and buy directly from the people producing it. **Card payments are accepted**. Upcoming dates and availability are shared here and via the newsletter. **Upcoming dates** - Saturday 19th September - Saturday 17th October - Saturday 14th November - Saturday 19th December **Address** Hockham Farm Tilley Lane Boreham Street Hailsham East Sussex BN27 4UT ### Delivery & collection - Free local delivery within 5 miles of the farm - Free collection from monthly farm-gate sales - Nationwide UK delivery via chilled courier (typically £17.50) ### Stay in touch Because availability changes with the seasons, the best way to hear about: - meat box releases - farm-gate sale dates - beef and cheese availability is to join the Indie Farmer Meat box newsletter by clicking here Thoughtful updates from the farm and the field — delivered occasionally, not constantly. ## ### Our Story URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/our-story/ Last updated: 2026-02-08T22:12:26.000Z Indie Farmer began with a simple question: *How do we tell better stories about farming — and the people behind our food?* In 2013, much of the conversation around agriculture felt distant from everyday experience. Farming was often framed through policy, protest or production figures, while the lived reality — the decisions made in fields, farmyards and kitchens — was rarely heard. Indie Farmer was created to make space for those voices. Founded by farmer and journalist **Nigel Akehurst**, the magazine set out to document independent farmers, growers and food producers working at human scale — people finding their own ways to farm, often outside the mainstream, shaped by land, place and community. --- ## From road trip to farm gate In the summer of 2014, shortly after launching Indie Farmer, Nigel set off on a six-week journey around the UK on his scooter, Veronica, meeting farmers and food producers along the way. The trip proved to be a turning point. Conversations around kitchen tables, walks through fields, and long days spent listening reshaped his understanding of what farming could be — and what it demanded. Inspired by the people he met, Nigel made the decision to leave city life and return to the small family farm in East Sussex where he grew up. He arrived back not as an expert, but as a beginner with ideas and a willingness to learn. The realities of livestock, grass, weather and markets soon followed. Those early lessons would go on to shape both his farming and his storytelling, grounding Indie Farmer firmly in lived experience rather than theory. --- ## Farming alongside storytelling Alongside running the magazine, Nigel began working more closely with his parents at Hockham Farm in the High Weald, encouraging the family to establish a small herd of Sussex cattle alongside their mainly continental cows. Starting with a handful of pedigree Sussex heifers, the herd has grown steadily over time, with beef now sold directly to customers through regular farm-gate sales and meat boxes. Working the land day to day has brought a deeper understanding of the tensions modern farmers face — between economics and ecology, independence and scale, tradition and change. These lived experiences continue to shape the perspective of Indie Farmer. The magazine is not written from the sidelines, but from within the working landscape itself. --- ## Growing into a community Over the years, Indie Farmer has evolved from a personal project into a growing community of readers, contributors, photographers and filmmakers. The magazine has published long-form features, documentary photography and short films from farms across the UK — telling stories of regenerative transitions, direct sales, rural resilience and the people navigating them. While the formats have expanded, the purpose has remained the same: to tell honest stories about farming as it is lived today — complex, demanding, hopeful and human. --- ## Looking ahead Indie Farmer remains proudly independent. As the publication continues to grow, its focus remains on slow journalism, thoughtful storytelling and meaningful connection between people and land — whether through digital features, film projects, events or future print editions. At a time when food systems feel increasingly disconnected, Indie Farmer exists to help bridge that gap — one story at a time. ### Contact URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/contact/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T20:30:47.000Z If you’d like to get in touch with Indie Farmer, the best way is by email. **hello@indiefarmer.com** We read every message and will reply where we can. Please note that, as a small independent publication, responses may not always be immediate. --- ### What to contact us about You’re welcome to get in touch regarding: - editorial enquiries - story ideas or pitches - partnerships or collaborations - farm-gate sales or meat box questions - general feedback or comments For submissions and partnership details, you may also wish to visit [**Work with us**](https://www.indiefarmer.com/work-with-us/). --- Thank you for reading and supporting Indie Farmer. **Stories of farming, food and land — from the ground up** ### Privacy Policy URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/privacy-policy/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T20:08:46.000Z *Indie Farmer* respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This policy explains how we collect, use and store personal information. ### Who we are Indie Farmer is an independent online magazine based in the UK. Contact email: **hello@indiefarmer.com** --- ### What information we collect We may collect personal information when you: - sign up to the Indie Farmer newsletter - complete a contact or enquiry form - register interest in meat boxes or farm-gate sales - email us directly This information may include your name, email address, postal address or phone number. --- ### How we use your information We use personal information only to: - send newsletters you have subscribed to - respond to enquiries - manage reservations or collections - communicate important updates We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. --- ### Email communications Our newsletter is sent via Ghost’s built-in email system. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link included in every email. --- ### Data storage Personal data is stored securely through Ghost Pro and its approved service providers. We retain information only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected. --- ### Your rights Under UK data protection law, you have the right to: - request access to your data - request correction or deletion - withdraw consent at any time To exercise these rights, please contact **hello@indiefarmer.com**. --- ### Changes to this policy This policy may be updated occasionally to reflect changes in law or how the site operates. ### Terms of use URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/terms/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T16:47:47.000Z By accessing and using the Indie Farmer website, you agree to the following terms. --- ### Website content All content is provided for general information and editorial purposes only. While we take care to ensure accuracy, information may change over time and should not be relied upon as professional or legal advice. --- ### Copyright Unless otherwise stated, all written content, photography and film on this website is copyright © Indie Farmer. Content may not be reproduced, distributed or republished without prior written permission. Where content is contributed by guest authors or photographers, copyright remains with the contributor unless agreed otherwise. --- ### External links This website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content or practices of external sites. --- ### Liability Indie Farmer accepts no liability for any loss or damage arising from use of this website or reliance on its content. --- ### Changes to these terms These terms may be updated from time to time without notice. ### Support URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/support/ Last updated: 2026-02-06T21:58:55.000Z Indie Farmer is an independent publication sharing stories of farming, food and rural culture. We are not backed by a large publisher or media group. Everything we publish is shaped by time spent on farms, conversations in fields and kitchens, and a commitment to thoughtful, long-form storytelling. Reader support helps make that possible. --- ### Why support Indie Farmer? Producing independent journalism takes time, care and resources. Support helps fund: - travel to farms and rural communities - photography and film production - editing and publishing long-form stories - paying contributors fairly - keeping Indie Farmer independent and accessible By supporting Indie Farmer, you’re helping ensure these stories continue to be told — without clickbait, paywalls or pressure to chase volume. --- ### How you can support There are a few simple ways to support Indie Farmer: **Sign up** Subscribing to receive our emails helps grow the readership and keeps you connected to new stories as they’re published. **Become a supporter** From time to time, we offer ways to support Indie Farmer through memberships or one-off contributions, helping sustain the work over the long term. **Share the work** Sharing stories with friends, family or across your networks helps independent journalism reach further. --- ### A note on independence Indie Farmer is guided by editorial independence, curiosity and respect for the people and landscapes it covers. Reader support allows us to remain free from commercial pressure — and to focus on telling stories that matter, not simply those that generate clicks. Thank you for reading, sharing and supporting Indie Farmer. > Stories of farming, food and life on the land ### Work with us URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/work-with-us/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T20:25:06.000Z Indie Farmer is an independent magazine sharing stories of farming, food and rural culture — told from within the working landscape. If you’d like to collaborate, pitch a story, or explore a partnership, you’re in the right place. --- ### Partnerships We work with brands and organisations who align with our values — practical, grounded, and connected to real farming, food and land. **Ways we can work together** - Sponsored stories (clearly labelled) - Editorial and film partnerships - Campaign features around food, farming or landscape - Photography and film licensing - Events, talks or workshops (where relevant) We’re best suited to partners who value **honest storytelling over glossy advertorial**, and who understand our audience is small, engaged and trust-led. If you have a brief, a budget, or an idea you’d like to explore, get in touch. **Email:** hello@indiefarmer.com **Subject:** Partnership — \[Your organisation\] --- ### Submissions We welcome pitches from farmers, growers, filmmakers, photographers, cooks, makers and rural writers — particularly those with lived experience and a clear point of view. **What we publish** - **Read:** long-form features and profiles - **Watch:** short documentary films and visual stories - **Field notes:** opinion, seasonal notes and practical reflections **What we’re looking for** - Real stories grounded in place and people - Clear writing, strong visuals, or a compelling idea - Work that doesn’t romanticise farming — but doesn’t sneer at it either **How to pitch** Please include: - A short summary (3–6 sentences) - Why it matters now - Any access you have (people, farm, place) - A writing sample or portfolio link (if available) **Email:** submissions@indiefarmer.com **Subject:** Pitch — \[Working title\] We read every submission. If a pitch is a fit for the magazine, we’ll be in touch. ### Legal URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/legal/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T20:12:34.000Z This page provides access to the policies and terms relating to the *Indie Farmer* website. *Indie Farmer* is an independent editorial publication. We aim to be transparent, fair and respectful in how we publish content and handle personal information. Please see the pages below for full details: - [**Privacy policy**](https://www.indiefarmer.com/privacy-policy/) - [**Cookie policy**](https://www.indiefarmer.com/cookie-policy/) - [**Terms of use**](https://www.indiefarmer.com/terms/) If you have any questions about these policies, please contact: **hello@indiefarmer.com** ### Cookie Policy URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/cookie-policy/ Last updated: 2026-01-27T20:24:42.000Z This website uses cookies to help it function properly and improve your experience. Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. --- ### Cookies we use Indie Farmer uses the following types of cookies: **Essential cookies** These are necessary for the website to function, including security and login features. **Analytics cookies** If enabled, we may use basic analytics to understand how the site is used (for example, which pages are visited most). These cookies do not identify you personally. **Membership and email cookies** Used to manage newsletter subscriptions and site functionality. --- ### Managing cookies You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings. Please note that disabling cookies may affect how the website functions. --- ### Consent By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies as described in this policy. ## Posts ### Growing enough: How Aweside Farm is rethinking resilience URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/growing-enough-how-aweside-farm-is-rethinking-resilience/ Last updated: 2026-08-29T15:09:30.000Z ### In the twelfth and final instalment of my twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the Lund Trust and the High Weald National Landscape, I visited Aweside Farm near Arlington, East Sussex, where first-generation farmer Sinead Fenton is growing organic edible flowers, herbs and garnishes while rethinking how to build a more resilient farm, business and way of life. After six years building an organic edible-flower farm on an exposed patch of East Sussex, Sinead Fenton is rethinking what resilience really means - for the land, the business and herself. At Aweside Farm, the evidence of six years’ growth is everywhere. Willow whips planted at little more than 30 centimetres tall now form a substantial windbreak. Sea buckthorn is heavy with orange berries. Hedgerows are beginning to link the woodland on one side of the farm with a reservoir on the other, turning what was once a bare stretch of grass into a corridor for wildlife. But the most revealing part of the farm this summer is not what has grown. It is what has disappeared. A patch that should be a sea of orange, yellow, blue and purple is largely bare. Cornflowers, calendula and borage — normally dependable crops for Sinead Fenton’s edible-flower business — raced through their flowering cycles or failed altogether in the prolonged heat. A succession that might usually produce for two months lasted around two weeks. > “Every year, the only thing I’ve decided is fully consistent is that every year I say: this gets worse,” says Sinead. “Doing this job just gets harder and harder.” It is a blunt assessment, delivered with the dry humour familiar to anyone who follows Aweside Farm online. Yet beneath it lies a serious question. After years of responding to one crisis after another through sheer effort, can the farm be redesigned so that survival does not depend on Sinead continually pushing herself beyond her limits? ### From a blank field to a working farm Sinead arrived at the Arlington site in 2020, bringing an edible-flower business that had begun on a small rented plot in East London. Today Aweside comprises four and a half acres devoted to organically grown edible flowers, herbs and specialist leaves, supplying chefs and food businesses with ingredients including bronze fennel, cornflowers, borage, nasturtiums, Mexican marigold and oxalis. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DJI_20260823192959_0473_D.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC03825.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC03828.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC03834.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC03841.JPG) When she first came to East Sussex, the land was effectively a blank canvas. Sinead planted hundreds of metres of hedgerow and thousands of trees, established polytunnels, an orchard and a no-dig growing system, and created habitat across ground that had previously offered little shelter or diversity. The transformation is visible, but it was achieved under pressure. Because the farm’s home and livelihood depended on demonstrating that the business was viable, there was little scope to leave ground unproductive or to learn slowly. The clock had already started before Sinead arrived; disruption from the pandemic then compressed the time available to establish customers, infrastructure and turnover. > “We rushed with some of this stuff,” she admits as we walk through an orchard that has struggled in the exposed conditions. “We didn’t want to leave any space open, because then it was: ‘What are you using that for? You’re not utilising the whole space.’” The farm met its financial targets and eventually secured permanent planning permission. But the effort came at a cost. For several years, every bed had to justify itself, while the possibility of losing the place remained in the background. > “Now I actually want to build this farm in the way that maybe I dreamed of ten years ago,” she says, “before being eaten by the machine a bit, and chasing the money.” ### The problem with 198 beds Aweside’s original growing area followed a familiar no-dig market-garden pattern: long, narrow beds roughly 75 centimetres wide, separated by woodchip paths. There were 198 of them. It was productive, but the system created its own burden. Every bed needed a crop; every path needed replenishing; every succession generated another decision. Sinead found the sheer number of spaces intimidating. Last year she cut much of it down, covered the ground and began again. The new design uses large six-metre squares planted with perennial and semi-perennial herbs including chives, garden mint, chocolate mint, lemon balm, Moroccan mint, sage, oregano, pineapple mint, garlic chives and Mexican marigold. Around the beds are low mounds planted with thyme and rosemary. As the rosemary grows, Sinead hopes it will provide both wind protection and shade. Espalier fruit trees will eventually add another layer and another crop. The change is partly about reducing maintenance, but it is also a direct response to a changing climate. When Sinead established the farm, she orientated beds north to south to maximise sunlight. Now she is deliberately designing to reduce it. > “I realised that was a mistake, because I don’t want to maximise the sun any more,” she says. That rethink proved timely. In a season when many of the edible flowers failed, the diversified herb beds offered a measure of protection. “If I did not do this this year, I think I would have been pretty ruined,” she says. Some failed areas will now be sown with green manure and rested for a year. Elsewhere, Sinead plans to replace more annuals with perennials, build further shelter and use fruit trees within the productive growing system rather than treating the orchard as a separate block. It is a slower, more layered approach: one designed around the actual conditions of the site rather than an idealised market-garden template. ### When the staples stop being staples Edible flowers can appear delicate and decorative on a restaurant plate, but their production is highly exacting. Chefs may order tiny quantities of leaves or flowers, each of which must be picked by hand, cooled, packed and dispatched quickly. At Aweside, bronze fennel is one of the most reliable crops, producing from early spring into late autumn and accounting for as many as 60 to 70 boxes a week. Its leaves, flowers and seeds can all be sold, allowing Sinead to rotate harvesting and give plants time to recover. Other bestsellers include cornflower, borage, nasturtiums and dill flowers. This summer, bronze fennel was the only one of that group to perform consistently. Heat accelerated the flowers’ instinct to set seed. Wind dried the ground almost as quickly as it could be watered. Deer, under pressure from the drought, began eating crops they would normally leave alone. Flea beetles tore through tunnel-grown plants. Sinead was repeatedly forced to decide whether another round of irrigation and labour was justified, or whether it was better to accept the loss and cover the ground. > “Every year we’re thrown such a big curveball,” she says. “It’s the energy to keep bouncing back, and to constantly keep having ideas. A lot of us will keep going, but what is the energy cost that comes with the constant trying?” That question reaches beyond Aweside. Farmers are routinely praised for resilience, a word that can conceal as much as it celebrates. The ability to endure is valuable, but it can also allow unhealthy working conditions to become normal. *“When you’re living quite rough and doing this type of work, that becomes part of the grit and determination,” says Sinead. “People call it resilient; people call it strong. But it can become quite a dangerous spiral.”* ### Fresh flowers, dried possibilities Inside Aweside’s packing shed, shelves of dark tins point towards another version of the business. Sinead and her mum are drying Moroccan mint and experimenting with powders, herbs and edible petals that can be sold throughout the year. Fresh produce still accounts for roughly 80 per cent of sales, with preserved products making up the remaining 20 per cent. Sinead would like that balance to shift. There are practical reasons. Dried products are shelf-stable, can travel further and can be processed in larger batches. Stored in dark reusable tins, herbs and flowers retain their colour, while customers can return the packaging to be refilled. The model creates less plastic waste and removes some of the relentless urgency associated with fresh orders. It is also easier on the body. Harvesting five grams of perfect fresh garnish can mean repeated bending, kneeling and reaching into awkward spaces. After injuries to her hand and back, and with surgery scheduled for the autumn, Sinead has been forced to confront the physical limits of doing almost everything herself. > “I think I need to do less,” she says. “I need to give my back less bending for a good stint of time.” She is testing whether some herbs might be dried naturally on mesh tables inside an otherwise underused polytunnel during summer, reducing pressure on the dehydrator. For products that need tighter food-safety controls, the dehydrator will remain essential, but tea-grade herbs may offer more flexibility. The preserved range also feels closer to the environmental ambitions behind Aweside. A tin of dried petals can last far longer than a plastic punnet of fresh flowers with only a few days of usable life. Sinead believes chefs can obtain much the same visual effect while buying a product with a longer season and lower packaging burden. For a grower who has proved she can create a successful niche in fresh edible flowers, the difficult task is not starting something new. It is allowing herself to step away from the part of the business that already pays the bills. ### The hidden weight of being small Diversifying into preserved products brings its own complications. Aweside is working towards SALSA food-safety certification, a process that has already generated around 190 pages of documents alongside physical changes to the packing space, cold storage and polytunnels. The farm also holds separate organic producer and processing licences because it dehydrates its own crops. For a small business, the fees, paperwork and infrastructure requirements are substantial. > “You’ve got to grow the business big enough that you can get someone to do that work,” says Sinead, “and make sure they’re paying for themselves.” The dilemma is familiar across small food and farming enterprises. Compliance can unlock new customers and reassure buyers, but the burden is rarely scaled to the number of people available to carry it. The grower is also the production manager, picker, packer, marketer, salesperson, administrator and maintenance team. Sinead’s mum has provided vital help with drying and orders this summer, and she hopes to employ someone part-time next season. Reducing the farm’s dependence on one person is not simply a growth ambition; it is becoming a condition of making the business sustainable. ### Making room for a life The biggest change at Aweside may ultimately happen on the near side of a hedge. The new home has central heating and a genuinely hot shower — ordinary comforts that feel remarkable after years in a cold caravan. For the first time, Sinead can see the beginnings of a boundary between where she lives and where the work starts. She wants to plant a household vegetable garden and more fruit trees, not because they need to earn their place in the business plan, but because four and a half acres should be able to feed the people living on it. > “Farmers are some of the worst-fed people,” she says, laughing at the number of frozen pizzas eaten during the growing season. “It’s four and a half acres of land, and I can’t feed myself. What a tragedy.” There are plans, too, for a living willow gazebo, a compost toilet and a space where people can gather on the farm. Community work has long appealed to Sinead, but it has been difficult to offer while all her energy was directed towards proving viability and keeping production moving. First comes a pause. Surgery at the end of September will impose a period away from physical work. Sinead hopes to use the winter to recover, finish the farm’s online shop and food-safety systems, and decide what the next version of Aweside should look like. > “I actually just want six months to sort out these injuries, recover from the surgery, give some proper time to healing my hand and just rest,” she says. “Then maybe I might be able to come consistently with more of the community work.” The desire to bring people together feels increasingly important to her in an age of doom-scrolling, shortened attention spans and online hostility. Farming offers something tangible in response: the chance to gather around land, food, flowers and practical work. > “Why don’t we talk about a flower or a herb instead of this non-problem that’s been planted into your brain just to stir up some dark emotion?” she asks. “It feels more important than ever to get people in front of each other.” ### Redefining resilience There is no neat conclusion to Aweside’s story. The climate is not becoming more predictable; small-scale production is not becoming less demanding; and a dried-product range will not remove every pressure overnight. But the farm is moving beyond the period when maximum output was necessary to justify its existence. That creates room for different questions. Not simply: how much can this patch produce? But: what work is worth doing, what can the land reliably support, and what kind of life should the farm make possible? Sinead is no longer interested in suffering as evidence of commitment. She has spent years talking about finding balance and has reached the point where talking is no longer enough. > “I cannot keep being part of this grit,” she says. “It’s like: go and find the balance. Try something different and find the balance. Doing the same thing isn’t it.” The physical redesign of Aweside — fewer annual beds, more herbs and perennials, layers of shelter and shade, products that can be stored and sold through winter — is also a redesign of its ambitions. It is resilience understood not as an endless capacity to absorb punishment, but as creating enough diversity, support and breathing room that the farm and farmer can continue together. > “I’m okay with the idea of enough,” says Sinead. “So much gets lost to being here all the time and doing the job all the time. You watch your life go by, and you think: do I want to keep being that person, just for the sake of growing some flowers?” After six years of proving that Aweside Farm can work, the next challenge may be learning when the work is enough. ### From London to flower farming: growing a new life at Dusky Slug Flowers URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/from-london-to-flower-farming-growing-a-new-life-at-dusky-slug-flowers/ Last updated: 2026-08-23T13:38:22.000Z In the eleventh instalment of my twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the Lund Trust and the High Weald National Landscape, I visited Dusky Slug Flowers, in the High Weald National Landscape, near Staplecross, East Sussex, where first-generation flower farmer Poppy Royds is building a small-scale cut flower business inspired by seasonality, biodiversity and a growing demand for locally grown British flowers. When I arrive at Dusky Slug Flowers on a warm August evening, Poppy is harvesting armfuls of queen lime zinnias. The beds are bursting with colour: oranges, yellows, dusky pinks and acid greens, alongside dahlias, cosmos, marigolds and grasses. After an exceptionally dry summer, some crops have struggled, but the zinnias have thrived. “They love the drought and the sun,” Poppy tells me. “So they’re one of the best flowers I have at the moment.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC08374.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC08377.JPG) It is hard to believe that not long ago this was simply a mown field. This is Poppy’s first full season growing flowers here, on roughly an acre of her parents’ land in Staplecross, East Sussex. She has created no-dig beds, installed irrigation and fencing, put up a polytunnel and begun turning what was essentially a blank canvas into a small commercial flower farm. And until only a few years ago, becoming a farmer wasn’t necessarily where she thought her career was heading. ### Discovering flower farming Poppy had lived in London since she was 17 and worked in food, marketing and PR. It was while working for a produce wholesaler sourcing from small farms and selling to chefs that the idea of growing flowers began to take shape. A marketing campaign Poppy ran around seasonality called *Radiccio not Roses*, brought her into contact with florists and revealed a world of small-scale seasonal flower growers. “The whole seasonal flower farming world was opened up for me through that,” she explains. Around the same time, her parents decided to leave London themselves. Poppy’s mother comes from a farming background and wanted somewhere with a little land. Their move to Sussex coincided almost perfectly with Poppy’s own desire to escape the city. “I’d sort of had enough of city life,” she says. “They very kindly let me work on about an acre.” But rather than immediately starting her own business, Poppy decided she needed practical experience. After leaving her London job, she travelled to Tasmania and spent around four months working on several farms she had connected with through work and Instagram. “I don’t think I’m very studious,” she laughs. “I think it’s much better to just learn whilst working.” That experience proved invaluable. Working alongside established growers allowed her to understand not just how to sow and harvest flowers, but the rhythms of running a small farm. Her advice to anyone considering following a similar route is simple: go and work for somebody else first. “Work for months, work for a whole year if you can, so you can see all the seasons and all the growing stages,” she says. Just as importantly, those placements gave her a network of experienced growers she can still turn to when something goes wrong. ### Starting from scratch Back in Sussex, the plot offered almost no existing infrastructure. “It was totally virgin ground,” says Poppy. “It had just been mown.” She opted for a no-dig system, covering the existing vegetation before building beds with a thick layer of compost. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DJI_20260805201122_0452_D.JPG) The approach has worked particularly well during this year’s dry conditions. The compost has helped retain moisture, reducing irrigation requirements, while weed pressure during the first season has been remarkably low. “It’s kept all that moisture in and everything seems to be growing really beautifully,” she says. “There are a lot of worms. I haven’t had any issues.” Poppy is careful not to draw too many conclusions from a single season. Next year will bring self-seeded weeds and undoubtedly a new set of problems, but for now the system appears to be working. Establishing the farm has required investment. Poppy had some savings and also received money from her grandmother, which allowed her to develop the business faster than she had originally planned. Without it, she says, she would have started much more slowly, perhaps without the polytunnel, fencing or such large quantities of compost. That doesn’t mean flower farming necessarily requires huge amounts of capital. “You can start on £5,000,” she says. “You can do it off nothing and do your own watering, not have a polytunnel, have everything outdoors.” Seeds can be relatively inexpensive, although costs quickly rise when growers move into unusual varieties, perennials, foliage plants and infrastructure. As with so many new entrants to agriculture, Poppy believes the biggest hurdle is access to land. “If you have access to land, you can probably start pretty cheap.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC08365.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC08369.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC08382-copy.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC08372.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC08356.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DSC08364.JPG) ### Can an acre of flowers make money? One of the most interesting things about visiting small-scale growers through this fellowship has been exploring what can be produced from relatively small areas. Flowers are particularly striking in this respect. “I don’t really want to be massive,” says Poppy. “Growing even an acre of flowers, you can produce so many.” Plants can be grown tightly together, while individual plants can produce multiple saleable stems over a season. Her customers are mainly florists and shops in Hastings, alongside buyers in London. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/DJI_20260805201010_0447_D.JPG) Hastings has proved particularly supportive. “The local florists have been really wonderful,” she says, although building those relationships takes time. “You have to gain their trust.” London offers a much larger market, but the economics are different when every delivery involves a roughly hour-and-a-half drive. A trip only makes sense when there are enough orders to fill the van. Poppy can see opportunities to add other income streams in future, from floristry and workshops to events on the farm. That diversification may be important because British flower production remains highly seasonal. Flowers can begin in March with early bulbs and continue into autumn — Poppy hopes her late chrysanthemums will take her into October or November — but a significant proportion of the year’s income has to be earned within a relatively short growing season. ### The rise of British flowers Poppy believes the opportunity extends beyond the economics of an individual farm. She sees parallels between what has happened in food over the past decade and what could now happen with flowers. “I think, like the local food movement, the next thing to happen is the local flower movement.” Consumers, she argues, are increasingly interested in where their flowers come from and how they have been grown. Most conventional cut flowers sold in Britain travel through international supply chains, with varieties selected partly for characteristics such as uniformity, straight stems and the ability to withstand transport. Local growers can offer something quite different: scent, unusual shapes, delicate varieties and the slightly imperfect forms that might never survive an international journey. For florists, those differences can become a selling point. Poppy is particularly interested in perennials, which return each year and can produce varieties quite different from the annual flowers shoppers are accustomed to seeing. “They’re a bit more earthy,” she says. “People are actually quite drawn to them because it’s what you see in nature around you in England.” ### Farming with nature That connection with nature runs through the philosophy behind Dusky Slug Flowers. Poppy doesn't use herbicides or pesticides and wants the farm to become a productive space that also creates habitat. A pond is planned to encourage amphibians, while future planting will include trees and foliage. The flower beds themselves are already alive with insects. “The amount of different types of bees, especially, is astounding,” she says. Butterflies have also been abundant during the warm summer. Poppy talks enthusiastically about worms beneath the beds and birds arriving in the mornings to feed on insects. “I just want to create pockets of life that will support different habitats,” she says. “All of the farm is about building a habitat that is for nature just as much as it’s for people.” Even the farm's unusual name reflects that philosophy. The dusky slug is a native species that Poppy says feeds largely on decaying plant material rather than living plants, helping break down organic matter. It seemed an appropriate mascot for a business interested in the less glamorous creatures living alongside the flowers. “Slugs can be fun,” she laughs. “And people are going to remember that name.” ### More than picking flowers Spend an evening walking around an acre of colourful flowers and it would be easy to romanticise the lifestyle. Poppy is quick to dispel that idea. The biggest misconception about flower farming, she says, is that it involves wandering outside each morning and happily picking bouquets. There is certainly plenty of harvesting, but there is also sowing, propagation, irrigation, deadheading, marketing, sales, packing and hours spent driving deliveries. During August, Poppy's days are dominated by harvesting in the mornings before loading the van and delivering to Hastings or London. At the same time, she is responsible for finding customers and marketing the business. Flowers also create a particularly unforgiving form of inventory. If a crop reaches its peak and there isn't a customer waiting, its value can disappear remarkably quickly. “It's like running any small business,” she says. “You're trying to sell them. You're trying to PR yourself. You're delivering.” Her conclusion is wonderfully straightforward: “It's not just girlies having a nice time growing a few flowers. It's proper business.” ### Leaving London behind For all the challenges, Poppy has little doubt about the decision she made. When I ask whether she misses her former London life, the answer is immediate. “No. No, not at all.” She still travels into London regularly and can see friends, but no longer feels trapped in the routine of commuting, networking and long working days. “I felt like when I was living in London, I was just out networking and PRing and working from seven till seven and didn't really have space to breathe.” Farming is hardly an easy alternative. Harvesting often means starting very early and the business can dictate when she works. But the difference is autonomy. “I can work late at night if I want to, or really early in the morning,” she says. “I can have a break when I'm tired. It just is a bit more freeing in that sense.” There is another element to Poppy's story that feels significant too. She was drawn towards flowers partly because she could see other women successfully building businesses on their own. “There are just so many really amazing, strong women that I could see myself being,” she says. “I was like, okay, they're doing it. I can do it.” That community continues to provide inspiration, practical knowledge and support. For now, Poppy isn't interested in building an enormous operation. She may eventually employ people to help with harvesting, partly because farming alone can sometimes be lonely, but she questions the assumption that every successful business needs to keep getting bigger. It is a recurring theme in small-scale farming: whether increasing turnover through more land, staff and infrastructure necessarily leaves the farmer any better off. Sometimes, as Poppy puts it, “there's not a benefit scaling up.” As the evening light begins to fade across the flower beds, that feels like an appropriate thought to end on. Dusky Slug Flowers is still at the very beginning of its story. Poppy is learning which varieties thrive, building relationships with florists and working out what kind of business she wants the farm to become. But in just one season, a previously unremarkable patch of grass has been transformed into a productive acre buzzing with pollinators and producing thousands of stems. And perhaps most importantly, Poppy appears to have found the thing she was looking for when she left London: not an easier life, but one she has much more freedom to shape for herself. ### How Tibbs Farm is Building Resilience through Diversity URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/how-tibbs-farm-is-building-resilience-through-diversity/ Last updated: 2026-08-04T09:43:12.000Z ### In the tenth instalment of my twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the Lund Trust and the High Weald National Landscape, I visited Tibbs Farm near Udimore, East Sussex, where brothers Simon and Phil Wheeler are building a more resilient family business by combining traditional farming with hospitality, direct sales and visitor experiences. On a sunny summer afternoon, families spill out from the café terrace at Tibbs Farm, children wander towards the pigs, and beyond them rows of hops climb skywards above the surrounding fields. It feels like a thriving rural destination, but beneath the relaxed atmosphere lies a business that has had to adapt rapidly to the changing realities of modern farming. For brothers Simon and Phil Wheeler, diversification has never been about moving away from agriculture. Instead, it has become the key to protecting it. “We’re still finding what works,” Phil explains. “It’s an ongoing process of bringing all the different enterprises together under the Tibbs Farm umbrella.” It’s a philosophy that has transformed what was once a traditional family farm into a business that now combines livestock, hops, pick-your-own fruit, a café, farm shop and seasonal events, while keeping farming firmly at its heart. ### Returning home Simon returned to the family farm in 2017 after spending time working in New Zealand, taking on responsibility for the farming side of the business. Phil followed in early 2020, leaving a career as a chartered surveyor to help develop the farm’s diversification projects. The timing could hardly have been more challenging. The family’s new café opened in July 2020, in the middle of the Covid pandemic. “It was a terrible time to open,” Phil laughs. Yet what began as a leap of faith has become the foundation for a growing range of enterprises that now support the wider farm business. Their roles have naturally evolved. Simon focuses on the livestock and hops, while Phil has found himself overseeing the pick your own fruit, café and events. As he puts it: “He’s farming the livestock and hops… I’m doing the farming of the people.” It’s a throwaway comment that neatly captures the reality facing many modern family farms. Producing food is no longer enough on its own. Increasingly, farmers are also building brands, creating experiences and developing direct relationships with customers. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/Tibbs-Farm-1.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/Tibbs-Cafe.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/Sussex-cows.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/Screenshot-2026-08-02-at-08.15.42.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/Inside-the-cafe.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/Inside-Cafe.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/08/Romney-Sheep-and-Hops-1.png) ### **Farming in an uncertain climate** Like many farmers across the South East, the Wheelers have watched the seasons become increasingly unpredictable. “I think in the last ten years the weather’s been a real pain,” Simon says. Wet winters, prolonged summer droughts and new pests and diseases have all added pressure to the farm’s fruit enterprise, while increasingly dry summers have forced difficult decisions about livestock numbers. “We’ve had to destock a bit,” he explains. “We’re looking at reservoirs and water storage because I think that’s something we’re going to have to do.” The challenges don’t stop there. The family’s hop enterprise has also faced a difficult few years as drinking habits change and demand for traditional real ales declines. “People are choosing not to drink beer,” Simon says. “At the same time there’s been a massive oversupply of hops. It’s a combination of events that makes it a far more difficult market than it was six or seven years ago.” Unlike many crops, hops demand long-term commitment. New plants take several years before reaching full production, meaning growers must invest years before knowing whether demand will still exist when the crop is ready. ### **More than diversification** Rather than seeing these pressures as a reason to move away from farming, the Wheelers have focused on making the whole business stronger. The café has become the hub around which many of the farm’s newer enterprises revolve. Hop Fest celebrates the annual hop harvest. Pumpkin events, Easter activities, farm feasts and private functions all bring visitors onto the farm throughout the year. “We keep trying different things,” Phil says. “Some things haven’t worked. Some things don’t quite resonate. Then you tweak them.” It’s an approach based on continual learning rather than following a rigid business plan. “It’s been a very organic evolution.” Each successful idea strengthens the next, creating multiple income streams while introducing new people to the farm itself. ### **Selling experiences, not just produce** Perhaps the biggest shift has been recognising that today’s customers are often looking for something more than simply buying food. “They’re coming here because they want to come here,” Phil explains. “We’re a destination.” Social media has played an important role in telling that story, helping Tibbs Farm become known not simply as somewhere to buy produce, but somewhere to spend time as a family and reconnect with farming. Education is woven naturally into that experience. Visitors can meet the pigs before enjoying pork in the café, see sheep grazing nearby and gain a better understanding of how a commercial farm operates. “We’re not a farm park,” Phil says. “We’re a commercial farm.” That distinction matters. The experiences only work because they’re built around a genuine working farm, rather than being an attraction created solely for visitors. ### **Building resilience** Despite the success of the diversification projects, neither brother sees hospitality replacing agriculture. Instead, each enterprise supports the others. “It’s easier to grow a hospitality business,” Phil reflects. “But if this grows, that grows.” That connection runs through everything they do. The farm gives authenticity to the café and events, while the café, direct sales and visitor experiences provide additional income and stronger relationships with customers. Together they create a business that’s better able to cope with difficult years in any one enterprise. ### **Looking ahead** As our conversation draws to a close, I ask what gives them hope. Phil believes the public increasingly wants to understand where food comes from and meet the people producing it. “I think there is a genuine curiosity,” he says. “People are supportive.” For the Wheelers, the future isn’t about becoming the biggest farm or the biggest visitor attraction. It’s about continuing to build a business where each enterprise strengthens the next. “If we have these continued droughts,” Phil reflects, “or something doesn’t work out so well, whether it’s hops or something else, the business as a whole is more resilient.” Standing outside the café, watching families enjoy the view across the hop gardens while sheep graze beyond, it’s clear that resilience can take many forms. At Tibbs Farm, it isn’t being built by abandoning farming, but by surrounding it with hospitality, community and experiences that help secure the future of the family business. In an increasingly unpredictable world, that diversity may prove to be one of the farm’s greatest strengths. ### How Livestock Farms Add Value in the High Weald URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/how-livestock-farms-add-value-in-the-high-weald/ Last updated: 2026-07-24T10:44:45.000Z ### In the ninth instalment of my twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the Lund Trust and the High Weald National Landscape, I visited Goodtrees Farm Butchers near Forest Row, East Sussex, to meet owner Ian Melluish and one of his butchers Josie Rollings to learn how they are building a business that reconnects livestock farming, local food and skilled butchery under one roof. As more livestock farmers look beyond commodity markets, local butchers are becoming increasingly important partners in helping them sell direct, build their own brands and retain more of the value from what they produce. Goodtrees Farm Butchers, located in the High Weald National Landscape near Edenbridge, is a good example. While the livestock remain central to the business, its success is built on what happens after the animals leave the field. Alongside rearing its own cattle, sheep and goats, the farm has developed a thriving butchery that now processes livestock for farmers across the South East. For many producers, finding a skilled butcher and reliable access to an abattoir has become just as important as producing quality livestock. It wasn't the business Ian Melluish expected to build when he bought Goodtrees Farm in 2014. *"We purchased the farm when it was a bit of a wreck,"* he says. *"We've spent the last 12 years renovating it—putting in new fencing, roads and buildings while gradually developing the business alongside the farm."* Before moving into farming, Ian ran a chemical manufacturing and distribution company, travelling extensively around the world. Although the change in career was dramatic, he believes the same business principles still apply. *"I don't miss the corporate flying around the world,"* he says. *"But many of the principles we applied there apply equally well to running a butchery."* The family's original plan was simple: rear their own livestock and sell meat boxes directly to local customers. There was just one problem. *"We struggled finding a good abattoir and butcher."* Rather than relying on outside processors, the family invested in their own butchery and employed an experienced butcher to process their livestock. Before long, neighbouring farmers were asking if they could do the same for them. *"Could you do ours as well?"* Demand quickly grew. Today, Goodtrees employs four full-time butchers and processes beef, lamb, pork and poultry for farmers across the South East, alongside the farm's own livestock. ### Helping Farmers Add Value For Ian, the butchery is about far more than cutting meat. It is about helping farmers build profitable direct-selling businesses. *"If you've got good quality cattle, develop your own identity,"* he says. *"Get your own logo. Get your own branding. We can present the meat professionally, vacuum pack it and prepare it exactly how your customers want it."* However, selling direct requires planning. *"When somebody brings us a finished beef animal they're going to get somewhere close to 200 kilograms of meat back,"* Ian explains. *"You need to know where that's going before you slaughter it."* Having customers lined up before the animal goes to the abattoir is every bit as important as having freezer space. Ian believes demand for local meat continues to grow. *"People increasingly want locally produced meat. They're interested in the breed, how the animal has been reared and where it's come from. It's no longer just about price."* That is something he sees every week at Blackheath Farmers' Market in south-east London. *"A lot of our customers can tell the difference between a Belted Galloway and a Sussex Wagyu cross,"* he says. *"They're genuinely interested in what they're buying. We learn from them and they learn from us."* For farmers selling direct, those conversations help build trust as well as repeat business. ### More Than Just a Butcher For many smaller livestock farms, businesses like Goodtrees provide the knowledge and processing facilities needed to make direct selling commercially viable. That support has become increasingly important as the number of local abattoirs has declined. *"I think the biggest issue is really around the abattoir,"* Ian says. *"We've got some excellent local facilities, but capacity is limited."* Planning is therefore essential. *"You've got to work with the abattoir, work with your butcher and get everything aligned. If one part doesn't line up with the other, you have a problem."* Attention to detail continues once the carcass reaches the butchery. *"People often ask us to hang beef for 28 days,"* Ian explains. *"But we always want to see the carcass first. If it's got a good fat covering, that's usually fine. If it's a leaner carcass, hanging it that long can actually reduce the amount of quality meat the customer gets back."* Every animal is different, and understanding how to get the best from each carcass remains an important part of helping farmers maximise returns. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/07/DSC02247-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/07/DSC02240-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/07/DSC02213-1.JPG) ### A New Generation of Farmers If Ian's story is about diversification, Josie's is about building a farming business from scratch. Josie Rollings joined Goodtrees two years ago after completing a butchery apprenticeship at Plumpton College. Neither she nor her fiancé Ollie Blake came from a farming background, but together they have built a flock of almost 200 breeding ewes on around 450 acres of rented land across Sussex. "It started with a handful of sheep," she says. "My fiancé was paid with a few ewes for helping a neighbouring farmer, and that's where the flock began." Everything has been built through grazing licences, informal agreements and opportunities that have come along over time. "It hasn't always been easy," Josie admits. "There have definitely been moments where we've wondered whether this was going to work." Alongside working four days a week at Goodtrees, she and her fiancé rear their own sheep and sell lamb boxes directly to customers. Their ambition is to expand to around 500 ewes if they can secure a long-term tenancy. "That's what we're working towards," she says. "But it's hard if you don't come from a farming background. Those opportunities don't come up very often." Despite the challenges, Josie believes sheep farming remains one of the most accessible routes into agriculture. "I still think sheep are probably the easiest enterprise for new entrants to get into. With cattle you need buildings, handling systems and far more infrastructure. Sheep allow you to start smaller and build gradually." ### Seeing Both Sides Working as both a farmer and a butcher has given Josie a perspective that few livestock producers experience. Most mornings start with her own sheep before she heads to the cutting room, where she sees first-hand how months of livestock management are reflected in the finished carcass. "I love anatomy," she says. "It's fascinating seeing the hard work that goes into rearing an animal and then seeing what that produces on the block." That experience has changed the way she and her fiancé finish their own lambs. "People aren't buying fat—they're buying meat." Rather than simply chasing live weight, they pay close attention to condition and carcass quality before deciding when lambs are ready. "We weigh them, condition score them and look carefully over the loin and ribs. Sometimes my fiancé thinks a lamb is ready and I'll say, 'Leave it another couple of weeks.' Working here gives you a different perspective." For Josie, seeing both sides of the supply chain has made her a better butcher and a better farmer. ### **Enterprise Pays** One message came through clearly from both Ian and Josie: today's livestock farmers need to think beyond simply producing quality animals. "They need to be enterprising," Josie says. "The support payments aren't what they were, so people are asking how they can earn more from what they've already got." Selling lamb boxes has enabled Josie and her fiancé to reinvest in their business, funding better fencing, a quad bike and improved handling facilities. "We've got three or four times more sheep than when we started," she says, "but it's taking us less time because we've been able to reinvest." Ian has seen a similar shift among the farmers using Goodtrees. Increasingly, they are looking for advice on branding, packaging and presentation as well as butchery. For many, the butcher has become a business partner rather than simply someone who processes meat. ### Beyond the Farm Gate One of the strongest messages from this series has been that resilient farm businesses rarely rely on a single income stream. Whether through tourism, education, wine, regenerative farming or direct sales, the farms that are thriving are finding ways to add value to what they already produce. Goodtrees Farm Butchers is part of that story. Its success is built not on producing more livestock, but on helping farmers make more from the livestock they already have. As support payments continue to fall and margins remain tight, that ability to add value, build customer relationships and sell direct could become just as important as what happens in the field. ### Philip Harris: Why England's Smallest Vineyards may have the Brightest Future URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/philip-harris-why-englands-smallest-vineyards-may-have-the-brightest-future/ Last updated: 2026-07-22T15:34:28.000Z ### In the eighth instalment of my twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the Lund Trust and the High Weald National Landscape, I visited Philip Harris at his organic vineyard near Hastings, East Sussex, to explore how a small-scale wine business is combining regenerative principles, biodiversity and thoughtful land stewardship to produce distinctive wines in the High Weald. On a sunny south-facing slope on the edge of the High Weald National Landscape, rows of vines stretch across just two hectares of land. It's a modest vineyard by modern standards, yet for Philip Harris, that's precisely the point. At a time when English wine is enjoying unprecedented attention and investment, Harris is quietly making the case that bigger isn't always better. "We're producing more wine than we're selling in England," he says matter-of-factly. "There are some really big vineyards struggling." For someone who has spent nearly two decades working in English viticulture, it's a refreshingly honest assessment of an industry often portrayed as one of British agriculture's great success stories. ### From vegetables to vineyards Harris didn't set out to become a winemaker. Originally studying Ancient Egyptian archaeology before working in North Wales, it was a job on an organic vegetable farm that first sparked his love of growing. "Working with grapes was simply more interesting than fruit and veg," he laughs. "You don't have endless conversations about cabbages." That curiosity led him to Davenport Vineyards in East Sussex, where he worked while studying viticulture at Plumpton College. In 2019, after years of saving, he planted his own vineyard on the outskirts of Westfield, near Doleham. Seven years later, the vines are only just approaching maturity. Unlike many farming enterprises, vineyards demand extraordinary patience. Harris produced just 350 bottles from his first harvest before gradually increasing production. At full capacity, he expects to produce around 7,000 bottles annually. "You have to support yourself for those first five or six years," he explains. "That's probably the biggest challenge." ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/07/Wine-grapes.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/07/Philip-Harris-Wines.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/07/DJI_20260714135741_0409_D-copy.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/07/DJI_20260714135536_0405_D.JPG) ### A different philosophy While English wine has seen significant outside investment over the past decade, Harris has deliberately resisted the temptation to chase scale. His ambition is not to build one of the country's biggest vineyards, but one that remains manageable, profitable and enjoyable. "It's really important to me that I can do all the right jobs at the right time," he says. "If I grow too much, then suddenly I'm employing lots of people and spending more time managing than actually growing grapes." That philosophy extends throughout the vineyard. Certified organic from the outset, Harris has also adopted a no-dig approach, avoiding cultivation beneath the vines in favour of building healthier soils. Instead of repeatedly disturbing the ground, he spreads around 80 to 90 tonnes of compost every year, sourced from local horse manure and arboricultural woodchip, gradually improving the structure of the heavy Wealden clay. "The soil is changing every year," he says. "I used to feed just the vines, but now I'm trying to improve the whole vineyard." The approach creates more work. Rather than relying on herbicides or cultivation, much of the vegetation management is done with a strimmer. "It's a lot of strimming," he laughs. "One day there'll be a machine that does it properly." ### Four-legged vineyard workers One of Harris's favourite vineyard helpers isn't a machine at all. Each winter, Southdown sheep are brought into the vineyard to graze beneath the vines, reducing grass growth before the new season begins. They're carefully chosen too. "The girls are great," he jokes. "Never let the boys in. Rams just back into the vines and snap them." The sheep save hours of work while returning nutrients naturally to the soil, fitting neatly into Harris's wider belief that farming should work with natural processes wherever possible. Like many organic growers, he still relies on sulphur and copper sprays to manage mildew, although he hopes alternatives become available in future. Alongside these, he brews his own nettle, horsetail and comfrey teas as natural plant feeds. "They smell awful," he admits, "but they work." ### Climate change brings opportunities — and risks Few sectors have benefited from rising temperatures quite like English viticulture. Warmer summers are producing consistently riper grapes and lower acidity, allowing growers to produce wines that would have been difficult to imagine a generation ago. Yet Harris is quick to point out that climate change has also brought new problems. "We lost around 35 per cent of the crop to frost this year." Late spring frosts, once relatively uncommon, are becoming increasingly unpredictable. While some vineyards invest tens of thousands of pounds in frost candles, Harris has decided the economics simply don't stack up. "It would have cost me about £15,000 to protect this vineyard for one frost event." For a small independent business, that's a gamble he isn't prepared to take. ### Why small might win Perhaps Harris's most striking observation concerns the economics of English wine. Conventional wisdom suggests larger vineyards should enjoy economies of scale. Harris isn't convinced. "Once you scale up you've suddenly got marketing departments, sales teams and much bigger overheads." His own business remains intentionally lean. Selling directly to customers through cellar door sales, local wine merchants and independent restaurants allows him to retain far more of each bottle's value than supplying large retailers. During a recent open day, visitors wandered through the vineyard before buying bottles directly from the source. "I made about £550 just sitting here talking to people," he says. For Harris, that direct relationship with customers is becoming just as valuable as the grapes themselves. ### More than just wine Despite producing natural wines, Harris is reluctant to become caught up in labels. His wines are made with minimal intervention and very low sulphur additions, but he still wants them to taste clean, balanced and approachable. "I want them to taste like wine." He believes the rise of the natural wine movement has introduced a new generation of customers who care about local food, sustainable farming and the people producing it. Many of those customers are younger than he expected. "I've been really surprised how many young people are embracing it." His own labels reflect that personal approach. One features artwork generously donated by celebrated illustrator Sir Quentin Blake after Harris's wife wrote to him during the Covid pandemic. Another incorporates drawings by members of his own family. They're small touches that reinforce the vineyard's identity as a family business rather than a corporate brand. ### Looking ahead As the vineyard approaches full production, Harris isn't dreaming of hundreds more acres. If demand continues to grow, he may plant another thousand vines. No more. "I want to be able to give every vine the attention it deserves." For farmers considering diversifying into vineyards, his advice is equally grounded. "Go and work in one first. Do a harvest. See if you actually enjoy the work." Because, despite the romance surrounding English wine, Harris believes success still comes down to the same fundamentals as any other farming enterprise: patience, hard work and a genuine love of growing. Standing among the vines on a warm July afternoon, it's difficult to argue with him. In an industry often focused on expansion, Philip Harris is quietly proving there is another path - one built not on scale, but on craftsmanship, careful stewardship and knowing exactly how big is big enough. ### An Evening of Farming Stories at Montague Farm URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/an-evening-of-farming-stories-at-montague-farm/ Last updated: 2026-06-25T10:25:49.000Z On a warm June evening, more than 100 people gathered at Montague Farm in Hankham, overlooking the Pevensey Levels, to celebrate two stories of farming, family and the future of the countryside. The event brought together farmers, landowners and members of the local community to watch two new short films commissioned by our local NFU Mutual agency: [*Learning to Listen*](https://www.indiefarmer.com/learning-to-listen-a-new-indie-farmer-film-from-montague-farm/), featuring Martin and Romney Hole of Montague Farm, and [*One Brick at a Time*](https://www.indiefarmer.com/one-brick-at-a-time-the-story-of-charles-palmer-vineyards/), telling the story of Charles Palmer Vineyards. Although the two businesses are less than 20 miles apart, they represent very different approaches to farming. One is a family vineyard that has spent twenty years building an English wine business from the ground up. The other is a working farm and nature reserve where farming and wildlife restoration go hand in hand. What connects them, however, is a shared sense of stewardship and a determination to build something that can endure for future generations. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-25-at-09.01.26.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-25-at-09.13.25.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-25-at-09.10.51.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-25-at-09.09.01.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-25-at-09.04.44.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-25-at-09.05.41.png) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/06/Screenshot-2026-06-25-at-09.06.23.png) ## Farming and adapting to change The discussion that followed the films touched on many of the challenges facing farming today. Asked about the difficulties facing the English wine industry, Charles Palmer acknowledged that there had been rapid investment in vineyards in recent years, but argued that long-term success depends on understanding the economics and, above all, finding a market for your product. "We've learned over twenty years that you adjust your price until you hit a sweet spot where people will buy," he said. "If it's below the cost of production, then you shouldn't be doing it." Far from being pessimistic about the future, Charles spoke of opportunity and adaptation. As climate change reshapes traditional wine-growing regions in southern Europe, he believes England is increasingly well placed to produce world-class wines. "It's not about getting bigger," he said. "It's about consolidation and doing what we do better and better." ## Nature needs an income One of the evening's most thought-provoking questions came when Montague Farm was asked whether its ambitious programme of habitat restoration would have been possible without diversifying into hospitality. Martin Hole's answer was refreshingly honest. "I think we decided we couldn't carry on running the farm and nature reserve without an additional income." The family have invested heavily in converting old farm buildings into holiday accommodation and event spaces, with the proceeds helping to support the wider farming and conservation business. As Martin explained, farming for wildlife can be rewarding and valuable, but farming alone was not generating enough income to care for historic buildings and create an exciting future for the next generation. "Farming itself was not profitable enough to look after these old properties and make it exciting for another generation." Yet despite the challenges, there was a strong sense of optimism. "We've got to live with uncertainty and adapt," he said. ## Livestock as ecosystem engineers The role of livestock in nature recovery also formed an important part of the discussion. Romney Hole explained how cattle and sheep are central to the management of the Pevensey Marsh landscape. The family is increasingly moving towards purebred Sussex cattle, which play a vital role in shaping habitats by grazing reed beds and creating the varied sward structures needed by wildlife. "They're quite good ecosystem warriors," Romney said. The farm is also exploring ways to reduce its reliance on veterinary chemicals, asking important questions about what is introduced into sensitive landscapes through conventional livestock treatments. ## Bringing people together Perhaps the most encouraging part of the evening was simply seeing so many people come together to watch films about local farms. As one speaker observed, from the screening venue it is almost possible to see the vineyards of Charles Palmer and the marshes of Montague Farm, yet many people know very little about the stories unfolding on their own doorstep. That, ultimately, is what evenings like this are about. Not simply screening films, but creating space for conversation, celebrating the diversity of our farming communities and reminding ourselves that there is still a huge appetite for authentic stories from the countryside. A huge thank you to everyone who attended, to Martin and Romney Hole and Charles Palmer for sharing their stories so generously, and to our local NFU Mutual agency for helping make the evening possible. I hope this is just the beginning. There are many more farming stories waiting to be told. ### One Brick at a Time: The Story of Charles Palmer Vineyards URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/one-brick-at-a-time-the-story-of-charles-palmer-vineyards/ Last updated: 2026-06-22T14:07:29.000Z England's wine industry has changed dramatically over the past two decades. What was once considered a niche pursuit has become one of the most exciting and fastest-growing sectors in British agriculture. During May of this year I spent a few days at Charles Palmer Vineyards, on the outskirts of the historic town of Winchelsea in East Sussex, filming my latest short documentary, *One Brick at a Time*, made in collaboration with NFU Mutual. What interested me about the vineyard wasn't simply the wine itself, but the story behind it. Like many successful rural businesses, Charles Palmer Vineyards has been built gradually, through countless small decisions, steady investment and a willingness to take calculated risks. The film follows founder Charles Palmer and his son Robert and daughter-in-law Chantal as they reflect on the journey from planting the first vines to creating an award-winning vineyard, winery and visitor destination. Along the way, they discuss the challenges of growing a business in a relatively young industry, the importance of maintaining high standards and the opportunities that lie ahead for English wine. It's also a story about family. As with many of the farms and rural enterprises I visit, there is an ongoing conversation between generations — balancing experience with fresh ideas, while working towards a shared vision for the future. Spending time at the vineyard, I was struck by the optimism that surrounds the business. Despite the challenges facing agriculture and the wider rural economy, there is a sense that English wine is still only at the beginning of its story. I hope this film offers a glimpse into the people, place and long-term thinking behind one of Sussex's pioneering vineyards. Watch the film below. ## Sign up for Indie Farmer Stories of farming, food and land –– from the ground up. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. ### Learning to Listen: A New Indie Farmer Film from Montague Farm URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/learning-to-listen-a-new-indie-farmer-film-from-montague-farm/ Last updated: 2026-06-19T10:26:18.000Z Over the years I've spent a lot of time visiting farms across the country, documenting the stories of independent farmers and the landscapes they look after. One of the things I enjoy most is uncovering the quieter stories — the farms that aren't always shouting the loudest, but are doing thoughtful and inspiring things. Today I'm pleased to share my latest short film, *Learning to Listen*, made in collaboration with NFU Mutual and filmed at Montague Farm in East Sussex. At first glance, you could mistake Montague Farm for a fairly traditional livestock farm. But spend a little time with farmers Martin and Romney Hole and a different picture begins to emerge. Their approach is rooted in careful observation — paying attention to the land, the wildlife and the livestock, and allowing those observations to guide management decisions. The film explores how the family has adapted over time, balancing food production with a growing commitment to biodiversity, habitat restoration and long-term stewardship. It is also a story about family farming, with two generations working together and bringing their own perspectives to the future of the farm. Farming is often portrayed as a battle against nature, but spending time at Montague Farm reminded me that some of the most successful farmers are those who learn to work with natural processes rather than against them. I hope the film offers a glimpse into the challenges and opportunities facing modern family farms, while celebrating the people quietly working to leave the land in better condition for future generations. **Watch the film below.** --- *Learning to Listen* was filmed and edited by Nigel Akehurst for Indie Farmer, with support from NFU Mutual. Special thanks to Martin, Romney and the Hole family for welcoming me onto the farm and sharing their story. ### From the Farm Gate: Three Dairy Farms Facing an Uncertain Future URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/from-the-farm-gate-three-dairy-farms-facing-an-uncertain-future/ Last updated: 2026-06-19T13:02:23.000Z ### Rising costs, volatile milk prices and growing regulatory pressure are reshaping dairy farming. Across three farms in East Sussex, different systems reveal the same underlying challenge — how to remain viable in an increasingly uncertain landscape. --- Many UK dairy farmers find themselves caught in a familiar squeeze — milk prices that move quickly, set against input costs that rarely fall, from feed and fuel to fertiliser and labour. Set against a backdrop of global oversupply, some farms are struggling to meet the cost of production. Prices shift, costs stick, and even the weather becoming harder to read from one season to the next. For many, the response has been to push for greater efficiency — scaling up, increasing herd sizes and, in some cases, moving towards more intensive systems. To understand how this plays out on the ground, I visited three family-run farms in East Sussex — all grazing-based systems, but operating at different scales. --- ### Oak Bank Farm, Ashburnham At Oak Bank Farm, the system is built on a mix of owned and rented ground, spread across a relatively tight area. Around 100 acres sit around the yard, with additional parcels supporting forage, youngstock and dry cows. Like many dairy farms in the South East, it’s a fragmented footprint — but one that still functions as a single unit. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DJI_20260415163108_0032_D-2.jpg) Oak Bank Farm The herd numbers around 150 milking cows, though Louke Van De Meer is clear that fewer would be easier to manage. “Between 100 and 120 is where it’s comfortable,” he says. That tension — between what works practically and what stacks up financially — runs quietly through the system. When milk price is strong, output rises. When it falls, the business has to adjust — but dairy is not a tap you can simply turn off. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02669-copy.jpg) Cows still need milking, feed still needs buying, and the rhythm of the system carries on regardless of the market. “We don’t set the price. We take it.” Margins are shaped not just by the headline milk price, but by how that price is structured and how changes in supply and demand filter back to the farm. Even within a co-operative system, there can be a gap between what the market needs and what a farm is set up to produce. Costs, meanwhile, continue to edge upwards — fertiliser, labour and infrastructure all narrowing the margin for error. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02741-copy.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02721-copy.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02724-copy.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02651-copy.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02717-copy.jpg) At this scale, the business carries less borrowing than many larger units — fewer buildings, less infrastructure, and less pressure to service high levels of debt. That, in turn, creates a different kind of resilience: the ability to absorb volatility and adjust more quickly when margins tighten, even if it comes at the cost of total output. Alongside economics sits regulation, particularly around slurry storage and infrastructure. “I can’t fight them. I have to work with them.” For Louke, though, the biggest uncertainty isn’t price or policy — it’s land. “Our biggest worry is losing ground,” he says. --- ### Burnt House Farm, Waldron At Burnt House Farm, together with two other units he runs nearby, Joe Delves milks around 600 cows, producing roughly four million litres of milk a year. The cows are grazed outdoors when conditions allow, from spring through to autumn. It is a system built around efficiency: spreading risk, managing output and making the numbers work at scale. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC03046.jpg) “If part of the business doesn’t make money, it’s a hobby,” he says. That mindset runs through the operation. Alongside the core dairy enterprise, Joe has developed a separate cheese business — adding value to a portion of the milk, while the main system continues to operate at volume. Scale brings opportunity, but also complexity. Labour, infrastructure and input costs all increase, and the margin for error doesn’t necessarily disappear — it just shifts. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DJI_20260427140008_0125_D-1.jpg) Burnt House Farm “It’s a low-margin game,” Joe says. “You’ve got to stack it high.” Even at this level, the business isn’t immune to pressure. With a cost of production in the mid-40 pence per litre range, and milk prices at times returning mid-30s, the gap has to be absorbed somewhere — often through borrowing or reserves built up in better years. “It swings fast,” he says. “You can go from a good year to a tough one very quickly.” That volatility extends beyond milk price — feed, fuel and weather patterns all play a role, making forward planning increasingly difficult. Feed, fuel and fertiliser — the “three Fs” — continue to drive much of that pressure. At the same time, the business has had to adapt. Fertiliser use has been cut significantly — now running at roughly a third of previous levels — without a dramatic drop in yield. “You can ride it out for a while,” he says. “But if costs keep rising, it soon starts to bite.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DJI_20260427140008_0125_D.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC03050.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC03020.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC03077.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC03062.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DJI_20260427160339_0141_D.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC03071.jpg) Recent expansion — including the purchase of an adjoining farm — has strengthened the long-term position of the business, but also adds another layer of financial commitment in the short term. There is also a sense that future regulation needs to be grounded in how farms actually operate. “It’s got to be based on evidence,” he says. “What works in practice, not just on paper.” Like smaller farms, the system remains exposed to volatility. The difference is in how that risk is managed — through output, efficiency and diversification, rather than the ability to avoid it. --- ### Lime End Farm, Herstmonceux At Lime End Farm, the conversation turns more directly to regulation — and what it might mean for the future of dairy farming. Matthew Ford runs around 670 cows, grazing approximately 300 acres, with the herd housed over winter, supported by maize and grass grown for feed across a mix of owned and rented land. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DJI_20260416174042_0101_D-2.jpg) Lime End Farm Like others, the business is feeling the pressure of rising costs — but it is the direction of policy that concerns him most. Proposed changes to environmental permitting, which could bring dairy farms in line with pig and poultry units, are seen as a significant shift. “The biggest threat is the cost of it,” he says. “You’re paying for someone to come out and inspect the paperwork — it’s just a whole cycle of bureaucracy.” For Matthew, the issue is not just regulation itself, but where that money is directed. “You’re spending a whole load of money on compliance, when you could be spending that money on infrastructure.” There is a concern that these pressures, combined with tight margins, may accelerate structural change within the industry. “All you’re doing is reducing the size of the industry,” he says. “You’re just going to see offshoring effectively.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02793-3.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02801.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02820-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02839.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02846-2.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02949.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/05/DSC02894-copy-1.jpg) At the same time, land is becoming harder to secure. “It’s all just increasing demands on land… you can’t just say, I’ve lost 100 acres here, I’ll go 10 miles up the road.” Faced with that uncertainty, longer-term investment becomes harder to justify. “Why would you bother investing for the future if you’re not going to make any money?” --- Across all three farms, the systems are different, but the pressures are strikingly similar. Margins are tighter, risks are higher, and the room to adapt is narrowing. The response may vary — from flexibility at smaller scale, to efficiency and output at larger scale — but none are insulated from volatility. With price, policy and land all shifting at once, the question is no longer just how to improve efficiency, but whether the industry still allows these farms to remain viable at all. ### Falconhurst Estate: Holding It All Together URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/falconhurst-estate-holding-it-all-together/ Last updated: 2026-04-01T09:29:59.000Z ### In the seventh instalment of my twelve-part *Indie Farmer* series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, I visited Falconhurst Estate near Markbeech, Kent, to spend time with George Talbot and understand how a mixed organic dairy and estate business is being shaped in practice. There’s a high point on Falconhurst Estate called Hoppers bank, where the ground falls away just enough to open the view. From the ridge, the High Weald rolls out in soft folds — pasture stitched with hedgerows, pockets of woodland, the suggestion of farms working quietly beneath the surface. It’s the kind of place that invites big ideas. Long tables on the hillside. A village gathering. A farm open to people again. “It would be an amazing space,” George Talbot said, looking out across it. “We’ve talked about it. But it’s always a bit weather dependent.” That tension — between possibility and practicality — runs through everything here. Falconhurst isn’t a farm trying to become something else. Nor is it a neatly packaged diversification success story. It sits somewhere in between: an estate trying to make sense of modern farming, while holding onto something older — a working landscape that still needs to function. ### A farm finding its footing When I last visited Falconhurst a couple of years ago, the business was still shifting — experimenting with supper clubs, testing ideas, trying to work out where the balance might lie between farming and everything around it. Today, it feels more settled. Not finished, but clearer. George is still deeply involved across the estate, but his role has shifted. A retail and events manager now leads on the shop and events side, freeing up time — and focus. “It’s been really positive,” he said. “Instead of me spending 10% of my time thinking about events, you’ve got someone spending 50% of their time on it.” It’s a small change, but an important one. Not just delegation — but intent. A recognition that diversification only works when it’s properly resourced. At the same time, the dairy — the core of the farm — has quietly strengthened. The Pickering family continue to run the herd under a contract farming agreement, but with a key change: Greg Pickering now operates with full responsibility and clearer incentives. “The buck stops with him,” George explained. “And that’s worked really well for both parties.” It’s a model built on transparency. Costs are visible, decisions are shared, and the outcome — whatever remains — is split. In an industry where relationships can often fray under pressure, that clarity matters. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/04/DJI_20260319164553_0041_D.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/04/DSC02425-copy.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/04/IMG_3196.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/04/Falconhurst-203.jpg) ### The system beneath it all Out in the yard, the herd moves quietly through the parlour. Around 210 cows now — settled, consistent, productive. The breeding has shifted too. What was once a mix — Jerseys, Friesians, Shorthorns, Longhorns — has been gradually brought into a more uniform system: a ProCross blend of Montbéliarde, Holstein and Viking Red. “They’re quite stocky, quite wide-footed,” George explained. “Better suited to the clay around here.” It’s a practical decision, grounded in place. This is heavy Wealden clay — land that dictates terms. Animals that can carry themselves here, particularly at the edges of the grazing season, reduce pressure elsewhere: on infrastructure, on labour, on vet bills. The system has settled into an autumn block-calving pattern, now a few years in. Not perfect — no system is — but working. And that word comes up repeatedly: working. Because for a period between 2016 and 2021, it wasn’t. “There was a stretch where it just wasn’t really working,” George admitted. “And when you’ve invested in things like the parlour, you start to question those decisions.” Now, with organic milk prices holding relatively steady while conventional markets fluctuate, the farm has found a degree of stability. Break-even sits somewhere around 42–43p per litre. Above that, there’s room to breathe. Below it, the margin tightens quickly. It’s a familiar story — but here, it’s not the whole story. ### More than just milk Falconhurst has always been more than just the dairy. The estate includes property, a farm shop, events, weddings, and a growing interest in connecting people back to the land. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/04/DJI_20260319160543_0037_D-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/04/DJI_20260319160313_0035_D.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/04/The-Dinner-Table-at-Falconhurst-003.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/04/DSC02439-copy.JPG) But none of these are silver bullets. “The shop and events aren’t huge money makers,” George said. “But they employ people… and they help afford my time.” That’s a subtle but important distinction. Diversification here isn’t about replacing farming. It’s about supporting it — spreading risk, smoothing the peaks and troughs, and allowing the business to think longer term. “I think it’s made us more resilient,” he said. “If one part has a bad year, something else can help carry it.” Still, there’s a sense that the model isn’t quite complete. George talks about the idea of a “golden ticket” enterprise — something that could transform the economics of the farm. But in the same breath, he questions whether that’s realistic. “I think it’s more likely an accumulation,” he said. “Lots of things contributing a bit more.” That feels closer to the truth here. Not a single breakthrough, but a gradual layering — farming, food, people, place — all adding up. ### A farm in conversation with its landscape There’s a strong sense, walking the estate, that Falconhurst is trying to reconnect its parts. The farm produces food, but not enough of it flows through the farm shop. Visitors come to the shop, but often don’t see the farm. Events happen, but they don’t always draw people into the wider landscape. “There’s more we could do to link it all together,” George says. That might mean more produce coming directly from the farm into the shop. Or opening up access — educational visits (they did Open Farm Sunday last year and are planning on doing it again this year), foraging, experiences that bring people beyond the immediate retail space. It’s not a new idea, but it’s one that feels increasingly necessary. Because around here, the pressure isn’t just economic — it’s spatial. Falconhurst sits within the High Weald National Landscape, where development is tightly controlled. Options for change are limited. Decisions carry long-term consequences. “You’re thinking 15–20 years ahead,” George said. “And working out what Plan B or Plan C looks like.” That might include a great diversity of livestock or more diversification. It might include nature-based income streams. Or it might simply mean refining what’s already here. Like many farms, Falconhurst is being pulled into conversations around natural capital, biodiversity net gain, and rewilding. But George approaches it cautiously. “A lot of it feels like a 30-year commitment,” he said. “And I don’t think I’ve been here long enough to make that decision.” ### Holding it all together This isn’t a farm chasing trends, nor retreating into the past. It sits somewhere in between — trying to make things work in a way that feels practical. It’s a business holding several moving parts: an organic dairy, a diversified estate, growing public access, and a longer-term view of the landscape. Beneath that sits a question many farms are working through: what does resilience actually look like in practice? At Falconhurst, there isn’t a single answer. It shows up in the herd — bred to suit the land. In the contract agreement — open and workable. In the shop, the events, the people — each playing a part. And in the willingness to keep adapting. “I quite enjoy the challenge,” George said. “Everything’s different… and you’re forced to think differently to make it work.” That feels close to the point. Not certainty, or a fixed model — just a readiness to adjust. A farm, and an estate, still finding its shape. ### About the series This article and accompanying short film form part of a twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**. The series explores how farmers across the High Weald and surrounding areas are adapting their businesses, managing land, and navigating the realities of modern agriculture. ### Pasture and Profit: Learning from the land and each other URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/pasture-profit-learning-from-the-land-and-each-other/ Last updated: 2026-03-28T13:23:42.000Z ### Why farmer knowledge exchange matters in the High Weald and beyond On a cold morning in early spring, a group of farmers stand quietly beside a hedge in the High Weald, watching a group of young cattle move slowly across the pasture. Boots press into the damp ground as the group studies the grass, the conversation drifting easily between soil structure, grazing rotations and livestock performance. A member of the group kneels down and pulls apart a handful of soil. Another points towards a line of newly planted trees along the field edge. There are no microphones or lecture slides. Just farmers talking. Moments like this have become increasingly common across the High Weald in recent years as part of a programme designed to bring livestock farmers together to share knowledge, explore regenerative grazing practices and build resilience in the face of an increasingly uncertain future. Funded by the **Farming in Protected Landscapes Fund** (FiPL) and supported through the **Pasture for Life** network and the **High Weald National Landscape**, the initiative has created opportunities for farmers to learn directly from one another through farm walks, workshops and online discussions. The idea is simple: farmers are often best placed to help other farmers solve practical problems. And judging by the response from those taking part, the approach appears to be working. ### **The power of peer-to-peer learning** For many farmers, knowledge exchange has always been an informal process. Advice shared across farm gates, conversations in livestock markets, or a quick phone call to a neighbour when something unexpected happens in the field. But modern farming can often feel increasingly isolated. Labour shortages, regulatory pressures and volatile markets mean many farmers spend long hours working alone. Bringing farmers together, even for a few hours, can create valuable opportunities to exchange ideas. Often the most useful conversations happen between fields, leaning on a gate, studying a sward, or comparing notes while a group of cattle moves quietly past. Through the High Weald Pasture and Profit in Protected Landscapes programme, farmers have been meeting regularly to discuss everything from grazing strategies to soil health and biodiversity. Events range from small farm walks to larger workshops and online sessions, allowing farmers to explore topics in depth and ask questions in a relaxed setting. One of the clearest messages from farmers taking part is the confidence they gain from hearing how others are tackling similar challenges. “You leave these events realising you’re not the only one trying to figure things out,” one farmer said. “It gives you confidence to try something new.” Many participants say they leave events with ideas they feel comfortable testing on their own farms, whether that means adjusting grazing rotations, experimenting with different pasture species or exploring new ways of managing water. Crucially, the learning process works both ways. Even experienced regenerative farmers often come away with fresh insights after hearing how others are tackling similar challenges. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/Using-Hedges--Compost--Woodchip-Event---Nov-2025-copy.jpeg) Using Hedges, Compost and Woodchip event at Cockhaise Farm with Dan Burdett ### **Resilience in a changing climate** If there is one topic that repeatedly surfaces in conversations with farmers today, it is resilience. Across the High Weald, as in many parts of the country, livestock farmers are experiencing increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. Wet winters, dry summers and sudden extremes of temperature are becoming more common. For many farmers, the emotional and practical impact of this unpredictability is becoming increasingly apparent. Several participants in the programme spoke about how difficult it has become to plan grazing, cropping or investment decisions when weather patterns feel less reliable than they once did. The stress of dealing with extreme conditions — whether prolonged wet periods or sudden drought, is something many farmers say they are feeling more acutely in recent years. In response, many of the programme’s events have focused on how farming systems can adapt to these changes. Some discussions centre on soil health and pasture management. Others explore the role of hedgerows, trees and water infrastructure in helping farms cope with drought or flooding. At one event, farmers heard how installing large rainwater harvesting tanks could reduce reliance on mains water and potentially make significant savings on water bills. For livestock farms, where water demand can be significant, the financial implications alone make such systems worth considering. But there are also wider benefits in terms of drought resilience and long-term sustainability. These practical examples help turn what can sometimes feel like abstract environmental conversations into tangible, farm-level decisions. Alongside the pressures created by weather, farmers also spoke about wider sources of uncertainty, including unpredictable funding schemes and the increasing complexity of agricultural paperwork. In this context, the opportunity to meet with other farmers facing similar challenges becomes especially valuable. Many participants say that simply being able to share experiences and compare approaches helps build confidence that they are moving in the right direction. ### **From pasture to plate** Another area that has generated considerable interest is the supply chain. One of the most popular events this year involved a visit to Goodtrees Farm and its onsite butchery in Ashdown Forest. While many farmers are increasingly interested in selling meat directly to customers, the process between slaughter and finished product can remain something of a mystery. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/IMG_8036.jpg) A group butchery tour at Goodtrees Farm and Butchery For some attendees, the visit highlighted how little they understood about carcass cutting specifications, butchery forms and the importance of clear communication with processors. Something as simple as failing to specify the correct cuts can affect how much of the carcass is returned, and therefore the overall value of the animal. By seeing the process first-hand and speaking directly with butchers, farmers were able to build confidence in an area that often feels daunting for those new to direct marketing. It was a reminder that resilience on the farm is not only about soil and grass, but also about understanding the economics of the food system. ### **Bridging the experience gap** One of the interesting dynamics within the programme is the mix of farmers taking part. Some are highly experienced livestock producers who have been farming for decades. Others are relatively new to regenerative grazing or are in the early stages of transitioning their systems. This diversity creates valuable opportunities for learning. At one end of the spectrum are farmers who have spent years refining their approach and can read the health of a pasture simply by observing plant growth and animal behaviour. At the other are those looking for clearer guidance, wanting to know which measurements matter, how to assess soil health or what indicators to look for when evaluating biodiversity. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/Better-Understand-and-Manage-Your-Soil-Event.jpeg) Better Understand and Manage your Soil event with Judy Cody and Sylvie Corbett from Soil Craft In practice, the two perspectives often complement each other. Experienced farmers bring intuition and long-term perspective, while newer entrants sometimes ask the questions that prompt deeper reflection about why certain practices work. Over time, the goal is to help farmers move toward greater confidence in observing and interpreting what is happening in their fields. ### **The role of facilitation** Although farmer-to-farmer learning sits at the heart of the programme, it rarely happens without someone helping to organise it. Facilitators play a critical role in bringing farmers together, arranging events and responding to emerging topics of interest. In many cases, new workshops have been organised directly in response to conversations that began at earlier events. For example, a discussion about stocking density during a winter grazing session generated enough interest that organisers quickly arranged a follow-up workshop focused specifically on that subject. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/IMG_7947.jpg) Mob grazier David Cornforth sharing knowledge at Lomas Farm This responsive approach helps ensure the programme remains grounded in the practical needs of farmers rather than following a rigid agenda. It also helps build a sense of community. Farmers attending multiple events often develop informal networks, exchanging ideas through WhatsApp groups and phone calls long after the official workshops have ended. ### **A wide range of farmers involved** Participants come from a wide range of backgrounds. Some have been farming their land for generations, while others are newer entrants exploring livestock systems for the first time. One farmer involved in the programme, who had initially been considering retirement, found that exposure to regenerative grazing ideas inspired him to rethink the future of his farm. Instead of stepping away from farming, he began transitioning his land toward a rotational grazing system, a change he might never have considered without the encouragement and insights shared through the programme. Stories like this illustrate how knowledge exchange can influence long-term decision-making. Sometimes it is not about adopting a specific technique, but about rediscovering enthusiasm for farming itself. ### **Looking ahead** The success of the High Weald Pasture and Profit in Protected Landscapes programme highlights the continued importance of farmer-led learning. Many of the ideas discussed are not entirely new. Farmers have always adapted, experimented and shared knowledge with neighbours. What initiatives like this provide is the structure that helps those conversations happen more regularly and across a wider network. For farmers navigating the challenges of climate change, volatile markets and evolving policy landscapes, that exchange of ideas may prove increasingly valuable. Because while agricultural research and policy both have important roles to play, some of the most meaningful insights in farming still come from the land itself — and from the farmers who walk it every day, paying attention to what their fields, animals and soils are quietly telling them. ### More Information For more information on future learning opportunities check out the [High Weald National Landscapes](https://highweald.org/?ref=indiefarmer.com) and [Pasture for Life](https://pastureforlife.org/?ref=indiefarmer.com) websites. This article was supported by Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) ### Organic Dairy Farming in the High Weald URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/organic-dairy-farming-in-the-high-weald/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T19:37:17.000Z ### In the latest instalment of my twelve-part *Indie Farmer* series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, I visited Cockhaise Farm near Haywards Heath, in East Sussex to spend a day with organic dairy farmer Dan Burdett, to learn how he is managing a 240-cow dairy herd while balancing environmental stewardship and the long-term future of the family farm. When I arrived at Cockhaise Farm on a mild early spring morning, the dairy cows were still in the barn. Inside the main dairy shed the herd stood quietly at the feed barrier while young replacement heifers watched curiously from nearby pens. Outside the grass was just beginning to move after winter, but the ground remained soft underfoot — not quite ready yet for cows to be fully turned out. “They do go out for a short time in the mornings,” Dan Burdett told me as we walked across the yard. “But we’re still waiting for the ground conditions to improve before they go out properly.” Later in the season these fields will once again be filled with grazing dairy cows moving through paddocks of herbal leys. But for now the farm sits in that familiar transition between winter housing and the start of the grazing season. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DJI_20260310104815_0030_D.JPG) Set within the rolling landscape of the High Weald National Landscape near Haywards Heath in East Sussex, Cockhaise Farm is one of many farms in the area quietly adapting their systems as they balance food production with the long-term health of the land. Dan’s family has farmed at Cockhaise for more than forty years. “My dad moved here as a contract farmer about forty years ago,” he explains. “I went away for a while and worked in London for a bit, but I came back in 2008 and set my own business up here.” The pull of farming, it seems, never quite disappears. “I always had a hankering that I wanted to work outdoors,” he said. “I wanted to be my own boss and do something a bit more energetic than sitting behind a desk.” His wife offered a simple observation. “Well, that’s exactly what your dad does.” ### **The Dairy System** Today Cockhaise Farm runs a herd of around 240 milking cows, alongside more than a hundred youngstock coming through the system. The herd calves in autumn and is managed around a relatively straightforward grazing-based system. “The main enterprise here is dairy,” Dan explained. “We calve in the autumn and then we’ve got roughly two years’ worth of youngstock behind them.” The farm is organic, something Dan sees as closely aligned with many of the principles now described as regenerative farming. “I always put organic above regenerative,” he said. “Organic is really the original regenerative system. Perhaps the auditing side of things has taken a bit of the passion out of it over the years, but the core ideas are still there.” For around 8 months of the year the cows are grazing, although at the time of my visit they remain housed while the ground recovers from winter. Grass remains the cheapest feed a dairy farmer can grow, and managing it well is central to the system. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DJI_20260310104426_0024_D.JPG) ### **Diversity in the Pasture** Like many farmers looking to build resilience into their grassland, Dan has been experimenting with herbal leys for more than a decade. “We started trying herbal leys around 2014,” he says. “Now whenever we reseed paddocks on the grazing platform we’ll usually put a herbal mix back in.” These swards typically include clovers and plantain alongside productive grasses. The aim is simple: improve soil health, drought resilience and animal nutrition while maintaining productivity. More recently the farm has also begun experimenting with silvopasture, planting trees into grazing paddocks to increase diversity across the landscape. “We’ve planted about seven or eight acres of silvopasture,” Dan explained. “It’s really a trial to see how it works, but the idea is to bring trees into the grazing system.” Several environmental improvements on the farm have also been supported through Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) funding, including hedgerow planting and woodland management. One project helped fund a wood chipper, which is now being used to tackle invasive cherry laurel in some of the farm’s woodlands. “The woods had become quite choked with laurel,” Dan explains as we walk along the edge of one of the woodland blocks. “It grows very quickly and creates a really dark canopy where not much else survives.” By cutting and chipping the laurel, the team has been able to open up the woodland floor and allow more light back in. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC02400-copy.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DJI_20260310104339_0016_D.JPG) “It makes a huge difference,” he says. “Once you get some light back into the woods, other plants can start to come through again.” The chipped material is put to practical use across the farm — spread along footpaths to guide visitors, used around newly planted hedges, and occasionally trialled on small areas of pasture. “It’s not something we’re doing on a huge scale,” Dan said, “but it’s a practical way of improving the woods and making use of the material at the same time.” Walking across the farm, it becomes clear that these incremental changes are gradually reshaping the landscape. ### **Refocusing on Cockhaise** Last year marked something of a turning point for the farm. For several years Dan had been running the dairy at Bore Place under a contract farming arrangement, effectively managing two businesses alongside each other. But last summer the cows there were sold and the arrangement came to an end. “We came out of Bore Place last July,” he said. “So now we can concentrate back on Cockhaise, which is nice.” The change has allowed him to refocus fully on the farm where he grew up — and, in many ways, rediscover the parts of dairy farming he enjoys most. “When you’re trying to run too many things at once you can lose the love for it a bit,” he said. “I felt like I was going through the motions for a while. “But now I’ve got a bit of a new lease of life. I enjoy the cows, I enjoy the people I work with.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC02404-copy.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC02412-copy.jpeg) With the pressure of running two farms removed, he has also been able to tackle jobs that had been postponed for years. “We’re getting some of the things done that we’d been putting off for ages.” A settled team has helped bring stability back to the farm as well. “We’ve got a really good group of people here at the moment.” ### **Supporting the Next Generation** Alongside the daily work of the dairy, Dan has noticed increasing interest from young people keen to work on farms. Some arrive through agricultural colleges such as Plumpton, while others come through school work-experience placements. “There seem to be quite a lot of younger people around who want to work outdoors,” he said. “Some of them realise sitting in an office or staying in education isn’t really for them. They just want to work.” One young student recently began helping with milking. “The first time he milked he didn’t even want to touch the cows,” Dan laughed. “The second time he milked about five. By the third milking he was doing fifty, and last weekend he milked sixty.” Experiences like that, he says, highlight the value farming can have for building confidence. “He’s a very bright kid but maybe struggles with confidence. Being around animals and working outside can really help people like that. It’s nice if we can give them a different outlook and show them other opportunities.” ### **Reinvesting in the Farm** Like most dairy farms, Cockhaise requires constant reinvestment simply to keep the system running smoothly. Tracks need repairing, buildings need maintaining and grazing infrastructure must continually be improved. New sleeper tracks have recently been installed across the farm to allow cows easier access to grazing fields during wet springs and autumns. Dan is also planning to build a new barn later this year. “If we’re not able to reinvest, things slowly start to fall apart,” he said. For him, maintaining the farm is about more than just keeping the business viable in the present. “There’s always that feeling that you want to leave the farm in a better place for the next generation,” he said. “I don’t want to look back and think the farm is worse than when I took it on.” ### **Thinking About the Future** Behind the scenes, Cockhaise Farm is also slowly preparing for its own generational transition. The farm itself is owned by Dan’s father and aunt, and a new ten-year agreement is currently being put in place to secure the future of the dairy business. “My dad and his sister own the farm,” Dan explained. “So we’re signing another ten-year contract with them.” At the same time the next generation of the family will begin to become involved in the ownership structure. “My sisters will start to be involved as well,” he said. “So we’re trying to be as transparent as possible about how the business works — where the money flows, what work goes in, and what’s left at the end.” It is, he admits with a smile, a gradual process. “We’re sort of creeping towards the next generation slowly. But that’s fine. It’s working quite well for us.” ### **Land, Schemes and Food Production** Dan also reflected on the wider changes taking place across the countryside as landowners consider new environmental schemes and emerging natural capital markets. “I think there’s quite a lot of uncertainty at the moment about what people should do with land,” he said. “Some of the advice landowners are getting seems to be to go into schemes almost for the sake of it.” While he sees clear value in improving the environment, he believes food production still plays an essential role in rural economies. “We obviously want to balance things with nature,” he said. “But food production is where the jobs are in general.” With a number of farms in the area going through generational change, he believes opportunities may emerge for new farmers or businesses to access land in the future. “There’s quite a lot of land locally where people aren’t quite sure what to do next,” he said. “That might create opportunities.” ### **A Cautious View of Natural Capital** Like many farmers, Dan is watching the rapid rise of natural capital markets and environmental payments with interest — but also with a degree of caution. “I feel pretty dubious about some of it,” he said. “The carbon market especially.” Part of his concern is that some schemes risk becoming more about corporate sustainability claims than long-term outcomes on the ground. “There’s always a risk of greenwashing.” Another concern is the length of some agreements being proposed to farmers. “What we don’t want is land tied up in very long contracts — forty or fifty years — that go beyond our generation.” At the same time he acknowledges that such approaches may suit larger estates in the area. “Some of the estates around here are looking at it quite seriously,” he said, pointing to examples such as Knepp and Iford, where land managers are exploring landscape-scale environmental projects and nature markets. For Cockhaise Farm, however, the approach is likely to remain more gradual. “We tend to do things incrementally,” he said. “Try things where the risk is manageable and see how they work.” ### **The Calm of the Cows** As we finish our walk around the farm, the cows remain content inside the dairy shed, chewing the morning’s ration. For Dan, moments spent among the cows remain one of the simplest pleasures of farming. “There’s something very calming about them,” he said. After several years balancing responsibilities across two farms, the renewed focus on Cockhaise Farm seems to have brought that feeling back. Running a dairy farm is rarely easy, but the rhythm of livestock, land and seasons still provides a sense of purpose. And, like many farmers, Dan measures success not just by production or profit, but by the condition of the farm itself. A place, he hopes, that will be left in better shape for those who come after. ### About the series This article forms part of a twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, documenting a quiet transformation underway across the region — as farmers adopt regenerative practices, restore habitats and rethink food production for a more resilient future. ### Farming by observation: Life below the surface at Lomas Farm URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/farming-by-observation-life-below-the-surface-at-lomas-farm/ Last updated: 2026-02-15T12:22:46.000Z ### In the fifth instalment of my twelve part Indie Farmer series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, I visited Lomas Farm in Sandhurst, Kent to spend a day with farmer David Cornforth, to understand how his passion for healthy soils and low input farming guides the management on his 120 acre farm. ### Lomas Farm sits on the heavy soils of the Kent High Weald, where subtle changes in ground conditions shape how the land is managed. Some fields hold moisture well into the season, while others dry more quickly, and those differences influence everything from grazing decisions to winter housing. For David Cornforth, understanding these variations has become central to how he farms. He has worked this land for more than thirty years, though not always in the way he does today. “We used to milk cows on an intensive system,” he said. “Just expand, expand — that was the theory — but money was never working.” Like many livestock farmers of that era, the direction of travel was clear: increase scale, push output, improve efficiency. Yet the further that path stretched, the less appealing it became — financially as well as practically. A period farming in New Zealand provided distance and a chance to reassess. On returning home, he began restocking with beef cattle and gradually reshaping both the farm and his approach to management. “I just got into the soil and finding out how to farm without spending money, basically. And that’s become a bit of a passion.” ### **Learning to See Again** Some changes on a farm arrive with machinery. Others begin with noticing something small. For Cornforth, it started with grass. Managing a modest number of cattle meant moving fences regularly, and somewhere in that routine he realised the farm was growing more forage than he was using. “The grass is growing everywhere… and I found I didn’t need to house them anything like the seven months that I was previously doing.” Curiosity followed. Books were read, ideas tested, mistakes quietly absorbed into the learning. But one moment still stands out — hearing soil microbiologist Elaine Ingham speak at the Oxford Real Farming Conference in 2011. Until then, soil had largely meant chemistry. “Get the pH right, get the phosphate levels right, pile on the nitrogen… grow the grass. It’s not like that at all.” What lay beneath the surface, he realised, was not inert but alive. The farm began to change accordingly. ### **Fields Are Never Uniform** Today the grazing platform is divided with electric fencing, allowing cattle to move frequently (often two or three times a day) while giving grass the time it needs to recover. Larger fields have been split into corridors; infrastructure is simple but deliberate. What becomes obvious, walking the farm with David, is that uniformity is largely an illusion. “The soil is different everywhere,” he said. “And I think the old boys knew this — that’s when they put the hedges in, where the soil changed.” Many of those hedges were removed after the war in pursuit of efficiency. Yet their logic still lingers in the land. Observation, he believes, matters more than prescription. “It’s all about observation, observation, observation… Why is that doing that today when it didn’t do it yesterday?” There is no sense of ideology in how he speaks — only attentiveness. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/P4090409-copy.JPG) ### **The Spade Matters More Than the Tractor** Ask what advice he would offer farmers curious about this approach and he pauses only briefly. “Learn to observe… observe your soil and question why it’s doing what it’s doing.” Then comes a line that feels quietly definitive: “It’s the most important tool you’ve got on the farm — digging the soil, counting worms, looking at the roots.” Compaction, he suggests, is often treated as a mechanical problem when it is just as frequently biological — a sign that soil life is no longer performing its work. Even smell becomes a diagnostic tool. “If it smells rotten… those compounds in the soil are basically killing everything.” It is a way of farming that demands presence rather than horsepower. ### **Grazing, Then Waiting** The system now in place is deceptively simple: graze cattle tightly, move them on, and allow the pasture to recover fully — then keep resting it as long as possible. If grass appears ready, he often doubles the rest period. The reasoning lies underground. As plants mature, they release more stable exudates through their roots, feeding microbial communities and improving soil structure. “The microbes are like us. They need oxygen. They need water.” These processes are mostly invisible, yet their effects accumulate slowly — better aggregation, improved infiltration, greater resilience in wet and dry periods alike. It is farming measured less in weeks than in years. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC05397-copy.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC05408-copy.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC05410-copy.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC05415-copy.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC05378-copy.JPG) ### **Carrying Grass Into Winter** One of the more noticeable shifts has been the ability to stockpile pasture for the colder months. Mature grass forms a protective mat, allowing fresh growth to push through while helping soils withstand wetter conditions. “That’s the only way you can cut down costs… cut down your housing costs.” In favourable seasons, cattle have been housed for as little as six weeks — a significant departure from the longer winters once considered unavoidable on heavy ground. The economics are straightforward, but the deeper shift is philosophical: working with seasonal growth rather than compensating for it. ### **Stepping Away from the Machinery Race** Lomas Farm runs around forty-five suckler cows, with total cattle numbers rising to well over a hundred head through the summer before stores are sold. Yet the striking detail is what is not here. “I’ve got very little machinery… a tractor that hasn’t turned a wheel for a year.” Rather than chase higher stocking rates through purchased inputs, the focus remains on keeping costs low enough that the system sustains itself. “I could probably push it higher… but I wouldn’t be any better off.” It is a quiet refusal of the idea that productivity must always escalate. ### **Farming With Nature** Past attempts at arable cropping left their mark. Within two seasons, he believes the soil biology had been badly damaged. Looking back now, the lesson feels obvious. “You’ve got to farm with nature, not with what the government pays.” ### **Signs of Life Returning** Spend enough time focusing on soil and you begin to notice what follows. Birdlife has increased. Invertebrates too. A neighbour keeps informal records from his kitchen window, logging species that might once have passed unseen. “Yeah, absolutely,” David said when asked whether biodiversity has improved. Some recent soil surveys taken on his farm revealed a carbon organic matter of over 10 percent. Even now, decades into this shift, he continues experimenting — recently trialling a biological product to accelerate fungal development. “I’m impatient,” he admitted with a smile. “I want to see the ground improve more and more.” ### **Looking Ahead** At sixty-four, retirement is a practical consideration, though not an easy one. “I couldn’t bear to sell the ground and watch someone just trash it.” Like many farms, succession remains uncertain. The stresses of conventional systems were visible to the next generation, and perhaps understandably, they chose different paths. Yet he still believes opportunity exists — particularly for those willing to let go of the idea that bigger automatically means better. “You’ve got to have a real passion,” he said. ### **Managing What You Cannot Control** There is a phrase he returns to — that you are not really mastering nature so much as managing its complexity. It feels an appropriate way to understand Lomas Farm. Nothing here is especially theatrical. There are no grand claims. Just a steady re-alignment of farming with the living systems beneath it. Walk the fields long enough and the pattern emerges: graze, rest, watch, adjust. Pay attention. Everything else follows. ### About the series This article forms part of a twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, documenting a quiet transformation underway across the region — as farmers adopt regenerative practices, restore habitats and rethink food production for a more resilient future. ### Berries on Tap: Rebuilding a Fruit Farm Around Direct Connection URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/berries-on-tap-rebuilding-a-fruit-farm-around-direct-connection/ Last updated: 2026-02-15T14:09:55.000Z ### We visited Berries on Tap, a small family-run soft fruit farm near Selsey in West Sussex that is pioneering a new model by selling premium berries directly to consumers via vending machines. I visited Berries on Tap in late summer 2025, six years after the Evans family stepped away from supermarket supply and began rebuilding their business around direct sales. Tucked away on a modest parcel of land once part of an old Land Settlement Association scheme, they have created something quietly radical. What began as a high-yield operation supplying strawberries and berries to major supermarkets has evolved into a hyper-local, ethical and tech-savvy business focused on quality and direct customer relationships — all centred around a vending machine at Berries on Tap. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DJI_20250624122830_0220_D.JPG) ### From boom to burnout I met Kathy Evans at the entrance to the farm beside their impressive vending machine, housed inside a converted shipping container. Customers were already stopping to buy fresh punnets of berries grown just 20 metres away in their glasshouse. As we walked across to meet her son Archie, who now manages the farm, Kathy began to explain the history of the business she and her husband Nick started in 1991\. At its peak, the farm produced more than 300 tonnes of fruit annually, supplying supermarkets and high-end restaurants. They employed 20 permanent staff and more than 130 seasonal workers. “We grew quality produce and were quite innovative in what we did,” she told me. “But after years of squeezed margins and supply chain pressures, it just wasn’t viable anymore.” Their final commercial season came in 2019. “It was probably the most awful time of our lives, jacking that in,” she admitted. “But we knew something had to change.” ### Rebuilding from the roots The turning point arrived when Archie returned from travelling and working on large arable farms in New Zealand. He was keen to join the business — but only if it could move in a more sustainable and future-focused direction. Inside the glasshouse, Archie was testing the brix (sugar) levels of ripe strawberries using a refractometer. He handed me one to try; it was intensely sweet and juicy. “That’s a 12,” he said proudly, explaining that even premium supermarket fruit often measures closer to nine. “We were all pretty adamant we didn’t want to go back to supermarkets,” he added. “So the first question was: where are we going to sell the fruit?” The answer came in the form of a refrigerated vending machine installed inside a custom-fitted shipping container positioned just off the main road. Customers could now buy freshly picked strawberries, raspberries and blackberries alongside other local products — organic milk, cheese, sorbet and more — without tills or shop staff. “It’s kind of a juxtaposition,” Archie said. “You’re buying from a machine, but there’s still a real connection to the farm. We’re always here restocking, filming videos and chatting with people. The community’s totally bought into it.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00306.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00332-2.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00337.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00345.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00350.JPG) ### A new kind of farming Sustainability sits at the heart of the new system. The farm now grows everbearing varieties in unheated glasshouses and polytunnels. “None of our crops are heated — only frost protected,” Archie explained. Unlike many commercial growers who rely on fossil fuels to extend the season, they deliberately chose a lower-input model aligned with natural growing conditions. At the time of my visit, the main vending machine was powered by solar panels meeting around 80% of its energy needs, with plans underway to expand the array and install battery storage to make the system fully self-sufficient. Equally important is transparency. “Everything we sell is local, within ten miles, and grown or made with the same ethos as us,” Archie said. “And we’re honest about it — because my generation can fact-check anything in five seconds. Trust is everything.” ### Premium product, zero waste Seasonality and waste reduction have become central to the business model. All class-two fruit is frozen, either for winter sales or for collaborations such as sorbet with Gelato Gusto and fig ketchup with Squished. Frozen fruit sits alongside fresh produce in the vending machines when supplies fluctuate — something customers have embraced. “Our customers are really in tune with seasonality now,” Archie said. “If there are no strawberries one week, they’ll pick raspberries or just wait.” Labour remains one of the biggest challenges. “To grow good strawberries, you need attention to detail,” he explained. “Dad always says it’s easy to grow strawberries — it’s just really hard to grow good ones.” By focusing on quality, the farm has been able to price fruit around 15–25% above supermarket standard lines — roughly equivalent to premium supermarket ranges — without alienating customers. “They know exactly what they’re getting and who they’re supporting,” he said. At the time of my visit, the business was entering its third year under the new model, with turnover up 58% and profit up 65% compared with the previous year, when the venture had only just broken even. “We’d processed over 3,000 more transactions that year,” Kathy added. “That told us footfall was growing.” ### Innovation behind the scenes Back in the glasshouse, Kathy showed me rows of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and tayberries before leading me into the cold room, where fruit is chilled and packed ready for sale. Nearby, tucked inside part of the old packhouse, Archie had launched another experiment: a mushroom lab producing high-value varieties such as Lion’s Mane grown on recycled coir substrate — originally used for strawberries before being pasteurised and reused. “It’s this kind of constant innovation that makes a direct-to-consumer model work,” Kathy said. ### A scalable vision? Outside, business was picking up. Regular customers stopped to chat, some commenting on a newly installed organic milk vending machine. With locals, tourists, cyclists and even horse riders stopping by, Berries on Tap has become something of a community hub. On busy weekends, demand can require dedicated staff simply to keep pace with restocking the machines. Between the two shipping containers sits a small pop-up stall where local florists, cheesemakers and artisan producers sell their goods each Saturday. “It gives others an affordable space and adds value for customers,” Kathy said. “Win-win.” Even then, Archie was already thinking about how the vending model might be replicated elsewhere. He had developed a standardised container design and was exploring ways to manufacture and ship units to other farms. “It’s not cheap,” Kathy admitted. The Italian-made vending machine alone costs around £40,000\. “But it can be a game changer for a small farm business like ours.” ### Social media and supermarket realities Alongside a modern website, much of the farm’s marketing is driven by Kathy through social media. Regular stock updates and educational videos — often featuring Nick explaining seasonality and growing conditions — help maintain engagement and drive footfall. Our conversation turned to supermarkets and the wider food system. Kathy acknowledged their role in keeping food affordable but reflected on the pressures placed on growers. “It’s long hours and very little money, and that’s been driven by supermarket pricing,” she said. “The balance of power is just so unequal.” Still, she sensed a cultural shift emerging. “There’s a kind of Arts and Crafts movement happening among 25- to 35-year-olds,” she said. “People really care where their food comes from.” Stories of local children trading Berries on Tap fruit instead of sweets in the playground suggested that shift may already be underway. ### Final thoughts Six months on from my visit, Berries on Tap feels emblematic of a wider shift taking place across British farming — one where smaller producers are rebuilding resilience through direct relationships rather than scale alone. The Evans family has rebuilt their business from the ground up, moving away from volume-driven supply chains towards a model rooted in quality, transparency and community connection. Berries on Tap may farm only around ten acres, but it punches well above its weight in creativity and ambition. With simple, scalable ideas like farm-based vending machines gaining traction, it feels increasingly likely that more growers will follow their lead — reconnecting food, farmer and customer in ways that feel both modern and deeply traditional. ### More Information An earlier version of this article first appeared in **South East Farmer** magazine. ### Groundswell 2025 — Notes from Farming’s Glastonbury URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/groundswell-2025-notes-from-farmings-glastonbury/ Last updated: 2026-02-15T13:16:04.000Z ### Groundswell — farming’s very own Glastonbury — returns each summer to the Cherry family’s Hertfordshire farm, drawing a growing crowd of farmers, thinkers, growers and storytellers grappling with some of the biggest questions facing food and agriculture. Across two packed days — with more than 10,000 people attending — I moved between panel discussions, keynote talks and the impromptu conversations in between, where some of the most interesting exchanges at Groundswell always seem to happen. ### Groundswell Day One ### What is all this talk about regenerative agriculture? — Gabe Brown Kicking off Groundswell 2025 with Gabe Brown felt like catching the headline act on the first night of Glastonbury. Brown, a North Dakota farmer and one of the pioneers of the regenerative movement, delivered a typically punchy and unapologetic talk on soil health, nutrient density and the need to return to nature’s operating system. What struck me most wasn’t just his storytelling, excellent though it was, but the data showing the transformation of his own farm business. His six soil health principles might not all be directly transferable to a Sussex pasture, but the mindset certainly is: observe, experiment, trust biology — a timely reminder that regenerative agriculture isn’t a blueprint, but a lens. Sitting shoulder to shoulder in a packed marquee, it was clear how hungry farmers are for practical optimism — not theory, but lived examples. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00347-scaled.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00374.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00419.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00325-scaled.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00458-scaled-1.jpg) ### Can British farming be saved? This provocatively titled panel, chaired by Henry Dimbleby, brought together former DEFRA secretary George Eustice and ex-Sainsbury’s CEO Justin King. Dimbleby opened with a stark warning: the UK food system, while delivering affordability, has driven ecological decline, missed climate targets and fuelled a health crisis, with 2.8 million people now economically inactive due to diet-related illness. Eustice made the case for a messier, more nature-rich landscape, supported by ecosystem service payments and long-term policy commitments. King pushed back, insisting that consumers drive the system and that change must begin with them. One of the most compelling ideas was Dimbleby’s call for a levy on ultra-processed foods to fund better marketing of healthy food — a reminder that policy, pricing and storytelling must work together to shift the system. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00364-scaled.jpg) ### How to build a movement of community, nature and recovery What role can communities play in nature restoration? This powerful session explored that question with speakers from community farms, finance and land justice movements. Charlotte Hollins of Fordhall Farm shared how 8,000 people helped buy back her family farm after an eviction threat, turning it into one of England’s first community-owned farms. Helen Avery of the Green Finance Institute explained how investors are now seeking projects with community involvement, which can actually de-risk funding. Mark Walton of Shared Assets laid out the legal and structural barriers facing community access to land, but also new collaborative models between farmers and landless groups. Ben Goldsmith closed with stories of bottom-up landscape restoration in Somerset, where neighbours came together to rewild, host NHS green prescribing projects and monitor moths. The message was clear: communities aren’t an obstacle, but the key. The room felt unusually quiet during this session — the kind of attentive silence that suggests something deeper is landing. ### Local meat — and the missing infrastructure This session felt especially close to home. As someone raising native cattle and lambs for direct sale, I found it both sobering and galvanising. We heard from inspiring projects like Street Goat (Bristol), Swillington Organic Farm (Yorkshire), and Fernhill Farm (Somerset), who shared practical models blending conservation grazing, community supported agriculture, fibre, events and food production. But the big issue? Infrastructure. With only one small abattoir left in Sussex, and many regions with none, kill-and-return services are critically limited. Andy Gray, from MC Kelly Ltd, shared updates on political lobbying for mobile abattoirs and small processor support. The panel made clear that local meat won’t survive on goodwill alone. It needs serious investment, enabling policy and joined-up logistics — but the appetite is there. ### Groundswell Day Two ### From fork to field: bringing regen mainstream Hosted by cook, writer and restauranteur Thomasina Miers, this session offered a hopeful glimpse into the future of regenerative food brands. Imogen Royall from Northern Pasta and Sam and Elliott Day from Field Goods shared how they’re challenging supermarket norms with joyful, values-led products that don’t compromise on flavour. The conversation covered everything from scaling ethically to greenwashing risks. One big tension was whether regen brands should meet people “where they shop” or build new paths entirely. What stood out was their optimism, honesty and belief in storytelling. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00399.JPG) ### Farming needs better stories (and smarter politics) One of my favourite sessions of the festival, this panel — chaired by Sue Pritchard of the Food, Farming and Countryside Commission — took a clear-eyed look at the gap between the optimism of events like Groundswell and the everyday reality facing many farmers. Emily Norton (AHDB) and Joe Evans (Vice President of the CLA) both highlighted the confusion and distress caused by poor communication around schemes like the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Their message was clear: we need more confident, joined-up leadership in the land-based sector and a better understanding of how to communicate change. Lee Cain, former Downing Street communications strategist, brought a bracing dose of political reality. If farming wants to influence government policy, he argued, it must speak to the public’s top concerns: the NHS, cost of living and jobs. That means building simple, emotionally resonant narratives linking food and farming to better health, climate resilience and national wellbeing — and delivering those stories through the media channels people actually use, from local news to Instagram reels. ### Telling the regenerative story: farming in media and culture Picking up the baton perfectly, this inspiring panel explored how those better stories might be told. Featuring Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Farmerama co-founder Abby Rose, Clarkson’s Farm producer Vicky Boyton and Instagram-savvy farmer Ben Andrews, the conversation delved into the emotional power of narrative to shift hearts and minds. The shared thread was a belief in authenticity and emotion, and in the power of letting farmers speak for themselves. There were calls for better food education, more space for new entrant voices and a braver use of platforms like Instagram and TikTok to reach beyond the farming bubble and connect with a wider, more diverse audience. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DSC00437.JPG) ### Landscape approaches: stories, challenges and successes My final session dug into the often-complicated world of working across boundaries — ecological, political and social. From rewetting peatlands to restoring floodplains and wildflower corridors, the scale and ambition of the work is impressive. But as the panelists made clear, it’s the relationships between neighbours, farmers, scientists and citizens that truly make it possible. Gareth Williams, project lead for Weald to Waves, a 100-mile nature recovery corridor in Sussex, spoke about the importance of long-term, joined-up thinking, highlighting the need for strong partnerships, holistic approaches and robust financial mechanisms to support landscape-scale restoration. As a farmer, co-facilitator and member of the Pevensey Farmers’ Cluster — currently looking beyond the end of its Countryside Stewardship facilitation funding — I found this session particularly pertinent. It offered valuable insights on governance models, sustaining momentum when grants dry up and the wider challenge many farm clusters are now facing as agreements come to an end. ### Final reflections Groundswell 2025 reaffirmed my sense that we’re living through a profound shift — not just in farming practices, but in how we relate to land, food and each other. It also reminded me of the joy of learning collectively, whether in a marquee, around a fire or queuing for a regenerative pale ale in the blazing July sun. If regeneration is as much about people as it is about soil, then events like Groundswell are vital infrastructure. Here’s to the conversations still echoing in my head — and the ones still to come. ### More information A version of this article first appeared in South East Farmer magazine. ### Building a future on grass at Brightleigh Farm URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/building-a-future-on-grass-at-brightleigh-farm-2/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T19:39:39.000Z ### Brightleigh Farm is a mixed livestock holding near Outwood in Surrey, run by Penny and Nigel Franklin alongside Penny’s daughters Ellie and Joely. The farm produces 100 percent pasture fed beef, free range pork, poultry and eggs, all sold direct to customers through their on farm shop and a small number of local farmers markets. In the fourth instalment of my twelve part *Indie Farmer* series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, I visited Brightleigh Farm to spend a day walking the land and talking with the family about pasture for life farming, selling direct and what it means to keep a small family farm going in uncertain times. ### At the kitchen table We begin the day in the farmhouse kitchen, sitting around the table with mugs of black coffee. It is early October. After a long dry summer, the rain had finally arrived and the grass has begun to move again. From the window the fields look different to how they did only a few weeks earlier. Conversation turns quickly to the weather and what it means for the weeks ahead. How long the cattle might stay out. How quickly conditions can change at this time of year. “At the moment it’s growing,” Penny said. “You just make the most of it.” It is not a dramatic start to the day, but it is a familiar one. Farming here is not driven by fixed plans. It is shaped by watching what is in front of you and responding accordingly. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01769-1.JPG) ### A farm built over time Penny’s connection to Brightleigh stretches back to 1959, when her father Jim Brunton arrived with eight Ayrshire cows and the determination to build a farming business from scratch. Coming from a non farming background, he relied on long hours, careful spending and a belief in keeping systems simple. Over time the herd grew, buildings were modernised and the farm settled into dairying. Under the Milk Marketing Board, stability was possible. By the time Penny was twelve she was already milking alongside her father in a small parlour. “It was just what we did,” she said. “I loved it.” That certainty did not last. The collapse of milk prices in the 1990s brought the dairy enterprise to an end. The herd was sold in 1999 and the sense of security disappeared almost overnight. ### From dairy to suckler cows After her father’s death, Penny returned to help her mother keep the farm going. For years she searched for a system that might work economically without the vulnerability of dairying. Pedigree bulls were tried. Margins remained tight. “There wasn’t a clear path,” she said. “You just kept trying.” A turning point came in 2014 at the Oxford Real Farming Conference, where Penny discovered the Pasture for Life Association. The idea of producing beef entirely from grass appealed not as a movement, but as a practical response. For Penny, it simply made sense. > “It’s the most natural thing for a cow,” she said. “Grass, forage, hay and silage. They stay healthier, you get fewer issues and they’re happier animals.” Back at Brightleigh, she began experimenting with Angus and Hereford crosses better suited to forage based systems. Grazing management evolved slowly. Set stocking gave way to smaller grazing blocks. Cattle were moved more frequently. Taller grass was trampled rather than topped. At first it felt wrong. “But then the land started responding,” Penny said. “That’s when I trusted it.” Soils improved. Swards diversified. The system grew more resilient. “I’m still learning,” she added. “You never stop.” ### Different skills, shared responsibility When Penny met Nigel in 2017, the farm was already changing, but much of the responsibility still sat with her. Nigel had not grown up farming. His career had been in event branding and visual communications, far removed from livestock and land. But he was drawn to what Penny was building. “I could see how much work had gone into it,” he said. “And how fragile it still was.” As he became more involved, Nigel focused on areas where his skills made sense. How the farm presented itself, how customers found it, how to explain pasture fed beef to people who had never set foot on a farm before. “People don’t need a lecture,” he said. “They just want to know where their food comes from.” When the decision was made to sell direct, his experience proved valuable. Clear signage. Simple messaging. Consistency. Over time Nigel became a full partner in the business. Penny focused on livestock and land. Nigel focused on customers, systems and flow. Together, the farm found better balance. ### Out on the farm We started the farm walk with the cattle. Penny and Nigel headed out across the field where cows and calves are grazing. When the electric fence is lifted, the cattle moved forward calmly, spreading across the new grass and getting their heads down. There is no calling, no urgency. “They know the routine,” Penny said. “It’s the best part of the day.” ### Turkeys, hens and guardian dogs From there, Ellie and Joely suggest we head off to see the rest of the livestock. A short drive brings us to a small paddock where a batch of turkeys are being reared for Christmas. As we step out of the vehicle, a large white Maremma dog rises slowly from the grass and positions itself between us and the birds before relaxing once it recognises familiar faces. “They live with them,” Ellie said. “All the time.” “They’re not pets,” Penny added. “They’re working dogs.” We drive on to the laying hens next. The flock is surrounded by electric fencing, with another Maremma lying nearby for protection. Joely opens the door to the egg collection machine and winds the handle, eggs rolling gently into view as we talk about fox pressure and daily routine. “Just having the dogs here changes everything,” she said. “You don’t see the problems you used to.” Next door, the broiler chickens are checked, moving steadily across their paddock as they forage. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01667-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01720-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01682-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01615-1.JPG) ## Pigs in the woods By mid morning it is time to feed the pigs. The first group is housed in woodland, where the ground is soft underfoot and the canopy provides shelter. Ellie and Joely introduce me to several breeding sows and a group of young piglets that rush forward. Further along, an older group roots beneath oak trees, hoovering up fallen acorns. “They do a good job in here,” Ellie said. “But you can’t leave them too long.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01828-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01802-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01791-1.JPG) ## Coming back to the land We finish the loop back at the barn field, where Penny prepares to move a group of fattening cattle onto fresh grass. The field is cleared within minutes. The system is well practised. Only once the livestock are settled do we stop to talk. Ellie reflects on leaving the farm, riding professionally as a jockey, then spending last summer working on a 13,000 acre ranch in Montana. The scale was huge, but it sharpened her appreciation for what they have at home. “When I came back, I realised how productive this land really is,” she said. “If you manage it properly, it just keeps giving.” She now works full time at Brightleigh, splitting her days between livestock, pasture and the farm shop. “My favourite time is spring,” she said. “When everything goes back out again.” Joely’s role centres on the day-to-day management of the poultry and the guardian dogs, alongside part-time work off the farm. Farming here is not defined by job titles. It is defined by shared responsibility. ### Advice for new entrants For Ellie, returning to Brightleigh has also sharpened her view of what it takes to build a life in farming. “If you’re thinking about getting into it, the best thing you can do is get as much experience as possible,” she said. Formal training matters, but she believes it only works alongside time spent on different farms, seeing how systems vary and learning what suits you. “Every farm is different,” she said. “You can learn a lot at college, but you need to be out there as well. Helping at weekends. Working during the holidays.” She is realistic about the demands. “It’s hard work,” she said. “You need to know what you’re getting into.” But she is equally clear that support exists. “There are a lot of people who want to help if you’re willing to listen and learn,” she said. “You just have to put yourself in the right places.” ### Selling direct In early 2020 the farm opened a small pop up shop. It was never intended to be permanent. Then lockdown arrived. “People queued down the drive,” Penny said. “We couldn’t believe it.” Today the farm shop sits at the heart of the business. Beef, pork, poultry and eggs are sold directly to customers. Conversations happen across the counter. Feedback is immediate. “You hear exactly what people think,” Ellie said. “It keeps you honest.” As the afternoon draws on, we return to the yard and step inside the shop. Stainless steel surfaces gleam under the lights. Chillers hum quietly. Nigel talks me through the layout and the thinking behind it. “This is about making things sustainable,” he said. “For us and for the customers.” ### Sharing the farm For many customers, that relationship does not end at the shop door. Social media has become another way for people to stay connected between visits. Ellie helps run the farm’s online presence across Instagram and Facebook, sharing short updates, photos and short videos from daily life. “We’ve got about 4,000 followers on Instagram and around 2,000 on Facebook,” she said. “Just posting consistently and letting people know we’re here has made a big difference.” Short videos tend to work best. “The reels usually do better than photos,” she said. “People like seeing the animals. Even if it’s only a few seconds, it gives them a feel for what’s happening on the farm.” She is honest about the challenges too. “The algorithm isn’t always great for farming posts,” she said. “But it’s still worth doing because we’ve met so many lovely customers through it.” For Ellie, the aim is simple. “It’s not about going viral,” she said. “It’s just about being open and showing what we do.” ### Holding the future lightly Conversation also turns to some of the pressures that sit quietly beneath day-to-day farming. Access to local abattoirs. Rising costs. And the uncertainty created by proposed changes to farm inheritance tax. Penny’s mother still legally owns the farm, which has made long-term planning difficult. “The land looks valuable on paper,” Penny said. “But the business doesn’t earn that kind of money.” Since my visit, some of that uncertainty has eased slightly following a partial government u-turn, which increased the proposed inheritance tax threshold for farms from £1 million to £2.5 million (or £5 million for a couple who jointly own the farm, though in Penny's case it's owned solely by her elderly mother as her father is no longer alive). For families like the Franklins, it has offered a degree of breathing space, but not certainty. “It helps,” Penny said. “But we’re not out of the woods.” Advice remains ongoing. Decisions are cautious. The focus, for now, is on keeping the farm working day to day while trying to plan responsibly for the long term. ### Looking forward With some of the bigger uncertainties still unresolved, the focus at Brightleigh remains on what the family can control. For Ellie, that means continuing to build confidence in the system they have created. Improving grazing. Learning from other farms. And finding ways to open the place up more to the local community. She talks about hosting more open days, welcoming school groups and sharing what they have learned about rotational grazing, livestock and working with the land rather than against it. “We’ve gained so much from visiting other farms,” she said. “It feels natural to want to share that with others too.” Nigel sees that openness as central to the farm’s direction. “People want to know their farmer,” he said. “They want to understand where their food comes from and how it was produced. When you can offer that honestly, it changes the relationship.” Rather than chasing scale or rapid expansion, the emphasis is on strengthening what already exists. Building resilience into the system. Deepening relationships with customers. Creating a farm that can support the family and remain rooted in place. Progress here is not about speed, but about intention. ### Watch the film To help bring this series to life, I am also filming and editing a short documentary episode from each visit as part of my Indie Farmer Stories project. You can watch the Brightleigh Farm film over on the Indie Farmer YouTube channel by clicking [here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSHl9kEYNQSLrpH2j1INZuQ?ref=indiefarmer.com). ### About the series This article forms part of a twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, documenting a quiet transformation underway across the region — as farmers adopt regenerative practices, restore habitats and rethink food production for a more resilient future. ### Starting from nothing with Lynnie Hutchinson at Brickpits Organic Farm URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/starting-from-nothing-with-lynnie-hutchinson-at-brickpits-organic-farm/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T19:40:52.000Z ### Brickpits Organic Farm, a 110-acre off-grid organic enterprise located in the High Weald near Uckfield in East Sussex, is no ordinary farm. Built from scratch in 1999 by Ian and Lynnie Hutchison on some bare arable fields, it is now home to a patchwork of pastures, hand-planted hedgerows, beetle banks, wildlife ponds and a timber-framed eco farmhouse they constructed themselves. Off-grid and organic from the outset, Brickpits has become both a family home and a resilient small farm. In the third instalment of our twelve-part series supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, we meet first-generation farmer Lynnie Hutchison to learn what it truly takes to build a farm from scratch. From navigating the shifting landscape of agricultural policy to upholding organic principles and shaping a viable family business, Lynnie shares an unfiltered account of the tenacity, compromise and ingenuity required to forge a future in farming today. Neither Lynnie nor her husband Ian come from a farming family. In the 1990s Lynnie worked in countryside conservation, grazing sheep on SSSIs and nature reserves. A dog in need of training led to a few sheep, which grew into a flock and a business. For years they grazed odd parcels of “privacy land”, the ten or fifteen acres around big houses — in exchange for topping or fencing. “But we always wanted to farm organically, and that’s hard on ground you don’t control,” she explained. “If we were going to do it properly, we needed our own place.” When they found Brickpits Farm for sale they were able to get a loan from Triodos Bank, who have been amazingly supportive through the years. The land which had been mainly arable, contained a mix of clay and sandstone soils with very little in the way of hedgerows. Using an old tithe map, they set about reinstating field boundaries with thorny whips and fencing with chestnut stakes. “They’re twenty-five years old now,” Lynnie said. “We’re back to that pinch point where posts are rotting, fences need re-doing. Farms go in cycles — you’re always meeting yourself coming back the other way.” ### Off-grid by design Electricity never reached Brickpits at a viable price, so the Hutchisons decided to go off-grid from the start: rainwater harvesting from barns feeds a header tank and troughs; a solar roof doubles as the roof itself, with batteries and a winter backup generator. “Most people don’t realise we’re off-grid,” Lynnie said. “We have the usual things — washing machine, dishwasher — we’re just more conscious.” More recently they retrofitted deeper gutters to the barns and extra tanks to cope with heavy rain and store more water for the droughts. “Climate change is moving faster than schemes and paperwork.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/image-3.png) Brickpits Organic Farm ### Organic from day one The farm runs a mixed system of sheep, cattle and arable. Most fields spend five or six years in herbal leys before rotating into barley; after harvest they’re sown with stubble turnips and then the following spring put into barley under-sown with a herbal ley to give clean grazing. That dance has grown trickier. “Under-sown barley used to be straightforward,” Lynnie said. “Now the ley can outcompete the barley in odd weather. We’ve had to graze cattle over it gently as the herbal ley was too high in the barley to combine it. It worked, but it tells you how fast the weather’s changing.” Stocking has eased back from 180 ewes to around 150\. “You have to leave wiggle room. Even with clean grazing, the land can hold less in a drought year.” Breeds are pragmatic rather than purist, lambs finished steadily for direct customers rather than for a single lorry load. A small herd of native breed Hereford cattle thread through the rotation. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/image-4.png) Some of this years lambs ### Farmer-led innovation on flystrike and homeopathy Animal health is where Lynnie’s quiet curiosity comes alive. She helps run a Soil Association field lab testing natural preventions and treatments for flystrike — a perennial challenge for sheep farmers. “Flystrike and internal parasites are the big ones,” she explained. “Yes, there are chemicals that work, but the data sheets are clear about handling risks and resistance. Even the BVA now advises targeted use, not blanket spraying. That shift matters.” For readers unfamiliar with it, homeopathy in farming is about using highly diluted natural substances to stimulate an animal’s own resilience — more about supporting the whole system than curing a single symptom. “It’s not about magic potions,” Lynnie said. “It’s about observation — seeing when stress tips animals out of balance, and nudging them back.” Their flystrike trial runs in three parts: • A homeopathic combination to support overall vitality. • A split comparison when pressure rises: split into thirds sheep get either of two herbal spray, others the farmer’s previous approach. • An on-animal treatment — an essential-oil carrier that can be safely applied in the field. “In the lab, 20% tea tree kills eggs and larvae. The question was: can we make it stick on a sheep and work in real life?” With help from a customer who works with essential oils, they developed a carrier oil that stays put. “You clip out, apply the oil — the maggots curl up and die. And crucially, you can do it safely with your hands while you’re in the field. That’s fit for purpose.” Results vary: hoggets on a breezy hill did well with homeopathy alone, most groups of sheep went through last season on herbal sprays, while a group with mucky tails still got struck. “Context matters,” she added. “The future is using the right thing at the right time, with better options for treatment in the field.” ### Water, trees and resilience We walked past hedges heavy with hawthorn berries. “We’re seeing more heavy seeding after drought — a tree’s way of ensuring its future,” Lynnie said. Streams that once ran year-round now dwindle to puddles in summer. Big oaks drop limbs to save themselves. The response: more storage tanks, bigger gutters, and shade everywhere. “Hedges were the best thing we ever did,” she said. “Every field has shelter. With heat stress rising, that matters.” Climate change here isn’t an abstract chart but a set of daily decisions: how to catch enough water, when to move stock, what tools reduce stress. Lynnie explained how even subtle shifts matter. “Stress drives disease. Our whole approach is about reducing stress — calm handling, space to move, plenty of shelter. But weather is adding stress back in.” That’s where homeopathy comes in again. During hot spells, Brickpits sheep drink trough water dosed with Sol (derived from sunlight) and Belladonna (linked to heat and inflammation). “It’s not a silver bullet,” she said. “But it can buffer animals through a tough few days. You notice calmer behavior, fewer knock-on health problems. For us, it’s another layer of resilience.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/image-5.png) Hedgerows were the best things we did ### Life without the Basic Payment Like many small farms, the disappearance of BPS hit Brickpits hard. “I read somewhere it was basically the profit on most small farms,” Lynnie said were lucky our direct meat sales have always buffered us and now they’ve bridged the gap with hedge-laying grants, Lynnie’s work with Whole Health Agriculture, and the odd project that aligns with their values. “We’re lucky to sell organic boxes year-round. It helps. But we’re not hiring staff. We train students, but in the end we have to help them find paid work elsewhere. That’s the hardest thing — the work is here; the money isn’t.” ### Labels and the value of trust Talk turns to labels. Brickpits has been organic from day one, and Lynnie is pragmatic about what labels mean on the ground. “Organic is a whole-farm system — it fits us, because it’s about soil first, animals second, everything else following on. Pasture for Life is a good step for those wanting to move that way. Regenerative? In many ways we’ve been doing those principles since the start, “Organic is the only label enshrined in law with annual inspections.” She worries that the proliferation of labels risks confusing the public. “Customers need trust more than jargon. They don’t all want to know the difference between ‘low input’, ‘pasture-fed’ or ‘regen’. They want to know the food is good for them, good for animals, good for the land. That’s what we try to show.” ### Mental health, culture wars and community Farming can be isolating: long hours, narrow margins, and a future that feels unsettled. Lynnie thinks the culture has shifted in the past twenty-five years. “Organic farmers were always quite collaborative,” she says. “Now I see more sharing across the board. Around here, if your tractor dies at 10 pm and rain’s coming, you can borrow a neighbour’s. When there stuck you take food, you muck in. That helps more than people realise.” Direct sales add another thread of community. “We write to customers every three weeks. They write back. Sometimes they check in on us: ‘We read this in the news — is that affecting you?’ That human contact matters.” On the darker side, she worries about where struggling farmers get pushed online. “I don’t spend much time on social media — no time — but I worry about the culture wars. We’re all human. The big problems — climate, biodiversity, health — don’t respect borders. If we each focused on the positive things we can do and built from there, it would add up.” ### Politics, inheritance and the next decade When talk turns to the future of UK farming, Lynnie keeps her answers close to lived reality. “Farmers need stability to make change. Short-term politics doesn’t give you that. We need better information flows from places south of us already living in the climate we’re getting — and the flexibility to adapt fast. Food security should be part of that conversation, properly.” She also raises a subject that quietly haunts many family farms: inheritance tax. “The value of land makes everything look bigger on paper than it feels in real life. Planning well costs money, and many small farms can’t afford the advice they’d need. You can end up working all your life to build something, only for the next generation to face impossible choices.” Asked what she would say to government if she had the chance, Lynnie doesn’t hesitate. “First, stop moving the goalposts. If schemes change every couple of years, you can’t plan rotations or investments. Second, reward the basics — hedges, water storage, shade — because those are the foundations of resilience. And third, treat small farms as an asset, not an afterthought. We may not move huge volumes of commodity crops, but we train new entrants, manage landscapes, and keep local food chains alive. That contribution deserves proper recognition.” ### What keeps them going Before I leave, I ask what keeps her hopeful. Lynnie looks out across the fields. “The hedges,” she said with a laugh. “The water we catch, the way the farm has grown with us. Students with muddy boots and bright eyes. Customers who care. Neighbours who’ll turn out at ten at night because your baler’s broken. “And the animals, when they’re well, moving through the fields the way they’re meant to. We chose this. It’s hard. You won’t make a fortune. But if you want a life outdoors, making food in a way that leaves the land a little better, it’s a good life.” ### About the series This article forms part of a twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, documenting a quiet transformation underway across the region — as farmers adopt regenerative practices, restore habitats and rethink food production for a more resilient future. ### Grazing with nature: how Sam Newington is rethinking cattle farming at Limden Brook URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/grazing-with-nature-how-sam-newington-is-rethinking-cattle-farming-at-limden-brook/ Last updated: 2026-03-27T19:42:31.000Z ### Limden Brook, a 450-acre farm of permanent pasture, floodplain meadows and wooded banks in the Limden Valley, has been home to the Newington family for more than 120 years. Today, fifth-generation farmer Sam Newington and his wife Becky run a herd of 55 suckler cows, producing 100% pasture-fed beef for local butchers and direct sales. In this second article supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape** exploring farms across the High Weald and beyond, we look at mob grazing, soil health, climate resilience and the challenges — and opportunities — facing family farms committed to working with natural cycles. On a warm and dry summer’s morning in the rolling folds of the High Weald, I meet Sam Newington at Limden Brook, a 450-acre patchwork of permanent pasture, floodplain meadows and wooded banks. Sam is a fifth-generation farmer here in the Limden Valley. His great-great-grandfather, James Newington, took on the tenancy more than 120 years ago, buying parcels of land as the years went on. “What we’re farming now is the original family farm plus two other rented farms,” he explained. Today, Sam together with his wife Becky, run 55 suckler cows, finishing all the followers for local butchers and selling a little directly from the farm freezer. It’s a business built around quality 100% pasture for life certified beef, but also around a grazing system that aims to work with — rather than against — natural cycles. ### Mob Grazing and Managing for Resilience Sam is one of the early adopters of mob (or adaptive multi-paddock) grazing in this part of Sussex — moving cattle regularly and giving pastures longer rest periods. “It’s called lots of different things, and everyone does it slightly differently,” he said. “It depends on your context, your stock class, how you make money, the weather… Generally, we’re aiming for longer rest periods. When the grass is growing, we move them faster. In a dry spell like now, we slow right down to make the forage last.” In a wet year, cattle might rotate around every 40–50 days. In a drought, that rotation can stretch to 120 days or more. “It does mean there’s less residue left behind, but it’s about stretching what we have until the rain returns.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DJI_20250718150417_0276_D-copy.jpg) Mob grazing ### Nature as the Blueprint Sam’s philosophy is rooted in observation. “It’s about mimicking nature, seeing how it all fits together. Are the cows getting what they need? The right minerals? Enough browse? Enough shade? And how does that tie into the wider ecosystem — the dung beetles, the birds that follow them?” His approach isn’t radically different from some conventional systems — other than the fact he moves his cattle far more often than most local farmers. “It’s small tweaks, but they make a difference over time,” he said. ### Grass-Fed Beef with a Difference The beef itself, Sam believes, benefits from the system — and from the skill of his butchers. “Our beef is slaughtered in a nicer place, hung properly, and cut with care. Supermarket beef is slaughtered at an industrial abattoir and often wet-aged in vac-packs — it tastes different. Our fat tends to be more yellow from the grass, and I think you can taste the difference. Grain-fed fat can be greasier.” From a health perspective, he pointed to studies suggesting grass-fed beef has a better omega 3 to omega 6 ratio. “It makes sense that healthier cattle produce healthier meat,” he said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00551-copy.jpg) Cows grazing ### Adapting to a Changing Climate Has he noticed the climate shifting? “Definitely warmer winters,” he replied. “Thirty years ago, the ground would freeze for months. Now the grass keeps growing. Rainfall patterns are harder to read — some years are bone dry, others wet.” For Sam, the key is building flexibility into the system. “If you’ve got a wedge of grass in front of you, you’ve got options. You can graze it later if needed. That adaptability is everything.” ### The Balancing Act: Profitability and Labour Running a low-input system means buying in less fodder and no fertiliser, but it does require more labour. “We spend more time moving cows and putting up fencing, but less on machinery,” he said. “It’s swings and roundabouts. Some people would rather be on a tractor, others with livestock. You have to choose the system that suits you.” ### Grants, Hedgerows, and Habitat Grant funding has helped with infrastructure for rotational grazing and hedge-laying. “The fencing makes us more resilient, and the hedge-laying is great for wildlife. We’ve had stewardship grants and farming in protected landscapes funding \[FiPL\], and we basically repeated the same package across the farm.” ### Birdsong and Beetles Biodiversity appears to be on the rise. “We see more birdlife and insects — though it’s hard to know if that’s partly because we’re looking more,” he said. Bird counts from a local volunteer are encouraging. “Nature is boom or bust — some years are fantastic, others not. That’s just how it works.” ### Diversification or Focus? Unlike many farms, Limden Brook doesn’t have holiday lets, farm shops or wedding venues. “Our diversification is direct beef sales. It does make us more vulnerable if the beef price drops,” Sam admitted. “Diversification can spread the risk — but it’s also another job. You can lose focus.” ### Advice for New Entrants and Landowners His advice for aspiring farmers? “Go and see as many farms as you can. Ask how profitable they are. Don’t just look at the pretty bits — see the accounts if they’ll show you. Otherwise you get a false picture.” And for landowners with fields they don’t know what to do with? “Find a keen local grazier and work out what they need. It’s about building a relationship.” ### On the Future of Farming Sam’s hope is for less over-regulation. “Some rules are essential, but some are pointless. Rolling it back might mean we have to reinstate the good bits we lose — but small abattoirs, for example, need more freedom to survive. Without them, farmers are stuck selling to supermarkets, which isn’t healthy for the industry long term.” He’s a fan of *Clarkson*’*s Farm* for raising awareness — even if some of the drama is played up for the cameras. “It’s entertaining, and it gets people talking about farming.” ### Inspiration and Resources His recommended watches include *Rachel*’*s Farm* and *Six Inches of Soil*. Book-wise, he cites David R. Montgomery’s *Dirt: The Erosion of Civilisations* as essential reading, alongside Gabe Brown and Greg Judy’s work. “You learn a lot from history — the rise and fall of civilisations often came down to soil. That’s a lesson worth remembering.” ### More Information This article forms part of a twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, documenting a quiet transformation underway across the region — as farmers adopt regenerative practices, restore habitats and rethink food production for a more resilient future. ### Sheep, sheepskins and shared responsibility: life on the land at Plaw Hatch Farm in Sussex URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/sheep-sheepskins-and-shared-responsibility-life-on-the-land-at-plaw-hatch-farm-in-sussex/ Last updated: 2026-02-15T12:26:27.000Z ### Plaw Hatch Farm, a 200-acre biodynamic co-operative on the edge of the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, is no ordinary farm. Owned by more than 700 shareholders and run by a community of growers and livestock keepers, it is home to a thriving dairy, market garden, farm shop and butchery — as well as a flock of Romneys, Lleyns and crosses cared for by shepherd Gala Bailey-Barker. In the first of a twelve-part series supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, *Indie Farmer* explores how this unique community enterprise approaches sheep farming, wool and sheepskin production, cooperative decision-making and regenerative grazing. On a warm, breezy morning at Plaw Hatch Farm, Gala walks ahead of me towards a small flock of tegs (young sheep between 12-24 months old) grazing contentedly among thistles and dock leaves on the headland of a potato field. A black Romney ram eyes us warily. “That one’s a keeper,” she said, pointing to a grey-fleeced tup she bred herself. “It’ll be interesting to see if he throws any black lambs.” Plaw Hatch, on the edge of the Ashdown Forest in Sussex, is a 200-acre biodynamic farm with its own shop, dairy, butchery and market garden. The farm is run as a co-operative, owned by a community of 700 shareholders who each hold a £100 stake. There’s no private owner and no dividends — any profit is reinvested into the farm. “It’s a very different feeling to working for someone with stacks of money,” Gala reflects. “Here, everything we make goes back into the farm. It doesn’t mean you can’t burn out — you definitely could — but you know it’s not funding somebody else’s lifestyle.” ### **The flock** Gala manages around 60 breeding ewes, mostly Romneys, along with some Lleyns and Romney cross Lleyns, a few black Romneys and the odd Shetland-Icelandic cross. The flock is closed, meaning all replacements are bred on the farm, and variety in the fleeces is intentional. She talks me through her ram choices over the years — Jacob crosses that didn’t work and the challenges of finding unrelated black Romneys in the UK. Wool here is not an afterthought. In fact, Gala says some years the sheepskins bring in more than the meat. She takes the lambs to the abattoir herself, waiting to collect the skins and then salts them immediately back at the farm, before sending them to the Welsh Organic Tannery. “They’re organically tanned with mimosa (a method of tanning using tannins extracted from mimosa bark, resulting in a natural, light-colored leather with flexibility and softness). They also use the wool from shearing the ewes, which is spun into yarn to make black, white and beautiful grey blankets from mixing the fleeces.” The success is partly down to having a shop on site. “That’s the barrier for a lot of people — processing is expensive, and you need somewhere busy to sell them. We’re lucky to have that footfall.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00427-copy.jpeg) Plaw Hatch Farm Shop ### **A shared farm, shared responsibility** Around 40 people are employed at Plaw Hatch Farm, working across the dairy, market garden, farm shop, and butchery. Four core farmers — Gala, Lou, Maya and Daniel — form the management team, each taking responsibility for one or two enterprises, including their respective budgets. It’s a flat, cooperative structure without a traditional boss — decisions are made collectively, and mistakes are owned collectively too. “It requires a lot of taking responsibility,” explains Gala. “There’s no boss to blame if something goes wrong. You have to own your decisions.” The shared setup, along with on-site housing for full-time staff, makes living and working on the farm viable — particularly important in an area where property prices are high. “It’s the only reason it works,” says Gala. “A farm salary alone wouldn’t get you anywhere near being able to live in Sussex.” Unlike a family farm, there’s no asset to inherit, no legacy to pass on. “If I left tomorrow, that’s it — there’s no financial relationship with the farm beyond the monthly salary I’m paid,” Gala reflects. “We’re employees, not owners.” But while there’s no equity, there is a strong sense of shared purpose and community. “It’s important we have a job that allows us time off and the ability to rest,” she continues. “That might not sound radical, but in farming it is. It’s only in the last five years that we’ve managed to make two days off a week standard, and ensure people can take holidays too.” Of course, the boundaries can blur. “I was meant to be off on Sunday, but I ended up fencing — when something happens, you all swing back into action,” Gala smiles. “But we try our best to protect people’s time.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00381.jpg) Gala and Maya amongst some of their young stock ### **Female Farmers, working smarter — and the real cost of labour** “There’s still a lot of farming relationships where the mother is doing everything — looking after the children, feeding everyone, doing all the washing,” Gala reflects. “And yet today, most families need two incomes. If someone’s female partner comes to work here, they’ll need a job — but they’re also often still expected to do all the domestic work too.” At Plaw Hatch, the team is majority female — and that reality brings a different awareness to how labour is valued, both on and off the farm. “Even if you’re single and don’t have kids, you still have to do everything — cook for yourself, keep your life running. We’re all on 48-hour contracts, but it’s a struggle to fit the work into that time.” It’s led to a culture of working smarter, not just harder. “I try not to make my life more difficult than it needs to be,” she says. “As a team, we’re slowly making improvements. We’re getting a cluster flush system and adding two more milking points — going from four to six. At the moment, it takes us a ridiculous amount of time to milk 22 cows. Dan Burdett’s milking 200 in probably the same time it takes us.” The drive for efficiency isn’t just about convenience — it’s about sustainability, in the truest sense of the word. “There are so many reasons to make the milking faster. Labour is a big one. When you treat labour as cheap, it becomes dangerous — because then you don’t invest in the systems or infrastructure that make things better.” The economics are only getting tougher. “National Insurance contributions have gone up, so it’s got a lot more expensive for the business to employ people. But there’s a limit to how much we can pass that cost on through the shop.” Even staff, with a discount, are starting to feel the pinch. “I buy the food here. And I love eating really good food — it’s probably a third of the reason I work here. But it’s getting to the point where I might not be able to afford it.” It’s a complex and evolving puzzle — figuring out what a fair price point is, what the true cost of production should be, and how to balance values with viability. ### **Mob grazing and mixed stock** The dairy cows, all horned, graze on 12 hour moves, fully back-fenced, to build resilience into the pasture during increasingly dry summers. “If we were still strip grazing tightly like we used to, we’d have no grass left in a drought like this.” Sheep and cattle graze in rotation, the sheep often deployed to “weed the headlands” around the potato crop. Kiwi kit troughs and portable fencing make the moves easier, though Gala dreams of more semi-permanent infrastructure. ### **Challenges and opportunities** We talked about deer pressure from the neighbouring Ashdown Forest — “A fallow deer eats 50% more than a sheep” — and the frustration of TB movement restrictions, which prevent cattle from being grazed on distant blocks of land. Small abattoir closures are another concern. Plaw Hatch uses Downland Traditional Meats for beef and sheep, but lead times for pigs are now so long “you have to book them in before they’re born.” One of the reasons they no longer rear pigs on the farm. Gala believes abattoirs should be publicly funded infrastructure. Then there’s the public. The shop draws an affluent local customer base, but the farmyard also attracts less respectful visitors. “Someone was holding their toddler over the wall into the collecting yard the other week — right in front of a cow with horns. People have no idea how dangerous that can be.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00395-copy.jpeg) Cows with horns ### **Why stay?** So why, after 13 years, is Gala still at Plaw Hatch? She smiles. “I was always going to work somewhere where I had a lot of autonomy. I also love the variety. I can be moving sheep one minute, planting hedges the next, then doing an RPA application in the afternoon. We’re not trying to get bigger — we’re trying to do what we’ve got better. And that’s endlessly fascinating.” As we walk back towards the shop to grab some lunch, past the dairy and the popular coffee hut, the farm is buzzing with activity. A constant stream of customers come and go from the shop, which is full of delicious fresh produce. It’s a vivid snapshot of a farm where meat, milk, veg, wool, community and ecology are all deeply intertwined — and where farming is as much about relationships, trust and shared responsibility as it is about livestock and land. ### **More Information** To help bring the series to life, I also filmed and edited short video episodes from each of my farm visits, which you can watch over on my [Indie Farmer YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/@indiefarmer?ref=indiefarmer.com). The first one features Gala and it’s split into three parts, all linked below. This article forms part of a twelve-part Indie Farmer series, supported by the **Lund Trust** and the **High Weald National Landscape**, documenting a quiet transformation underway across the region — as farmers adopt regenerative practices, restore habitats and rethink food production for a more resilient future. You can find links to episode 2 and 3 from my visit to Plaw Hatch below. [Indie Farmer Stories – Plaw Hatch Farm – Episode 1 Part 2](https://youtu.be/jo4syjRv86U?ref=indiefarmer.com) [Indie Farmer Stories – Plaw Hatch Farm – Episode 1 Part 3](https://youtu.be/Gib6cURGEFM?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### How to run a monthly farm gate sale: what's worked for us and why it's worth trying URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/how-to-run-a-monthly-farm-gate-sale-and-why-you-should-give-it-a-go/ Last updated: 2026-02-15T12:47:25.000Z ### Back in 2021, I shared a post called [*How to Start a Meat Box Business*](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/2021/02/20/how-to-start-a-meat-box-business/?ref=indiefarmer.com), which struck a chord with a lot of small-scale farmers. Fast forward a few years and I wanted to offer a follow-up, drawing on our own experience of running a successful monthly farm gate sale from our small family farm in East Sussex. The demand for local produce is growing fast. More and more people are waking up to the health and environmental benefits of eating better quality, locally-sourced food. Customers increasingly want to know where their food comes from and how it’s raised — presenting a golden opportunity for farmers to sell direct and cut out the middle man. But as many will tell you, selling direct isn’t always straightforward. From setting up a farm shop to navigating online platforms or market stalls, the routes to market can be varied and often costly. What we’ve found works best — both in terms of simplicity and building a loyal customer base — is combining traditional meat boxes with a regular farm gate sale. Here’s how we’ve made it work, and how you might too. --- ### From Meat Boxes to Farm Gate Sales We started selling 10kg beef boxes and half and whole lamb boxes in 2016\. These worked well, and we still offer them, but over time we realised we could reduce delivery time (and have a bit more fun) by running a monthly pop-up-style farm gate sale. Customers collect their boxes on the day, and we also offer a wide selection of individual fresh cuts. Selling from the farm once a month has created a real sense of community. Farming can be quite solitary, so having a day where we welcome 50–100 people through the gate is a breath of fresh air — literally and figuratively. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Screenshot-2025-04-21-at-16.50.10.png) You don’t need a fancy farm yard to run a farm gate sale --- ### Behind the Scenes: Logistics and Setup We work with Downland Traditional Meats, the last remaining abattoir in Sussex, and book our slaughter slots a year in advance. They deliver carcasses to our butcher in Hellingly, who dry ages the meat and prepares everything to our spec. The butcher handles packing and labelling too — with our logo, the cut, the date and the price — which means we don’t need an on-farm butchery. We keep our offering simple: 5kg and 10kg beef boxes, half or whole lamb boxes, plus individual cuts for those who want to build their own box. Orders are captured in a spreadsheet and taken via email or social media DMs, with payment on the day via card or cash. Our farm gate sale runs from 10am to 1pm on a Saturday, once a month. We start promoting it about 2–3 weeks ahead via Instagram, Facebook and our newsletter. Any unsold cuts go straight into the freezer, ready for next time. --- ### Essential Kit for a Farm Gate Sale You don’t need a fancy farm shop to get started. Here’s the setup we use: - **Trestle tables** – to hold cool boxes of fresh meat. - **Cool boxes** – essential for keeping meat chilled in warmer months. - **Card reader** – we use Zettle (by PayPal) to take payments. - **Blackboard signs** – one for pricing, one for the roadside to draw people in. - **A car with space** – our family car becomes a meat van when the seats come out. - **A freezer** – to store any leftover stock. Our farm is down a narrow lane off a main road — not ideal, but it hasn’t stopped people coming. Don’t let location put you off. --- ### Pricing and Profitability As Lynnie Hutchinson points out in [*The Art of Quietly Marketing*](https://vimeo.com/1069945075/9a2af5d465?ref=indiefarmer.com) (a brilliant Pasture for Life-funded short film we were both part of, shot by Mairi Eyres – hit the link or scroll to the bottom of the post to view it), it’s vital to do your sums. Include every cost — your time, fuel, abattoir and butchery fees — and build in a decent profit margin. Keep an eye on the market price too, especially for beef, which has risen sharply in the last 12 months. Using a third-party butcher and licensed facility simplifies hygiene and food safety compliance, and means you can focus on farming and selling. --- ## Marketing Tips and Building Your Audience We don’t spend loads of time on marketing. A single post on Instagram and Facebook (shared to local community groups) is usually enough. We also send a monthly email newsletter to our mailing list with details of what’s coming up. Keeping things low-key means low pressure — but don’t be afraid to experiment. If boxes feel daunting, start with friends and family. As Sam Newington says in the film, he just wanted to eat his own produce — and things grew from there. --- ### More Than Just Meat: Creating a Local Food Hub We’re lucky to have my sister Hazel and her husband Martin (the makers of Pevensey Blue and Tilley Lane) based on the farm. They sell their award-winning cheese alongside our beef and lamb. We also stock Court Lodge Organic yoghurt and invite Murph’s Market Garden, a local veg grower, to join us on the day. It’s not a farmers market — but we like offering a few carefully chosen local staples. Down the line, we might expand to include talks, farm walks or BBQs. We’re also keen to work with local schools. But for now, the simplicity and joy of our monthly farm gate sale suits us perfectly. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Screenshot-2025-04-21-at-16.49.56.png) We sell next to Pevensey Cheese --- ### Final Thoughts Direct selling isn’t for everyone — but it’s more accessible than many people think. It doesn’t have to be slick or high-tech. Start small. Keep it manageable. Focus on great food and good communication. The feedback and relationships you build can be incredibly rewarding — and they remind us why we do what we do. ### Check out the short film “The Art of Quietly Marketing” below. ### Pasture and Profit in Protected Landscapes URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/pasture-and-profit-in-protected-landscapes/ Last updated: 2026-03-28T13:24:11.000Z ### Pasture and Profit in Protected Landscapes is funded by Farming in Protected Landscapes Fund (FiPL) offering free, innovative mentoring and an events programme across several National Landscapes for farmers interested in increasing farm profits and biodiversity through the management of grazing animals. We recently caught up with Deborah Barker, Pasture and Profit Programme Manager for the High Weald, Surrey Hills and Kent Downs National Landscapes, to chat through some of the key learnings over the last 18 months. We also discuss plans for the future with additional funding recently secured from FiPL to continue the project for 2024/5. Over the first phase of the project Deborah and her colleague Sarah Gillet have built a community of nearly 150 registered farmers, across the three National Landscapes, including 18 mentors and 42 mentees. Keen to understand more about the relationship between mentor and mentee relationship – I ask how they match them? The ultimate goal is to find the best match to support each mentee’s individual needs and style of learning, she replied. Some mentees prefer to learn through hands-on experience and others like planning and mapping she says. Other important considerations include, personality, ambition, capacity for risk and whether the mentee is tech-orientated or not. With 18 mentors to choose from, Deborah has plenty of options to ensure a good fit and feedback from mentee evaluations has been positive she said. In a recent online survey of mentees 100% responded that they felt more confident in making decisions about their farm as a consequence of being on the programme. ### **Events** The programme has delivered 32 on-farm events and 20 webinars which have helped farmers learn about different grazing techniques, livestock genetics, soil health and how to reduce their costs (and improve their profitability) by reducing the workload associated with indoor housing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Soil-testing-at-Plaw-Hatch-Farm-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Soil-testing-at-Romshed-Farm-Kent-Downs-NL-scaled.jpg) Soil testing at Plaw Hatch Farm ### **Community building and peer to peer learning** As well as building knowledge – another key aim of the programme has been to build community amongst like minded farmers, many of whom can feel isolated where they are despite living in one of the most populated areas of the UK said Deborah. “Livestock farming can often be quite a solitary existence and with increasing financial pressure and extreme weather, it’s not surprising that many farmers are struggling,” she said. As well as offering guidance and advice on management of grazing, mentors provide a sounding board for mentees, giving them the confidence to learn through their own mistakes. “Early on mentees want to connect with their mentors but as the programme has developed the communication has become more peer to peer,” she added. It’s this peer to peer learning that is key to helping farmers transition to more regenerative practices in a supportive, non-competitive environment. As an example, Deborah described a mentee from the Surrey Hills interested in learning about mob grazing sheep, who contacted her daughter Gala Bailey-Barker (who is also part of the programme) to spend a morning doing chores with her at Plaw Hatch Farm in East Sussex. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Farm-Walk-at-Limden-Brook-Farm--scaled.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Green-Hay-Spreading-Event-Kent-Downs-NL-scaled.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Mob-grazing-cattle-event-West-Sussex-scaled.jpg) Farm walk at Limden Brook Organic, Green hay spreading event in North East Kent and mob grazing event in West Sussex ### **WhatsApp Group** Helping connect members is the **P&pP PFL Grazing** WhatsApp group, which now has 72 members and has become a vital tool for farmers to stay in touch across the three National Landscapes. “It’s become a thriving community for our mentees and mentors to support each other and share updates, learnings and stories from their own farms,” said Deborah. ### **Feedback from group members** To find out more I caught up with a few of the group members on the phone. Chris Mighall, a mentee based at Sandhall Farm in the Surrey Hills – explained how joining the P&pPP PFL community has helped take his grazing management to the next level. Mob grazing his cattle has been relatively easy but getting sheep to behave themselves is another matter, he said. The programme has also helped him improve his water infrastructure – something you don’t always think about when you’re getting started, he said. He is also a regular user of the Pasture for Life (PFL) forum – a rich source of information, which new mentees have access to through the free 12 month PFL membership (worth £120) that comes with being part of the programme. Another past mentee Paul Cooper from Lidham Farm in Guestling, East Sussex highlighted the farm visits – which he found very helpful, picking up lots of tips over cups of tea with other mentees. He hopes to share some of his own learnings later this year. Lastly, I spoke to Dr Joanna Gore, another mentee based at Green Oak Farm in Brightling, who also helped carry out the evaluation of the first phase of the project. As a new entrant farmer, the programme has allowed her to meet lots of other like minded farmers and feel less isolated. She said the biggest take away from the evaluations has been the community building. ### **Plans for the future** Pasture for Life has recently received confirmation of funding for Pasture and Profit in Protected Landscapes 2024/5 starting in late April. A mentoring and events programme will be coupled with a bespoke skills development package to support farmers and land managers in the Surrey, High Weald and Kent National Landscapes wanting to pursue high nature value farming practices. For more information [https://www.pastureforlife.org/webinars/pastureandprofit/pastureandprofit-southeast/](https://www.pastureforlife.org/webinars/pastureandprofit/pastureandprofit-southeast/?ref=indiefarmer.com) or email [Sarah@pastureforlife.org](mailto:Sarah@pastureforlife.org) ### **Join the programme** The programme is run by Pasture for Life. Email [sarah@pastureforlfie.org](mailto:sarah@pastureforlfie.org) to be sent a simple joining form. You must be based in or near the High Weald, Surrey Hills or Kent Downs National Landscape to be eligible. “By joining the programme, you are not expected to become Pasture for Life certified, or transition to 100% pasture fed. The programme aims to meet individuals’ needs and support their chosen system,” said Deborah. This article was supported by Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL). ### Meet the High Weald Farmers: Dr Joanna Gore URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/meet-the-high-weald-farmers-dr-joanna-gore/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T15:03:20.000Z ### We recently meet up with first generation small holder Dr Joanna Gore at Green Oak Farm in Brightling, East Sussex to shoot a short film to help promote the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme, which is delivered locally by the High Weald National Landscape team. More than £1.3million has been awarded so far, and with funding still available for farmers and land managers in the High Weald, I was keen to learn more about how the grants have benefited Joanna’s smallholding. ### Farm Visit Just next to the picturesque village of Brightling, sits Green Oak Farm, a certified Biodynamic and Organic small-scale farm, rich in variety, from livestock, to vegetable growing, to nature based healing. The drive down to the main set of buildings takes us past an orchard and a 3.5 acre block of woodland. With varied backgrounds in fine art, education, conservation, woodwork and hospitality, Joanna and her partner Paul have ploughed their combined skills and passion into reviving the 10 acre smallholding, which was formerly a Plumpton College teaching site, before falling into dilapidation. Today it is home to a flock of free-range organic chickens, a mixed flock of sheep and four pigs. Joanna says she plans to introduce a couple of cows soon and explains it is this variety of species which is key to the biodynamic system and healthy pasture. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-1.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/IMG_4784-2-copy.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/IMG_4802-copy.jpg) ### Applying for a Farming in Protected Landscapes grant Shortly after moving to the smallholding, Joanna became aware of the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme, which funds projects that benefit climate, nature, people and place. She approached the High Weald National Landscape team for support and spoke to a member of the Land Management team on the phone to talk through her ideas. After the chat, Joanna successfully applied for a FiPL grant to help purchase a larger chicken coop, which is located in their 3.5 acre woodland. “The chickens love being in the woods,” she said, explaining how she gives her chickens a large area to roam amongst the trees with lots of brambles and scrub to rummage around in. To help guard against predators Joanna uses a perimeter electric fence, moving it regularly to give them fresh habitat. Eager to meet her hens, we follow her up a path, arriving at a smart wooden coop located in a protected glade. She collects the eggs, which are a variety of colours and a key differentiator of the boxes she supplies her daughter to sell in her shop “The Peppered Pear Pantry” in Goldaming. Each box has a pretty light blue egg, laid by one of her Emerald hens. Next, she throws out some grain to entice them into a new run. One by one they come through the little hatch and start pecking away at the brambles and scratching the ground. With the chickens safely moved to their new run, we head back to the main farmyard and Joanna fills up a bucket of nuts for the her small flock of sheep. After feeding them, it’s time for a fresh paddock and they obediently follow her up the track to the top orchard. As soon as we arrive in the field, they get to work grazing the long grass. ### Improving an existing hedgerow by hedge laying Joanna points out the smartly laid hedge that borders the road. “We also received FiPL funding to lay 200 metres of hedge and it’s really helped improve the habitat,” she said. It’s made the hedge a lot thicker and as a result she has noticed a lot more wildlife – including insects, nesting birds and small mammals. As part of the FiPL process Joanna got three quotes and decided to go with a local contractor named David Dunk, who was very reasonably priced and did a fantastic job, she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-18-copy.jpg) ### Workshop space and community vegetable garden Joanna showed us her workshop space, located in a converted farm buildings, where she runs nature based healing days, farm courses such as “Herbal health for Animals” and biodynamic inspired land ceremonies, as well offering the space as a venue to other likeminded organisations to host their own event. We also walked round her vegetable growing area, which she hopes will be the centre of a community gardening programme they plan to start this year, where people come together to grow and eat. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/IMG_4744-copy.jpg) ### Next steps If you would like to do a project like this on your land, funding from the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme is still available – visit [**highweald.org/fipl**](http://highweald.org/fipl?ref=indiefarmer.com) to learn more and fill out a short online enquiry form. A member of the High Weald National Landscapes team will then get in touch to answer any questions and help you with an application. ### More information Looking for more inspiration? Checkout some of the other farmers we visited in our Meet the High Weald Farmer series, who have all benefited from the Farming in Protected Landscapes grant scheme. You can see the video we made below along with links to the other three farms we visited. ### Meet the High Weald Farmers: Sam Newington URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/meet-the-high-weald-farmers-sam-newington/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T14:57:01.000Z ### We recently caught up with Organic Beef Farmers Sam and Becky Newington at Burgham farm in Etchingham, East Sussex to shoot a short film to help promote the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme, which is being delivered locally by the High Weald National Landscape team. With funding still available for farmers and land managers in the High Weald, I was keen to learn more about how the grants have benefited Sam and Becky’s family farm. Descending down a small country lane we arrive at Burgham Farm in the Limden Valley, near Etchingham, East Sussex. After parking up in the farmyard, we make our way to the old farmhouse. Becky and Sam greet us at the back door and invite us in for a quick cuppa and a catch up. ### Improving their mob grazing infrastructure with FiPL grant funding It’s been about five years since I first met Sam and Becky, who at the time were buying in Organic store cattle and finishing them on their mob grazing system. They have since improved their mob grazing infrastructure with the help of a **Farming in Protected Landscapes grant**, installing lead out wire to join existing electric fences, creating a permanent hot line right around the farm. It also paid for the purchase and installation of mole ploughed water pipes. “The funding has made moving the cows easier and created a more time efficient system” said Sam. As a direct result, they’ve seen improvements to their soil health, with less poaching and compaction. In cold winter temperatures the mole ploughed pipes are also less likely to freeze, saving Sam and Becky a lot of time and hassle. We headed out to see the main mob of cows and followers being out wintered. It’s a crisp sunny day and walking across their permanent pastures – I can’t help but be impressed at how well the ground is holding up after the amount of rain we’ve had. Arriving in the field with their mob of cattle, the cows and calves were busy grazing the tussocky grass and looked happy and content. I also noticed an abundance of birdlife, attracted by the insects and habitat the cows provide. To supplement the cows feed, Sam and Becky roll out hay bales – a process called bale grazing. Sam added that out wintering their animals helps increase the biodiversity of the farm and also keeps their costs down too. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DJI_20240110104415_0020_D.jpg) ### Improving their existing hedgerows by hedge laying and dead hedge creation with FiPL grant funding Sam and Becky received a second grant from **Farming in Protected Landscapes** to improve some of their existing hedgerows, via a combination of hedge laying and dead hedge creation. They were able to work with a local contractor who also undertakes bird surveys for them and has an active interest in the role of hedges in supporting wildlife. The first step was to thin the hedges, and process this coppice material to be used later. Then the hedge was laid, leaving selected standards at intervals for shade and added diversity. Finally the outer line of the hedge was staked and a dead hedge woven using coppiced material. This combination helps create a stock proof fence with significant benefits to wildlife, due to the abundance of habitat created for invertebrates and small mammals and birds. All thinnings from the hedge were woven into it, meaning there was no burning or waste. Overall they have renovated 480m of hedge. As well as the cost savings for not having to re-fence these hedgerows and stock proof benefit, they have also noticed the cows browsing the mixed hedging, helping improve the variety of their diet and overall health. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/IMG_3356.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/DJI_20240110113858_0026_D.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/IMG_3329-2-scaled.jpg) ### **Farming in Protected Landscapes Application process** Sam and Becky found the process of applying for their FiPL grants really straightforward and received help and advice from the **High Weald National Landscape** team when developing and submitting their funding applications. ### **Next steps** If you would like to do a project like this on your land, funding from Farming in Protected Landscapes programme is still available until 2025 – visit [**highweald.org/fipl**](http://highweald.org/fipl?ref=indiefarmer.com) to learn more and fill out the quick online enquiry form. A member of the High Weald National Landscape team will then get in touch for an informal chat, and can even come out for a site visit if required. You will be supported through developing your project and submitting your application ### **More Information** Looking for more inspiration for your land? Checkout some of the other farmers we visited in our Meet the High Weald Farmer series, who have all benefited from the Farming in Protected Landscapes grant scheme. You can see the video we made below along with links to the other three farms we visited. ### Meet the High Weald Farmers: Dan Burdett URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/meet-the-high-weald-farmers-dan-burdett/ Last updated: 2026-03-01T09:12:43.000Z ### We recently caught up with Organic Dairy Farmer Dan Burdett at Cockhaise Farm, near Haywards Heath in West Sussex to shoot a short film to help promote the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme, which is delivered locally by the High Weald National Landscape team. With funding still available for farmers and land managers in the High Weald, I was keen to learn more about how the grants have benefited Dan’s family farm. [YouTube![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/icon/favicon-1.ico)](https://youtube.com/embed/zCTYdWRuVK4?si=g4qamahMS6c%5Fy-Nc&ref=indiefarmer.com) By some miracle we managed to pick a sunny and dry day in January to visit Dan. Arriving at Cockhaise farm, Dan greeted us and we walked through the farmyard, where all of his 240 cows and young stock are housed during the winter months. Heading out into one of his herbal ley fields, Dan pointed down to the grass – which looked green and lush. He’d seemed hopeful that it wouldn’t be too long before he could start letting the cows out, even if it was just for an hour or two, to prevent any poaching. Luckily, Dan and his team have plenty of other jobs to get on with. One big project they are working on at the moment is planting 1420 metres of new hedgerows, designed to connect up the various woodland parcels they have on the farm. He explained that many of the old hedge lines in the High Weald were grubbed up years ago to create bigger fields. Now, with the help of grant schemes like **Farming in Protected Landscapes**, farmers and land managers are being paid to reinstate them. “It’s a no brainer,” said Dan who is passionate about improving the natural environment on his farm. “These new hedgerows will provide vital corridors for nature, as well as shade and shelter for livestock,” he added. ### Hedge Planting Arriving at the field boundary, Dan introduced us to his small team of helpers, who have been busy planting a new hedgerow. It’s a hive of activity, with two members of the team digging holes with spades, another planting the young tree whips and a fourth team member placing tree guards around each tree to protect them. Dan explained that in addition to the shade and shelter benefits for the cows, the new hedgerows will also help with nutrient management and water management purposes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/IMG_3596.jpg) ### New Wood Chipper Bidding farewell to the hedgerow team, we headed back to the farmyard, where Dan showed us his shiny new wood chipper, a vital bit of kit which was also part funded by grant money from the **Farming in Protected Landscapes** programme. The chipper allows them to make much better use of the brush cuttings on the farm, explained Dan. Every year they clear fell or rotationally coppice areas of their woodland to feed an on-farm biomass boiler. Often, a lot of the brush cuttings were then burnt on site, added Dan, a practice he felt uncomfortable about. Now, 100% of those brushings are chipped and used to create compost. Dan showed us a pile of wood chip composting in the yard, pointing out signs of fungi activity. It’s a hugely valuable resource, he said, later showing us how they use the composted chippings as an organic mulch on their new hedgerows – recycling all those nutrients back into the farm. He also has exciting plans to start incorporating dung into the chippings, turning it regularly to create even better compost that can be reapplied to the fields. It’s a small step, he says, but something he wants to explore further in the future. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-21.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-19-copy.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-20-copy.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/IMG_3636.jpg) ### Process of Applying for the Farming in Protected Landscapes scheme Dan said applying for the **Farming in Protected Landscapes programme** was reallystraightforward. After visiting the High Weald National Landscape website, he filled out a simple online enquiry form with a few details about his farm, contact details and a brief description of a project idea. After submitting the enquiry, he got a call from one of the team, who then arranged to come out to visit the farm. He added the team member can then advise on your idea and even help fill out your application form. Once ready for submission, the form and supporting information goes to a small farmer-led panel**\*** supported by the High Weald team, who meet regularly to assess applications, after which you will hear back with an approval or rejection. Two of the key objectives for the **Farming in Protected Landscapes** scheme are benefiting nature and climate; Dan’s projects of hedge planting and recycling nutrients back into the land, with the use of a wood chipper, both ticked the box. ### Next steps If you would like to do a project like this on your land, funding from the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme is still available – visit [**highweald.org/fipl**](http://highweald.org/fipl?ref=indiefarmer.com) to learn more and fill out a short online enquiry form. A member of the High Weald National Landscapes team will then get in touch to answer any questions and help you with an application. ### More Information Looking for more inspiration? Checkout some of the other farmers we visited in our Meet the High Weald Farmer series, who have all benefited from the Farming in Protected Landscapes grant scheme. **\*Note – Dan is a member of the small farmer-led panel, though had no influence on his own FiPL application.** ### Meet the High Weald Farmers: Helen and Neil Ridge URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/meet-the-high-weald-farmers-helen-and-neil-ridge/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T11:59:54.000Z ### We recently caught up with first generation farmers Helen and Neil Ridge at Fresh Meadow Farms in Dallington, East Sussex. Having got to know them over the last few years at our local farmers market we jumped at the chance to visit their farm to shoot a short film to help promote the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme, which is delivered locally by the High Weald National Landscape team. More than £1.3million has been awarded so far, and with funding still available for farmers and land managers in the High Weald, I was keen to learn more about how the grants have benefited Helen and Neil’s small family farm. Arriving at Fresh Meadow Farms in Dallington, East Sussex, we parked up in the farmyard and Helen and Neil invited us in for a coffee and chat. Initially starting out with a few sheep, Helen and Neil have gradually moved to more regenerative farming practices, with the aim of improving “their bit” of East Sussex, they explained. In 2020, after trialing rotationally grazing their sheep with electric fencing, they decided to build up their holistic knowledge of regenerative farming practices. Keen to tap into available grant schemes, they approached the **High Weald National Landscape team** for support and a member of the Land Management team came out to visit their farm. He advised them on a number of grants schemes available, including the **Farming in Protected Landscapes** (FiPL) programme, which funds projects that benefit climate, nature, people and place. **Applying for their first Farming in Protected Landscapes grant** After the visit, they successfully applied for a FiPL grant to attend a 12-day Holistic Management course run by 3LM, accredited by the Savory Institute. The course was run at FarmED, an Agro-ecological learning centre based on a 107 acre mixed farm in the Cotswolds. The funding covered 100% of the course fees, said Helen – who was able to stay locally at a holiday let they own nearby. There is an option to do the course online she added but opted to do it in person, preferring the format. “I wanted to do it at FarmED and to have the interaction with other farmers,” she added. **Identifying key challenges and opportunities** The course helped Helen and Neil think more holistically about their farm and what they can do to overcome some of the key challenges they face. “Every time I presented about our farm, one of the recurring themes was deer pressure. We’ve got no wildlife corridors, we’ve got grazing pressure, we’ve got fences down. We can’t rotationally graze properly,” explained Helen. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/deerpressure.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/highseat.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/IMG_4525-3.jpg) She described how often they would find 70 deer grazing on a 60-acre block of land surrounded by woodland. The course helped them see how they could turn a problem into an opportunity. Neil has since trained as a Deer stalker and they now run a Venison enterprise on their farm. “It’s very satisfying turning a problem into a product and making a bit of extra income,” he added. Another hurdle Helen identified during the course was the increasing number of weeds, with thistles becoming increasingly common in all of their fields. “Typically thistles are an indicator of poor drainage and everyone said we should try rotationally grazing cattle,” explained Helen. Having added a herd of 23 Hereford cows, they have spent the last two years rotationally grazing their fields and are beginning to see the benefit, with less purple flowers. They have also noticed a greater diversity of grasses attracting more insects and pollinators. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-9.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-12.jpeg) As well as seeing positive changes to their sward and insect life, they find rotationally grazing their cattle very rewarding and have seen a marked improvement in the amount of grass they are able to grow, too. **Deer damage and applying for FiPL funding for deer management equipment** Walking around the farm Neil and Helen showed me some of the damage the deer are doing to their land. First they showed me damaged perimeter stock fences, which often result in escapee livestock. In areas where they have coppiced Neil pointed out where the deer have nibbled the new shoots, preventing the regeneration of the woodland. He also showed me where they are rubbing on the trees and debarking – which is starting to affect the growth of the chestnut. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-6.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame.jpeg) To help manage the growing number of deer and get their Venison enterprise up and running, Helen and Neil applied for further FiPL funding for some essential bits of equipment. This included three high seats to go on their land, a deer extraction sled, a chiller for hanging the deer, a deer skinner and a freezer for storing the meat to allow them to sell at local farmers markets. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-13-1.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/02/Frame-7--1-.jpeg) **Key Learnings and advice to other High Weald farmers** Both Helen and Neil said they wished they’d thought more about the infrastructure before buying stock and starting to rotationally graze. “We underestimated the impact the deer would have on electric fencing.” This was a problem when rotationally grazing the sheep as three to four strands of wire are needed and the deer often tangle this. They’ve had a lot more success rotationally grazing cattle, mainly due to the fact you can get away with a single strand of electric wire, which the deer either go under or over. Despite the occasional disaster with electric fencing, they both find a real pleasure in rotationally grazing their animals and recommend farmers attend the Holistic Management course. “The course really gave us the confidence to continue what we were doing and try some other stuff too, because we knew we were moving in the right direction. It doesn’t always work but that’s the learning,” said Helen. **Next steps** Interested in doing a project like this on your land? Funding from Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme is still available until 2025 – visit [**highweald.org/fipl**](http://highweald.org/fipl?ref=indiefarmer.com) to learn more and fill out the short online enquiry form. A member of the High Weald National Landscapes team will then get in touch for an informal chat, and can even come out for a visit if required. You will be supported through developing your project and submitting your application. **More Information** Looking for more inspiration for your project? Checkout some of the other farmers we visited in our Meet the High Weald Farmer series, who have all benefited from the Farming in Protected Landscapes grant scheme. You can see the video we made below along with links to the other three farms we visited. ### Meet the Regenerative Farmer: Tim May URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/meet-the-regenerative-farmer-tim-may/ Last updated: 2026-02-08T22:21:25.000Z ### We visit Kingsclere Estates in North Hampshire to meet Regenerative Farmer Tim May, to learn more about his sustainable model of share farming and land management. Tim is the fourth generation to farm at the family owned 2,500 acre estate located in the Hampshire downs, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty near Basingstoke. His great grandfather, a solicitor in London, purchased 250 acres of sporting land for hunting. His grandfather increased the farm to around 1,500 acres and Tim’s dad has since added another 1,000 acres of land. Interestingly, due to the legal background, the farm has always been run as a company, with a board of directors and quarterly meetings. “The company owns no land at all – it’s all under a continuous tenancy,” explained Tim. “That means my family can borrow against the value of the land and if a project were to go wrong the bank could only ever take hold of tenanted land. So the tenure of what we do as a farming business is completely separate,” he continued. Growing up on the conventional mixed farm, there was a lot of livestock; a commercial herd of 500 milkers and a large indoor pig unit and arable operation. There were also a lot of people; the estate employed around 28 staff, with a small team in the office. Then in 1998 the family got out of pigs, which were losing around £200,000 a year in net worth. The dairy was also in dire need of investment, and faced with the prospect of an injection of £250,000 it was decided to sell the cows. By 2002 the last of the dairy cows were sold and the redundant farm buildings repurposed as commercial lets, at which point they moved to 100% arable cropping. Growing up, Tim always knew he wanted to farm. He attended Brymore school down in Somerset, one of the only state schools that has its own farm. “I used to go and milk cows and feed the pigs in the morning and then go in the workshop in the afternoon. I got a GCSE in Agriculture,” he said. At 18, he spent ten months working on farms in New Zealand and Australia and then did the 2,000 mile harvest in North America, returning home in 2004 with a global perspective on agriculture. Having gained a degree at Harper Adams, he returned to the farm to run the arable operation. “We were going through a down time and I felt the farm needed an injection of youth,” he said. Tim admits it wasn’t an exciting time, with wheat and oilseed rape prices on the floor. All the land was farmed conventionally on a broad-acre basis – one drill and one combine across 2,500 acres using all the latest GPS technology. “We bought our first direct drill in 1996, mainly down to the mechanical costs of the aggressive flinty loam soils,” he said. The focus was on reducing the cost of getting seed in the ground. The whole concept of soil health was a bit limited at that time, he added. “When I came back I took on a different agronomist who understood the soil health side of things a bit better,” he said. Tim continued to use the same methods but saw little improvement in yields year on year, in spite of growing expenditure on increasingly sophisticated inputs and technology. He began to realise that the soil was becoming lifeless and lacking organic matter. ### **Nuffield Scholarship and a change in direction** Then in 2011/12 he embarked on a Nuffield Scholarship, travelling to Brazil, North America and Africa over a six-week period. He spent time reading while on the road, becoming interested in sustainability and the circular economy. During this time it became clear to him that it wasn’t the soil that was worn out, but the economic model of farming. In North America Tim visited YouTube sensation Joel Salatin at Polyface farm in Virginia. The farm is driven using unconventional methods, with the goal of “emotionally, economically and environmentally enhancing agriculture”. Joel, one of the leading practitioners of regenerative farming, had a profound influence on him. He was captivated by his enterprise stacking, mobile infrastructure and direct sales farming model. Interestingly, Tim pointed out, many of his mixed farming ideas come from the seminal fifties book Farming Ladder by Cotswold farmer George Henderson. Two of his fellow Nuffield year scholars, Tom Chapman and Rob Richmond, wrote their reports on mob grazing and soil carbon, both helping shape Tim’s new vision. “When I married the two of those it was pretty obvious I could get the grass and fertility building phase back into our rotation. We should be able to reduce our inputs and increase our yield,” he said. ### **Sustainability** Tim wrote his final Nuffield paper entitled “Understanding and implementing sustainability”. I asked what some of his key findings were from his paper? He explained that sustainability is often broken down in terms of people, planet and profit, also referred to as the triple bottom line. “Some of the better farms I visited were proud of what they were doing and why they were doing it – getting away from commodity agriculture and producing a quality product,” said Tim. “It’s also about forming cyclical relationships with people; the tag line in our business is growing potential,” he continued. In his own farming context Tim believes that profit is vital, as you need a surplus of time and energy to do the innovation and changes needed to become more sustainable. ### **Circular economy** Another concept integral to Tim’s vision is the circular economy, an economic model whose objective is to produce goods and services in a sustainable way by limiting the consumption and waste of resources (raw materials, water, energy) as well as the production of waste. Tim has seen first-hand the outcome of commodity farming; the economic, social and environmental costs. That’s why he wants Kingsclere to become a circular community farm estate. Farming partners not employees “One of my big ambitions is to have fewer staff and more partners. We now have very few employees and use contractors to do all our arable work,” he said. Tim is actively looking for new partners who want to be part of his exciting journey. He is looking for bright, entrepreneurial candidates. No previous farming experience is necessary. He lists some of the opportunities open to partners; established raw material growers, start-up farmers, food producers, drinks manufacturers, compost innovators, farm shop owners, veg box scheme creators, field restauranteurs, textile producers, glamping enthusiasts, the list goes on and on. Tim wants to hear from you. He already has several partners in place, running sheep, dairy, chicken and other enterprises on the estate. “We’d like to introduce outdoor organic pigs and are looking for a partner to help us get this enterprise off the ground,” he added. He is passionate about his farming partnership model, as it allows him to be less of a manager, freeing up headspace to get on and think about the next project and drive more stacked enterprises on the farm. There is more about Tim’s vision and the different partner opportunities available on the new [Kingsclere Estates website](https://www.kingsclere-estates.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com). ### **A new beginning** Tim returned from his Nuffield trip with a clear vision to radically regenerate his soils and do everything in his power to increase biodiversity on the estate for future generations. He began to implement changes in 2012, switching to grass and a mixed rotational farming system. To help build a strong business case, he undertook a five-year cashflow which yielded substantial savings through a large reduction in inputs. With the funds, he purchased a new tractor, planted 480 hectares of herb rich leys and went out and bought his first livestock. He has since converted nearly all the land to organic, with the final block of land going into conversion next year. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC04632.jpg) ### **Sheep** Sheep were an obvious route, due to their low cost. Tim bought 1,500 low input breeding ewes from a retiring shepherd, hiring him to look after them and lamb them down in May. Later he found a young shepherd, James, who he hired. He has since become a partner and now owns his own flock of 1,000 easy care self shedding sheep at Kingsclere, paying Tim for the grazing. This year he will be lambing in March, with all the lambs fattened on 100% herb rich pasture. ### **Pastured Diary** Tim’s next venture was dairy. He partnered with Oliver Chedgey to set up a mobile milking parlour in 2017\. I’d only ever seen a mobile milking parlour once before – a prototype milking bale capable of milking two cows. This parlour is in a different league, capable of milking 20 cows a side, which translates to 120 cows per hour. It is also completely mobile and is moved every couple of days, ensuring the cows are milked on location. This means they don’t have the stress of walking between the pasture and the parlour, which can lead to lameness, while spreading the fertility benefits of a dairy farm across the whole land area. They are milked once a day between 7am and 11am – more in keeping with their (and our human) natural rhythms, explained Tim. Kingsclere operates a shared farming agreement with Olly, meaning the estate owns half of the 450-strong herd and puts in the food from the land. Olly owns the other half of the cows and all the machinery and puts in all the time. They then both take a share of the milk price according to what’s been put in. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/MobileMilkingParlour-1.jpg) Mobile milking parlour and cows ### **The Pasture Raised Egg Company** Ben Reynaldo runs the Pasture Raised Egg Company at Kingsclere. He came to the estate as a start-up, with no prior experience of farming. Tim offered him a mentoring service, examining the best way to make the business viable. Starting with 25 hens, and now running a 600-strong flock, Ben and his hens follow the cattle around with the mobile egg-laying units. The chickens peck at the cow dung, feeding on the insects found within it. This means they need fewer protein supplements in their diet. Kingsclere has shared the capital costs, installing an egg vending machine at Folly Farm and investing in the mobile shed units, while Ben has bought half the flock and other items needed to set it up. They share running costs and share income from the sale of the eggs. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/P3300330-copy.jpg) Mobile chicken sheds ### **Niche arable crops** Tim is starting to see the benefits of his four-year fertility building grass leys, with some promising yields achieved over the past couple of years on niche arable crops such as quinoa and organic linseed. ### **Other enterprises** In addition to the more traditional farming enterprises, Kingsclere Estates is also home to a number of commercial businesses, housed mainly in a collection of farm buildings that were used for the dairy and pigs back in the 1990s. Tim’s wife Sharon runs her counselling service from Folly Farm. He also runs a green burial business on the estate. In the future Tim would like to create an innovation hub at Kingsclere to help develop more fledgling partners; providing a corner of a field or barn, along with mentoring and business support to get the idea off the ground. “We’re going to get value from learning from their mistakes or successes and see if it’s a business we invest in when they get to that growth phase,” said Tim. ### **On veganism** Tim believes that the next logical step for veganism will be regenerativism, as the people that are really ‘woke’ about being vegan start to embrace regenerative agriculture. “It’s important we don’t fight the vegans too much; we need to celebrate them and thank them for looking at the food system,” he said ### **Covid-19** Tim is quite positive about the impact of Covid-19, believing that it has helped increase interest in where food comes from. He is also hopeful that in a year or two the agricultural sector will start to see a larger pool of talent looking to set up land-based businesses. ### **The phasing out of the Basic Payment Scheme** I asked Tim what he thought about the phasing out of BPS. “I will miss the no-strings attached money,” he replied. Money that has enabled Tim to implement many of the regenerative farming changes he has made since returning from his Nuffield. However, he feels reassured that their tenancy rent agreement is linked to profit, so future reductions in BPS will be offset by smaller rents. He also said they would be exploring opportunities to work with their local water company to reduce nitrate levels using cover crops and companion crops as well as investigating markets for less nitrogen-intensive crops. He is also exploring the use of virtual fencing to enable variable rate grazing. ### **On the Environmental Land Management scheme (ELMS)** Tim worries about the possible prescriptive nature of ELMS. “I can’t really embrace it as I’m trying to change things all the time,” he said. He cites the Countryside Stewardship option EK21 for herbal leys, which is incompatible with his system of holistic grazing. ### **The future of the estate** Tim is well on his way to creating a regenerative community farm estate at Kingsclere. He has a clear vision of where he is going and what he wants to achieve. With so much uncertainty surrounding farming, chatting to Tim is a breath of fresh air. He’s excited about the future and, as his corporate tag line says, ‘growing potential’. ### **More Information** You can find out more about regenerative farmer Tim May on his website [Kingsclere Estates](https://www.kingsclere-estates.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com). Interested in finding out about other regenerative farmers? Check out our feature on mob graziers Sam and Becky Newington [here](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/2021/02/18/meet-the-cattle-mob-graziers-sam-and-becky-newington/?ref=indiefarmer.com). A version of this article originally appeared in the January print edition of [South East Farmer](https://www.southeastfarmer.net/?ref=indiefarmer.com) magazine ### How to start a meat box business URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/how-to-start-a-meat-box-business/ Last updated: 2026-02-15T12:48:24.000Z ### Over the last few years I’ve built up a small meat box business direct from our family farm. It might not appeal to all farmers, but with very little in the way of startup costs – it’s not that difficult to give it a try. I’ve enjoyed building up our meat box business over the last few years and from a small sideline, it’s developed into one of the major income streams on our family farm. To help other farmers thinking about selling meat direct from the farm gate, I’ve outlined a few tips below to help you get started. You can also find another 18 case studies in a report by the Landworkers Alliance (LWA) titled [Direct sales and short supply chains: Bringing the market back into farmers hands](https://landworkersalliance.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/LWA-Direct-Sales-CASE-STUDIES-.pdf?ref=indiefarmer.com)‘ which was published last October (we were one of the 19 case studies). ### Farm size Any size of farm can sell direct. We recently featured a part time ‘farmer’ who grows microgreens in his living room, which he sells at his local farmers market. If you’re raising livestock the likelihood is you’ll need a bit more space! Our family farm (Hockham Farm) is 45 acres but we are fortunate to rent around 300 acres of farmland locally, including 150 acres of conservation grazing on the Pevensey Marshes. ### Local and native breeds We have a herd of mainly Sussex cows and an Aberdeen Angus bull. My parents previously preferred continental beef animals (as they produced more meat for the wholesale market) which were sold direct to the large processors and ended up on supermarkets shelves. When I returned to the farm in 2014, I convinced them to try some native Sussex heifers to build a herd of low input cattle that thrive off grass. We now have nearly 30 Sussex cows. ### Direct Business Model Our Angus x Sussex beef animals typically finish between 24-30 months of age with a deadweight carcass of between 300 to 360kg. After hanging the carcass for 28 days and butchery this results in around 200-220kg of saleable meat. To keep things simple we pre-sell 20 boxes of 10 kilo beef at £110 each, resulting in £2,200 of income at least. Often we have left over mince which we sell in 450-500 gram packs or have them made into burgers. You need to factor in the cost of slaughter and butchery (which comes to around £500 in total). And the cost of packaging for any cool boxes you send via courier (around £2.50 per box). We add on the cost of third party delivery which is around £10, though some businesses choose to include this in the box price. After deducting all your costs there is still a reasonable profit left to cover your time and to pay the farm a better return than the wholesale price. ### You don’t need an eCommerce website We take orders for our meat boxes mainly by email and using social media. We also have a simple reservation form on my website [here](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/sussex-meat-boxes/?ref=indiefarmer.com) which took a couple of hours to set up. This allows customers to reserve a box via a simple contact form – which then sends me an email with their details. Initially you don’t even need a website, though these days it’s not difficult or expensive to set up a basic website using a template from [squarespace](https://www.squarespace.com/templates/browse/topic/events?ref=indiefarmer.com) or [wix](https://www.wix.com/freesitebuilder/hiker-create?utm%5Fsource=google&utm%5Fmedium=cpc&utm%5Fcampaign=195454660^10375167100&experiment%5Fid=wix%20website^e^428036736209^&cq%5Fsrc=google%5Fads&cq%5Fcmp=195454660&cq%5Fcon=10375167100&cq%5Fterm=wix%20website&cq%5Fmed=&cq%5Fplac=&cq%5Fnet=g&cq%5Fpos=&cq%5Fplt=gp&gclid=CjwKCAiAg8OBBhA8EiwAlKw3ku9i-QnJ2OG6WMV0ED3WNq2Ai01SCDjpWg8nQ%5Fj63d8erWr-o4CV3hoC1CsQAvD%5FBwE). ### Social media marketing We use social media channels to market our meat boxes – especially Facebook, where we’ve had a great deal of success using local groups to post free adverts. This method has also allowed us to build up a local customer base who order from us regularly. ### Boxes and deliveries When I first started out back in 2016 I focused on selling to London using cool boxes and a third party overnight courier. This worked well initially but then we had a few bad experiences, with a number of the boxes getting lost in the warehouse hub. As the meat is perishable we’ve not been able to find any insurance cover and any losses result in a large chunk of the profit being wiped out as we reimburse the customer. This has led us to focus more on local customers, where we can deliver the boxes ourselves – which now accounts for over 50% of our customer base. Prior to Covid-19 I would occasionally go door to door leafleting and occasionally get orders for our next batch of boxes. ### Selling meat boxes isn’t for everyone but can be fun Selling meat boxes isn’t for all farmers – it takes time to build up a customer base and find a model that fits the way you farm. If you can make it work – perhaps by involving a younger member of the family, selling direct to the public can be very rewarding in terms of feedback and provide a useful income stream. Also unlike a lot of diversification ventures it doesn’t require a lot of up front investment. You don’t need your own butchery. We work with a local butchery a few miles from the farm – who do everything to our specification; including vac packing, labelling and sorting the meat into 10 kilo bags / boxes. You also don’t need an expensive website and or fancy branding – a basic logo will do. So long as you have a good product, have a smart phone to take a few photos and can use a few basic tools on social media – you’re good to go. Selling direct is also a good way to trial working with the public. We don’t have a farm shop but it is something we are considering for the future. We are also interested in running on farm events and other workshops so selling your meat direct is a great way to start building a relationship with customers. ### Lamb boxes and skins We also sell some lambs direct (£80 for a half and £150 for a whole) though given the current high wholesale price of lambs it’s harder to justify selling them direct given the slim margin. We like to support our local livestock market (Hailsham), especially if you can average £80-100 for a finished lamb. One thing we are experimenting with this year is getting all the skins from our lambs processed into sheepskins to add value. We did 2 skins for ourselves last year – which we love and have had friends and family express interest in buying them. So we salted all the skins from the last batch of 15 lambs and will be getting them processed by Devonia in Buckfastleigh. ### Are there any pieces of essential tools/equipment/software We use google sheets to keep track of orders and mailchimp is great for creating and sending newsletters to your customer base. We also use the free online design software Canva to create flyers and social media adverts. As I mentioned earlier social media channels work well for promoting our meat – it’s definitely worth setting up a facebook page and instagram account. We don’t use twitter, though it works well for some farmers. ### What are the key factors that helped with development One of the key factors has been our gradual transition to more native bred animals. Working closely with my parents to convince them of the merits of a lower input animal that can be finished on grass, whilst at the same time giving us the opportunity to market direct to the public. My mum, who was an Accident and Emergency staff nurse for 40 years, previously sold our lamb and pork (when we used to keep a few pigs) direct to her friends and work colleagues in the local hospital during the 90s and early 00s but gave it up as she found it too time consuming. So when I returned home to the family farm in 2014 there was extra labour and drive to re-establish direct sales. Coupled with the rise in demand for local sustainably reared meat and more ways to sell direct – there’s never been a better time to market your own meat direct. ### Working with family and local businesses If you can try to involve your family – my wife Hannah helps out with marketing and on delivery days. I would say try to keep an open mind as to your potential customer base. We now do a mix of local (free delivery within a 15 mile radius) and further afield deliveries. Build a good working relationship with your butcher – it’s amazing how much you’ll learn about all the cuts and that really helps with marketing. We’ve experimented with a couple of carcasses during the summer, offering steak and bbq boxes but be careful that you don’t end up being left with lots of mince. We’ve found that the 10-kilo boxes work best for us – you can make more money if you sell cuts individually but it’s also a lot more work. Lastly building a customer base is vital. You can do this in different ways but we find that mail chimp works really well. It’s free to use and allows you to market directly to your existing customers via email – we send regular ‘reserve your beef boxes now’ emails. One thing I’ve recently added is a button to allow people to message me via WhatsApp message from the email, which has been successful. ### More Information I was a contributor to a **Pasture for Life** film, made in 2025, titled The art of quietly marketing – selling direct to the public. ### Q&A with Hazel & Martin Tkalez from The Pevensey Cheese Company URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/q-a-with-hazel-martin-tkalez-from-the-pevensey-cheese-company/ Last updated: 2026-03-10T20:42:57.000Z ### We recently interviewed Martin and Hazel Tkalez, from the Pevensey Cheese Company to learn more about their journey to becoming cheese makers over the last two and half years. **Can you in tell us a bit about your business Pevensey Cheese Company?** We are Hazel and Martin Tkalez and we constitute Pevensey Cheese Company – we make one cheese, a soft, creamy blue cheese – in East Sussex. The milk comes from a local organic dairy herd that grazes the Sussex Wildlife Trust marshland of the Pevensey Levels – hence our name and the name of the cheese- Pevensey Blue. **Where did the idea to make cheese come from?** Our idea to make cheese came out of a bundle of thoughts and aspirations whilst Hazel and I were still in London. I think there were two very important factors of several that shaped our decision to start our cheese making company. The first one was the ambition to **make** something. Having worked with hand-made products – selling cheese at Neal’s Yard Dairy in London for about 15 years – the people that I had met through the business were all remarkable in different ways, but the common denominator was the constant satisfaction and struggle to produce something excellent in the face of varying factors – it seemed to bring out the best in people and the most successful people were those who were devoted to their craft. Our thinking was “lets be happy, through a simple goal – focus everything on the product and then build from there”. The second major factor was that we wanted – eventually – to work together, to build something that we could put labour into and draw satisfaction and an income out of, and that we didn’t have to slog in a city for to raise a family – but we could slog together in rural East Sussex! If you have to slog in life, maybe at least you can choose how and where one does the slogging! **Haha – slogging together in rural East Sussex doesn’t sound too bad! Can you tell us about any major milestones you’ve achieve to date?** In October this year, a few of the milestones that we had set out to achieve had been met. We became an Approved food producer with our own Healthmark, we have managed to make a good blue cheese – which is tough – we have started to make the business modestly self sufficient, we have changed our company structure to give our milk suppliers partial ownership of our company and we have got the support of some incredible cheesemongers in the UK (and perhaps beyond). Most satisfyingly of all – strangers have tried the cheese and decided to buy it based on the flavour and then returned to buy more. These goals were set in May of 2018 – and now two and a half years later we are a real business. We are not big, we are not experienced, we make small amounts of cheese, but we have reached the next “square one” and we are determined to increase production shortly and to meet the next year with goals of sustainability and improvement in quality – and with spirit! **How did you go about setting up a micro-dairy? Did you receive any funding? How did your previous experience working at Neal’s Yard Dairy shape your business strategy?** Getting to our position right now was quite meticulous work – it was incremental and required patience. We began by writing a business plan and a business model based on that plan. Key to the strategy was focusing on getting LEADER funding – which we couldn’t get without planning permission. When we started we had not heard of LEADER and we thought- perhaps naively – that we were exempt from planning – so we started with a “script” and then took some opportunities and challenges on when they presented themselves It sometimes felt quite organic and then at other times we felt as if we went from one set of tasks to the next in an organised way. From September of 2018 when we expressed interest in LEADER and applied for planning permission our time was spent on very intensive project management tasks. We had to get planning permission through on time to meet the grant deadline, which was a very close call. We were approved and received planning permission for our cheese rooms with great deal of support from the local community who wrote in to help us, as well as support from our councilor. It was February of 2019 that we got planning permission and therefore qualified for LEADER funding in “extra time”! We received LEADER funding just as the clock was ticking down to receive the last EU funding for UK rural projects – that helped us launch as a micro-dairy that could be sustainable financially – and not just a back garden project. We are incredibly fortunate that Hazel’s family and her parents- Monica and Fred – are very kind and understanding landlords – which means that we can work towards paying rent for our premises as the business scales. One other key factor was my knowledge of the cheese industry and the different businesses in the UK that are keen to help develop new cheesemakers – Neal’s Yard Dairy in particular– my previous employer – have had over forty years of experience taking either new producers or cheese makers who need remedial work (perhaps we are both) under their tutelage. So if you look at our strong points there are many – but originally we started without a product – just a great business plan and access to markets. We knew we wanted to make a blue cheese and we knew we had a business plan and support in place – but we did all that before we needed to act on it. Here is the first bit of advice – you can build your business case, model and support without actually quitting your day job and leaping off into the unknown. For instance, I left my job two years before we got an income from the cheese business – but I had spent 15 years working in all parts of the industry – granted you might be a faster learner and I really only started taking notice of the incredible world of cheese relatively late in the day – but **nobody** can stop you from laying the theoretical or some practical groundwork in front of you any time. Our cheese business started in a flat in London, went to Peckham Library, lived in our heads and notebooks, up and down the UK before we made any investment. You want to learn about something or to start your business – go ahead – my advice is to go to the library and work there, even with a pen and paper. Anything you can do will come back to help you – even the mistakes and dead ends. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC01227.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC01276.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/IMG_20200927_144351.jpg) **Can you tell us more about your decision to go for a soft blue?** Hazel and I both loved Stilton – almost more than anything else. We started to go down the route of looking at traditional recipes, visiting a stilton-style producer in Nottinghamshire and joining a workshop on Stilton making with some very talented producers and maturers. But then we realised that not only were the existing big five producers of stilton in the UK already 150 years ahead of the game – but our target portion of the market was already being served by micro and small scale producers – a handful of friends who make some exceptional stilton style cheese across the UK. We could have kept going in that direction but in the delicatessens, shops and restaurants that we had targeted we felt better about picking another style to work on. So we decided then to go for the softer, creamier, continental style of cheese that we thought was under-served in our target market. So we found our niche market, our niche product but we had to get a prototype cheese and we wanted to work with a specific local organic dairy farm. Both of these things- product development and business relationships – take time and can work hand in hand. Just being allowed to take 25 litres of milk at a time, to begin with, every two weeks to make cheese in the farm kitchen for our own development was an incredible head start and privilege. Hazel’s parents and our milk suppliers were friends from way back – which helped myself as a newcomer feel confident in approaching them to develop the cheese. Having high quality organic cow’s milk a five minute drive away is arguably one of if not **the** strongest card in our hand as a cheese maker. **Did you have any help from other cheese producers?** Development of a cheese is hard and whilst we went on courses, visited producers and I made cheese at Trethown Brothers (cheddar and caerphilly cheeses) for a year – we didn’t have training in soft blue cheese. We didn’t make it on our own but we also didn’t have someone to teach us how to make our style. There are positives and negatives to this – but at least we get to own our mistakes as well as our successes. The artisan cheese industry as a whole has been incredibly supportive – in particular the Sussex producers Alsop and Walker and High Weald Dairy – whose attitude has been fostering towards us and incredibly helpful in our design and build of our creamery – whose insights gave us the benefit of their discoveries in the decades they have spent blazing a trail before us. Between leaving my old job and starting our new company I visited a few other producers across the country – including 4 days at Stichelton and at Highfields Dairy as well as day trips to lots of friends’ places. **What plans do you have for the future?** As I write we are taking a break from making as we wait for the birth of our baby. In the new year we are excited to move to double our production. To date we have made about 70 batches of cheese – from the sublime to the ridiculous, the most recent 20 batches comprise of 12 cheeses at a time. These are now getting a sustainable price from shops and wholesalers – the previous 50 batches were the developmental batches that got us to square one. “If you want to win you need to lose your first 100 games quickly” is a saying from the East Asian game of “Go”. **That’s super exciting on both fronts! I also love that saying! Lastly do you have any parting words of advice for budding cheese makers out there?** If you’re reading this and thinking “I can’t do this” or “this is unrealistic” you might be right – we are lucky as well as hard working. But there are things that you can do to get to where you want to go without our luck: If you are a liquid milk producer – can you add value to your milk? Do you want to change your business model? Can you find someone with the experience or at least the gumption to start a business in partnership? Which shops and which local people care about food – what cheese do they want to eat? To people with a cheese idea but no cows, no money and no training – get a part time job in food, get to meet people, get training, get talking, go visit people – it seems despite Covid people still want farmhouse cheese, they want it sold in different ways but the demand is there and growing. I tell myself that when I get up at 4 in the morning to collect milk and make cheese that there aren’t many people who choose to and enjoy doing that – so find the thing that you can do that other people don’t want to do. **More Information** You can follow Martin and Hazels journey via their instagram [@pevenseycheese](https://www.instagram.com/pevenseycheese/?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### Compost pioneers URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/compost-pioneers/ Last updated: 2026-03-02T12:49:24.000Z Both Bridget and her business partner Henrietta Courtauld are passionate about soil health. They met in London and founded The Land Gardeners back in 2012 to find ways of improving soil health for their own growing and for others. Before that Bridget grew cut flowers and experimented with biodynamic gardening on the family farm, Craigmore Station in New Zealand, before moving back to the UK 12 years ago. It was during this time that Bridget realised how serious climate change was and became concerned about the detrimental impact of inorganic fertilisers and conventional farming practices on animal and plant health. Her husband Forbes runs Craigmore Sustainables, a business dedicated to sustainable agriculture and land management. ### The land gardeners and making compost Bridget and Henrietta work from Bridget’s home, Wardington Manor, in Oxfordshire, where they design productive gardens, specialising in restoring old walled gardens, growing organic cut flowers and making microbially rich aerobic compost. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC03699.JPG) The gardening duo are fanatical about compost, believing it to be key to improving soil health and sequestering carbon. UC Davis in California has just finished a 19-year study, directed by Kate Scow, Professor of Soil Microbial Ecology, showing that the use of compost and cover crops is a game changer in sequestering carbon into the soil. Soil carbon content increased by 12.6% over 19 years, 0.7% annually. In addition the study concluded that “compost provides not only carbon but also additional vital nutrients for soil microbes to function effectively”. On arrival we sit down for coffee and I am presented with three pots of compost to try. It’s a bit like wine tasting. Two pots contain well-known competitor brands, both of which feel quite dry, and one of which contains a large amount of undigested woody matter. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/IMG_6240.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/F794E2F7-B4AD-46B1-A38C-4278BD7E8727.jpeg) The third – their own Climate Compost brand – feels strikingly heavier and far more moist, like soil. “What is compost?” asks Bridget. It’s basically digested matter, digested by microbes, she explains; it’s an ancient practice. “Our compost feels like it’s alive; it’s sticky, which is an indication of humification and a high microbial mass. Humus is what drives healthy, productive soils. Soil biology is responsible for creating humus, which is the single most efficient storage of water, minerals and carbon within soils. Gesturing to one of the other pots, a well-known organic brand, she said: “It’s more like a medium – it doesn’t have much mass or aggregation. If we run out of our compost it’s what we use.” Bridget explained that it’s not easy to make good compost. She said the big composting plants, where the compost often reaches very high temperatures can churn out an inert medium that doesn’t add any microbial life to the soil. In contrast, Climate Compost’s raison d’etre is to create microbial rich compost that improves soil health and sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, as well as increasing the water holding capacity of the soil. Another big benefit is the increased capacity of the soils to grow nutrient-dense food. “Just as caring for the gut microflora in our intestines is crucial to human health, caring for microbes in our soil is crucial to soil health, and thus ultimately plant, animal and human health,” said Bridget. Curious to learn more about their approach, I asked who inspired them to start making Climate Compost. Bridget explained that several years ago they visited the Hex Garden Festival in Belgium, where they found a brilliant farmer called Marc Verhofstede in the walled garden teaching a workshop on how to make compost. “We were deeply inspired by him and this led us onto discovering Austrian soil scientists Angelika Luebke and Urs Hidlebrant, who teach a microbial composting method which has had remarkable results on soil health in Austria and around the world,” she said. “We are also avid followers of Kay Baxter at the Koanga Institute in New Zealand and her work with nature, soil, composts and seeds,” she continued. She highly recommends Kay’s online learning programs Regeneration Productions for a wealth of knowledge. ### Not all food is equal I was fascinated to learn that the garden team at Wardington has been measuring the nutrient density of the food they produce with a refractometer. When they first began testing before starting Climate Compost they were broadly a two on the brix scale. They now fluctuate between a six and a 12, testament to the huge improvements they’ve made to their soils. ### Building windrows and making microbial compost They have been making microbial compost at Wardington Manor for a number of years now and have scaled up from small batches to bigger compost windrows. Making their compost is a six to eight week process, explained Bridget. Ratios of ingredients are key to getting the final product right. They recommend using around 40% carbon, such as straw, to 30% nitrogen, which can be a mix of 10% fresh greens and manure. They then add 10% old compost as an inoculant and 10% clay, which they use as a stabiliser, which provides a home for the microlife as well as greatly extending the life of the compost. In addition it is vital to create the right conditions for the microbes to thrive and start to digest all the matter, Bridget explained. “Its about achieving initial temperatures of between 59 and 65 degrees and turning it to ensure it does not become too hot and that the compost stays aerated, providing oxygen for the microlife. You need to keep it well watered, too,” said Bridget. The height of the windrow has also been standardised to help keep it from overheating and killing off essential microbes. Bridget explained how they build their windrows in layers like a lasagne. They start with a carbon layer of straw then alternate carbon and nitrogen, finishing with a layer of clay. They water it as they go and finally turn and cover it. “We then start measuring it on a daily basis to test its temperature, oxygen and moisture levels, turning when it becomes too hot or if there is not enough oxygen in the pile,” she said. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/IMG_6559-1.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/IMG_6586-1.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/IMG_6596-1.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/IMG_6620-1.jpeg) More recently they have invested around £12,000 to buy a Swiss made Gujer Compost Turner (TG 201) designed to fit compact loaders from 30hp. I was excited to see this bit of kit in action and we took a short drive to a nearby farm where they have rented some empty livestock buildings for the summer months. The buildings contained several long windrows of compost on a concrete floor. In the corner was an intermediate bulk container (IBC) filled with carbon filtered water and an electric pump. Catie Jarman, who is coordinating the compost at the Land Gardeners, hooked the compost turner on to an Avant – a small green loader – with a little help from Bridget. Positioning the green loader at the start of the windrow and attaching the water hose, Catie engaged the hydraulics. The machine burst into action, turning over the compost while also jetting water into it. As the machine moved along the windrow, it left behind a beautiful dark material. I was impressed. Eager to hear the results of their own trials, I asked Bridget what impact using Climate Compost had had on their own garden. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC03777.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC03780.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC03783.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC03789.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC03699-1.JPG) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/03/DSC03708.JPG) “We found our sweet peas grow a lot longer and they lasted longer,” she said. They also found the following year’s growth was much better than the first, suggesting a legacy effect. They also had a bad area of the garden and decided to use compost and cover crops to aerate the soil. The second year when they planted salad leaves in the area it was completely transformed, producing a good yield. They have also started working with farmers on a bigger scale. ### Field lab In 2016 Bridget and Henrietta set up trials with Innovative Farmers, a not-for-profit organisation created by the Soil Association. During these trials they worked with farmers and growers in Sweden, Belgium, Mozambique, New Zealand and Austria and found this method worked with different ingredients and climates. They worked with an island off Mozambique which was unable to grow vegetables due to the lack of topsoil until they introduced this method of composting. Polly Nicolson led the trial and made windrows using chopped up banana leaves, goats’ manure swept up from the village and grey water from the homes on the island. Closer to home they have been making compost at Culworth Grounds in Northamptonshire and are also working with the team at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire. They hope to start trialing it at Fir Farm in Gloucestershire this autumn, too. They are hoping that the information gained from these trials will help mould their future tool kit for both gardeners and farmers. More recently Bridget and Henrietta have started working with Dr Mark Pawlett, Senior Research Fellow at Cranfield University. He is a Soil ecologist (C.Env) interested in the implications of manipulating soil biological properties on soil function. Together they are looking at microbial activity, carbon sequestration and nutrient availability in Climate Compost. ### Plans for the future While planning to sell small amounts of their compost this autumn, they will be launching properly in the spring with 2L, 10L and dumpy bags. In the meantime they are researching packaging, aiming to make it out of breathable, biodegradable bags and linens. In addition they are developing their toolkit for farmers, which can be scaled up and down depending on the size of the interested farm or horticultural unit, which they hope to have on their website for their launch next spring. Ultimately they would like farmers, growers and gardeners across the country and beyond to be making ‘climate compost’ and using it on their farms and in their gardens to improve their soil health. Their goal is to be able to use Climate Compost, as both an inoculum and in tea form, on a 10,000 acre farm in New Zealand without the need for any other fertilisers. Bridget envisages groups of farms working together to make compost, especially as the compost turner can be quite expensive, though from a brief bit of research on YouTube, there are a number of farmers making their own from bits of scrap machinery. Buying compost in can be expensive, but it was encouraging to see that this compost was made using materials that are easily accessible to most farmers, such as farmyard manure and old bales of straw and hay. This compost stands out because it is ready in eight weeks and is full of microbial life. Unlike green waste compost which needs to be applied in thick layers to have impact, this compost can begin to improve soils from even a small application. The benefits of this microlife can be scaled up for larger farms by making compost teas that can be used as a foliar feed. With the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme on the horizon and carbon becoming a hot topic in farming, it’s important to begin to understand the soil beneath our feet and how we can rebuild organic matter and sequester carbon in the ground, as well as growing nutritious food. I’m sure this toolkit will prove a useful guide to those looking to advance in regenerative agriculture. ### Photo Story: Cheese Making and the Swiss Alpabfahrt Cow Parade URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/photo-story-cheese-making-and-the-swiss-alpabfahrt-cow-parade/ Last updated: 2026-01-25T16:30:56.000Z ### **Back in the autumn of 2018 I joined a delegation of international journalists to visit Lucerne in Switzerland; to learn more about their thriving cheese making sector and witness the world famous cow parade.** Switzerland is home to over 450 varieties of cheese. With cows milk being used in about 99 percent of the cheese produced. During our tour we got to visit some of the small scale farmers and cheese makers, high up in the Swiss Alps. It was fascinating getting to see the famous Alpine brown cows. We also got to speak directly to the farmers and cheese makers. Learning about the traditional methods of Swiss dairy farming, small-scale cheese making and the annual cow parade. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_29092018_15.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_29092018_14.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_29092018_19.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_29092018_20.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_29092018_21.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_29092018_9.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_29092018_22.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_29092018_24.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_29092018_26.jpeg) On our day trip we got to visit a goat dairy farming family, who also produced a delicious goats cheese. As is often the case in smaller scale family farms in Switzerland, the milking parlour was located in the basement of the main farm house. Interestingly, we also learnt that the farmer was a bus driver to supplement his farm income. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_39.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_42.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_44.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_51.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_52.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_54.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_55.jpeg) We also got to attend the famous Swiss Cheese Awards in Lucerne. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_56.jpeg) [](https://indiefarmer.com/2020/09/04/photo-story-cheese-making-and-the-swiss-alpabfahrt-cow-parade/swisstourlowres%5F30092018%5F57/?ref=indiefarmer.com) We visited a slightly larger-scale cheese producer who sourced milk from local farms ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_88-912x912.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_85-912x912.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_79-912x912.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_78-550x550.jpeg) The final day of our tour coincided with the world famous Alpabfahrt Cow Parade. We were lucky enough to go behind the scenes to see the final preparations of the farmers getting themselves and their cattle pristine before the long decent into the local town. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_112.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_98.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_99.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_109.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_122.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_117.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_124.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_139.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_140.jpeg) It was fantastic to see the huge crowds of people who had turned out to celebrate the farmers and their livestock parading through the town. Lining the streets were local street vendors selling delicious cheese and dried meats from the area. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_152.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_155.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_156.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_159.jpeg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/swisstourlowres_30092018_162.jpeg) I’d like to thank the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists ([IFAJ](https://www.ifaj.org/?ref=indiefarmer.com)) for organising such a brilliant tour. ### **More Information** Check out the My Switzerland website [here](https://www.myswitzerland.com/en-gb/experiences/events/events-search/?rubrik=alpinefestivals&ref=indiefarmer.com) for more details on cow parades. ### Plaw Hatch Farm: putting the culture back into agriculture URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/plaw-hatch-farm-putting-the-culture-back-into-agriculture/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T14:39:26.000Z ### **Back in March of this year l visited the inspirational team at Plaw Hatch Farm, a community owned biodynamic farm and shop located on the edge of the Ashdown Forest in Sharpthorne, West Sussex.** Plaw Hatch is a 200-acre community owned biodynamic farm and shop on the edge of the Ashdown Forest in Sharpthorne. In total the business farms close to 500 acres within a 12-mile radius of the main farm. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/image002-1200x900.jpg) Plaw Hatch Farm The land and buildings (which include commercial, agricultural and residential) are owned by a charitable trust and the farm business – Old Plaw Hatch Farm Ltd – is owned by a co-operative of 700 mainly local members with six directors, of which five are farm enterprise managers. The idea behind this setup is to separate the ownership of the land from the commercial activities, so it will always be organically and biodynamically managed and no one can buy it or turn it into anything other than a farm. The overall aim is to produce as wide a range of food as possible and sell it to the local community via the farm shop, where 95% of the food produced on the farm is sold – everything from raw milk, yoghurt and cheese to eggs, fresh meat from pigs, sheep, cattle (all reared and butchered on the farm) and a wide selection of fruit and veg too. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the farm business, and there’s plenty to celebrate. Plaw Hatch is a thriving community with over 6,000 visitors to the farm shop every month – it is also home to a team of inspiring young farmers, market gardeners and interns who come to learn from them. The business employs around 30 people in total, which includes several part-time shop staff and eight of the 20 people who live on site. The rest of those living on site are family members of the farmers or gardeners. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/image0.jpeg) Rose, Maya and Gala – the all female silaging gang. “If you are a farmer or a gardener you get housing included as well as a discount for the farm shop,” explained first generation farmer Gala Bailey-Barker. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01719.jpg) Gala with one of her favourite ewes Gala originally volunteered at Plaw Hatch in 2012, when the farm was considering having an apprentice. Two years later she became employed as a farmer and heads up the sheep enterprise, having recently returned to work after being on maternity leave. ### **What is biodynamic farming?** Biodynamic farming is often likened to organic farming, but also includes various esoteric concepts drawn from the ideas of Austrian philosopher Rudolph Steiner. He encouraged farmers to look at the cosmos before planting and harvesting crops. The biodynamic calendar is based on the positioning of the stars and the moon. While many farmers follow these principles, it isn’t a prerequisite for Demeter, the biodynamic certification body, though they require Steiner’s nine so-called “preparations” made from herbs, mineral substances and animal manures that are turned into field sprays and composts. Whether you believe in the more mystical elements of biodynamic farming or not, the demand for certified products is on the rise in line with organic products, growing 5% last year. ### **Raw milk dairy** The farm is centred on the small-scale dairy headed up by herdsman Robin Hall. It milks a closed herd of 30 Muesse-Rhine-Issel, Montbeliard and Viking Red dairy cows twice daily in their abreast parlour with stalls and four clusters producing 150,000 litres per annum with 80% of the raw milk sold direct in glass bottles through the shop. This helps attract regular customers, who then buy their other products. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01836-801x1200.jpg) Raw milk in a glass bottle All the surplus milk is processed into cheese, cream, yoghurt and kefir by Tali Eichner, resulting in zero waste. One slight cause for concern has been a fall in revenue from the milk in the shop. Business manager Rebecca Heys has noticed a 10% decline, due mainly to an increase in competition from other raw milk producers locally and a rise in veganism, though fresh meat sales have not been affected. ### **Farm shop** Right next to the dairy is the farm shop, which sells 95% of what the farm produces and accounts for the lion’s share of the farm’s £1.8 million turnover. Interestingly, around 40% of what is sold through the shop is produced on the farm and the prices reflect the true cost of food production, allowing for re-investment towards the sustainability of the farm. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01838.jpg) I asked Gala how their prices compared to supermarkets “it’s a bit more expensive than Sainsbury’s but no more than Waitrose,” she said. ### **Market garden** Another big draw to the shop is the wide range of delicious salads, vegetables and soft fruit produced on site by Nir Halfon and Liz Charnell. They grow 45 different types of vegetables, fruits and herbs from seed with the help of an apprentice grower and two or three volunteers from Warmanderhof, a biodynamic college in the Netherlands, and 95% of the produce is sold through the farm shop. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01737.jpg) Nir Halfron who heads up the Garden team There is more than 12 acres of rotational land for field crop staples such as onions, potatoes, root crops, squash, leeks and kale, to name a few, with a focus on seasonal and heritage varieties. In the summer, tomatoes, cucumbers, courgettes, beans and salad crops can be seen growing in the 11 polytunnels, together with a small flower garden to support the diverse insect species found on the farm, including many bees and butterflies. ### Factfile **Farm facts** - Plaw Hatch is a 200-acre biodynamic farm. The land and buildings (including commercial, agricultural and residential) are owned by St Anthony’s Trust and the limited business is owned by a co-operative of 700 mainly local members which also owns nearby sister farm Tablehurst in Forest Row. - Another 300 acres are rented within a 12-mile radius of the main farm, where most of the 40 tons of feed cereals are grown, 500 bales of straw and 400 bales of silage are made. - A farm shop selling 95% of what is produced on the farm is visited by 6,000 people every month. - A closed dairy herd of 30 Muesse-Rhine-Issel, Montbeliard and Viking Red dairy cows and 15 dry cows produces 150,000 litres per annum, all sold via the farm shop either as raw milk or as cream, cheese, yoghurt or kefir. - A 12-acre market garden on site produces veg, soft fruit and flowers. - There are 80 breeding ewes, a mix of Romney and Lleyns. All 135 lambs are butchered on site and sold direct through the farm shop. Around 60 sheepskins are processed, via an organic sheepskin company, each year and also sold through the farm shop. Knitting wool is sold and four dye workshops are held per year. - The farm has three sows and one Duroc boar. - There are 400 laying hybrid hens moving from static to mobile houses. - The dairy processes milk from cows into cheese, yoghurt and kefir. - The butchery works two days a week supplying meat to the farm shop. - An on-farm camp site offers pitches at £12 per adult per night and £6 per child per night. ### **Sheep enterprise** The sheep are relative newcomers to the farm, and Gala has grown the flock from 35 breeding ewes to 80 over the past few years. She has 40 Lleyn and 40 Romney ewes with a Jacob ram for colour. Going forward, the flock will be closed, and Gala starts lambing outdoors from the 1st of April. She moves her sheep regularly, focusing on clean grazing and doing faecal egg counts monthly from April to November. Gala sends 135 sheep to the farm butchery a year – approximately five lambs/hoggets every other week plus the occasional mutton. Adding value to the Plaw Hatch flock, Gala sends around 60 fleeces a year to the Organic Wool Company to be produced into organic sheepskins, as well as making knitting wool, blankets and running plant dying workshops. One worry for Gala has been an increase in dog attacks, following two such attacks in the past two years. The first attack at the beginning of 2019 resulted in the death of 15 pregnant ewes and serious injury to another 16 when a group of dogs got into their field. ### **Laying hens** The farm has 400 hybrid laying hens and has this year invested in two modern mobile houses [McGregor Polytunnels](https://mcgregorpolytunnels.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com), having previously housed them in static houses. The hens are managed by Gala and Rose Bramwell, with all the eggs being sold through the farm shop. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01695.jpg) The new hen house from McGregor Polytunnels ### **Pigs** There is a mixture of heritage breeds at Plaw Hatch, which is home to Tamworths, Durocs and Large Blacks, with three sows and a Duroc boar. They are fed a mixed diet of whey, a by-product from the cheese-making process which is a great source of protein, together with home-grown oats and the odd treat from the garden. All the pigs are butchered on site and sold through the shop. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC01750.jpg) Traditional breeds of pigs ### **Arable** The majority of the arable land under cultivation is in Chailey, where the enterprise grows around 40 tons of oats and barley for animal feed, carrying out all the cultivation, sowing and combining in house. ### **Communication is key** With such a diverse range of enterprises on the farm, the key to success is good communication. The farm team meets daily each morning to discuss chores as well as sitting down every two weeks to discuss their individual enterprises in more detail. The business operates a flat hierarchical structure, with each enterprise manager responsible for his or her individual budget. In addition, the team uses an online instant messaging group as a useful online tool to communicate on farm tasks. ### **Plaw Hatch website and social media** The website at www.plawhatchfarm.co.uk provides information about the different farm enterprises, shop opening times and upcoming events and workshops. It also explains more about what biodynamic farming means and about the co-operative’s business values – highlighting the team’s sustainable approach to caring for the land, their animals and the people that contribute to the farm’s day-to-day activities. In addition to the website, Plaw Hatch Farm sends out regular newsletters to its highly engaged community of local shoppers and supporters containing updates on what’s happening on the farm, upcoming events and future projects. ### **Gala has her own Instagram account** [@farmergala](https://www.instagram.com/farmergala/?ref=indiefarmer.com), documenting life on the farm with her flock of sheep and sheepdog Pip. She shares a lot of the day-to-day farm updates to her followers, which number nearly 3,000. ### **Funding** With one in five farms reliant on the Basic Payment Scheme to stay solvent, I asked whether Plaw Hatch Farm would survive without subsidies. Business manager Rebecca admitted the enterprise would miss the money, as it is used to fund infrastructure improvements and help buy new equipment, but she said they would step up efforts to apply for other grants from sources such as the Lund Fund, – which recently helped with a £10,000 grant to fund the planting of a new hedgerow. Plaw Hatch Farm has also just agreed a new five-year, mid-tier countryside stewardship programme. ### **Summary** Plaw Hatch has bucked conventional farming wisdom – increasing economies of scale, more mechanisation and less labour – and sells 95% of everything it produces through the on-site farm shop. Not being at the mercy of the supermarkets and commodity price fluctuations has enabled the team to continue farming in a more traditional way. “We’re the closest thing to how farms are depicted in children’s books,” said Robin Hall, who looks after the dairy cows. He also stressed the role that people have in making the farm work, reminding us that there is, after all, culture in agriculture. ### **More Information** A version of this article first appeared in the [South East Farmer](http://www.southeastfarmer.net/?ref=indiefarmer.com) You can read some some of Gala’s previous farm diary entries [here](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/author/galabarker/?ref=indiefarmer.com) We’d love to hear what you think? Leave a **comment** below. To stay up to date with the latest Indie Farmer stories **follow** and **like** us on [facebook](https://www.facebook.com/indiefarmermedia/), [twitter](https://twitter.com/IndieFarm?ref=indiefarmer.com) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/indiefarmer/?ref=indiefarmer.com). ### Photo story: faces and soundbites of the Oxford Real Farming Conference 2017 URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/photo-story-faces-and-soundbites-of-the-oxford-real-farming-conference-2017/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T14:44:46.000Z ### **Last week we went along to the much-loved Oxford Real Farming Conference (ORFC17), the annual food and farming event set up as an alternative to the Oxford Farming Conference..** Firstly a bit of background for those of you who haven’t been before – ORFC is a unique gathering of the UK’s sustainable and organic food and farming movements and offers a practical mix of on-farm advice, showcasing new techniques for best practice in agroecological farming, and discussion of global food system, including economic and trade policies that affect British farming. It’s also a chance for young (and some older farmers) to get together for a bit of a knees up and to find out what everyone has planned for the year ahead. The conference now in it’s eighth year attracts a sellout crowd of 850 delegates – bringing together practicing, mud-on-the-boots farmers and growers with scientists and economists and activists and lawyers and everyone else with a serious interest in food and agriculture. We discovered ORFC back in 2014 before it made the jump to the Town Hall and have been coming every year since. Last year we got given a small *Indie Farmer* exhibitor stand to help spread the word and were delighted to be invited to exhibit again. Being online it’s always handy to get face to face feedback from readers and newsletter subscribers – helping shape decisions for the year ahead. One of the areas we’re keen to explore this year is introducing a print journal – a topic we spent quite a bit of time discussing with our friends [Stir to Action](https://www.stirtoaction.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com) magazine on the neighbouring stand to us (who were doing a roaring trade in current and back issues of their print magazine!). ### **Sessions, interviewing delegates, videos and some #ORFC17 tweets that caught our eye..** With over 50 sessions with expert speakers on topics such as changing the productionist narrative, the power of storytelling, a community farm for every community to agroforestry, do you dig it? scaling up permaculture to farm scale and the future of livestock farming post Brexit – deciding what to attend over the two days isn’t easy. For the most part I stayed close to our stand in the main hall – which gave me more time to do some mini interviews and portraits of fellow delegates (scroll down to see these). Also tune into the upcoming episode of [Farmerama Radio](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/tag/podcast/?ref=indiefarmer.com) podcast later this month to hear from from the show. I also captured some short video snippets from Q&As in various sessions I attended – one from Guy Watson from Riverford – who suggests we could all ask restaurant staff about provenance and welfare claims on menu, and to not to be fobbed off by bizarre claims like ‘all our chickens are wild and from inside the M25’. First up here are a few #ORFC17 tweets that caught our eye… > [#phosphorus](https://twitter.com/hashtag/phosphorus?src=hash&ref=indiefarmer.com) finite[#nitrogen](https://twitter.com/hashtag/nitrogen?src=hash&ref=indiefarmer.com) destroys soil & pollutes water > yet [#cows](https://twitter.com/hashtag/cows?src=hash&ref=indiefarmer.com) fertilise, build soil [#SequesterCarbon](https://twitter.com/hashtag/SequesterCarbon?src=hash&ref=indiefarmer.com)[#goOrganic](https://twitter.com/hashtag/goOrganic?src=hash&ref=indiefarmer.com) [#noBrainer](https://twitter.com/hashtag/noBrainer?src=hash&ref=indiefarmer.com) [#ORFC17](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ORFC17?src=hash&ref=indiefarmer.com) [pic.twitter.com/6gg8y8MC8B](https://t.co/6gg8y8MC8B?ref=indiefarmer.com) > > — Christine Page (@smilingtreefarm) [January 10, 2017](https://twitter.com/smilingtreefarm/status/818857920427425792?ref=indiefarmer.com) > Scribbles from excellent [#ORFC17](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ORFC17?src=hash&ref=indiefarmer.com) clearly theres no simple solution but lots of great ideas just need to make it so!! [pic.twitter.com/AI5ts1fSxC](https://t.co/AI5ts1fSxC?ref=indiefarmer.com) > > — Lucy Bjorck (@Octofish) [January 5, 2017](https://twitter.com/Octofish/status/817129422235074560?ref=indiefarmer.com) > Great to hear from [@MatthewAndLou](https://twitter.com/MatthewAndLou?ref=indiefarmer.com) about selling rare breed eggs & other delights at [@FromeFood](https://twitter.com/FromeFood?ref=indiefarmer.com) [@foodassembly](https://twitter.com/foodassembly?ref=indiefarmer.com) at [@ORFC](https://twitter.com/ORFC?ref=indiefarmer.com) [#ORFC17](https://twitter.com/hashtag/ORFC17?src=hash&ref=indiefarmer.com) [pic.twitter.com/wUX5kKsYGX](https://t.co/wUX5kKsYGX?ref=indiefarmer.com) > > — Annie Landless (@annielandless) [January 5, 2017](https://twitter.com/annielandless/status/816994894749306880?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### ORFC17 Faces.. ### **Ellen Rignell – Apprentice Grower at Trill Farm Garden** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08759-1200x801.jpg) **Nigel**: Can you tell us about your highlights of the conference so far? **Ellen**: My favourite session was the do you dig it session with Charles Dowding and Ian TolHurst – some really great conversation happening there and also the Brexit session in the old library, I felt really hopeful we could re-write a lot of policy and heard some really exciting ideas which I hadn’t heard before. **Nigel**: Any New Year’s resolutions? ### **Peter Lundgren – Lincolnshire Farmer and Peter Kindersley – Sheepdrove Organic Farm** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08752-1200x801.jpg) **Nigel**: What are your big take aways from the event so far? **Peter Lundgren**: The really great thing about this event is the energy – when you meet Lincolnshire farmers they are often very down, they’ve only got 2000 acres, they’ve only got one quad track (I had to look up what a quad trac is) and you come here and you meet young people desperate to get into farming. I was talking to one young couple last night they’ve got seven goats living in a converted bus desperate to get into farming and that level of energy and enthusiasm is what will take farming forward. **Nigel**: What have been your highlights so far? **Peter Kindersley**: It’s an amazing buzz – it’s really looking into the future and what we can do to help our farming systems fit in with nature, and supply quality food **Nigel**: What’s stood out for you this year? **Peter Kindersley**: The big big debate this year is Brexit, the other is nutritional differences between organic and conventional food of which there is no doubt, because we do a lot of funding over here and over in San Francisco, Newcastle and Argentina is really coming home to say organic is better ### **Hywel Lewis – Beef Farmer and Forrester at Lower Mount Farm** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08765-1200x801.jpg) **Nigel**: What have been your take aways from the conference? **Hywel**: My biggest take away from the conference is being very inspired by other farmers telling their story and how they are making their farms work in a sustainable and viable way **Nigel**: Any New Year’s resolutions? **Hywel**: I have a New Year resolution every month! Not just in January! My main one is improving the systems on the farm so I can do less work to achieve what I need ### **Gala Bailey-Barker – First generation Farmer at Plaw Hatch Biodynamic Farm and regular contributor to *Indie Farmer*** ### ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08785-1200x801.jpg) **Nigel**: What have been the highlights of the conference so far? **Gala**: When farming is largely considered to be environmentally destructive it is a gift to be reminded that, as farmers, we care for a huge percent of our island and that we therefore have the power to do a great deal of good in looking after it. Not only caring for our individual farms and the flora and fauna they do and can encompass but also for the larger environment. It was inspiring to see what others have achieved on their own farms in the session on Nurturing Nature within Farming and the positive impacts a different approach has had environmentally, agriculturally, financially and aesthetically. **Nigel**: Any New Year’s Resolutions? **Gala**: Read more – starting with Soil Sisters: A toolkit for women farmers by Lisa Kivirist and moving onto The One Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka. Write more, learn to shear, get my chainsaw ticket, stretch more/do yoga – sheep, tractors and milking are bad for your back! Do the Homeopathy at Wellie Level Course. Holistic Management® Introduction, Financial and Grazing Planning Course ### **Christine Page – Smiling Tree Farm** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08756-843x1200.jpg) ### **Simon Fairlie – Micro Dairy Farmer and Co-Editor of The Land Magazine** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08778-1200x801.jpg) **Nigel**: Any thoughts on this years conference – what’s your thinking on Brexit? **Simon**: Best I’ve heard is some murmurings on creating a common front on post brexit Agriculture. **Nigel**: Any New Year’s resolutions? **Simon**: Yes – I’m giving up nicotine lozenges – just Cuban Cigars now (once every 6 months or so!) ### **Sophia Campbell – Landworkers Alliance and Natalie Lamb – Nutritional Therapist** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08783-1200x801.jpg) ### **Emma Oliver from Cliff Veg and Rebecca AKA the Wild Shepherd from Village Farm** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08782-1200x801.jpg) **Nigel**: What have been your biggest takeaways? **Emma**: My take away from here is a lot of talk about soil science which is amazing, I’m really really pleased that it’s getting into more what I consider organic mainstream farming, because it’s amazing to see how many ways there are two fixed the soil and nice to see lots of people doing it **Nigel**: How has the conference been for you so far? **Rebecca**: it’s my first year at Oxford I’ve really enjoyed it (though there needs to be more talks about sheep)! It’s so lovely to meet the sustainable farming community – everyone is so lovely and I really loved how many no plough and soil carbon themes there are. ### **Dale Webb – Royal Agricultural University** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08753-863x1200.jpg) **Nigel**: What have been the highlights of the event so far? **Dale**: The variety of different people and how more conventional farmers are coming over – they are desperate for solutions and looking at the alternative side. **Nigel**: Any New Year’s resolutions? **Dale**: I’m not from a farming background but I’m trying to increase my knowledge and practical experience – I’m starting to work with a beef suckler herd tomorrow! ### **Alexandra Sexton – Kings College London & Annie Landless – Food Assembly** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08745-1200x801.jpg) **Nigel**: What have been your take aways from the conference so far? **Alex**: My biggest take away is hope – which is quite nice at the start of the year – a lot of the stuff I’ve heard about the future of organic is really positive and a lot of other approaches too – how the evidence is mounting that the way a lot of conventional farming is done can’t continue so yeh so it’s one of hope rather than doom and gloom. **Nigel**: Any New Year’s resolutions? **Alex**: My new year’s resolution is to try and think more about the food I eat and have more conversations about it with people who maybe don’t think about it but not in a preachy way ### **Alice Holden and daughter – Head Grower at Dagenham Starter Farm** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08742-801x1200.jpg) ### **Lucas Ihlein – University of Wollongong** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08776-1200x801.jpg) **Nige**l: What have been your take aways from the conference so far? **Lucas**: The sessions on Agroforestry – the growing of trees amongst arable systems – have been a standout for me. I’m working with sugar cane farmers in Queensland at the moment, who are experimenting with intercropping diverse species in that monoculture. I was also keen to attend the ORFC17 discussion about the importance of Storytelling in progressive agriculture. It’s not just about what we do, it’s about how we communicate about it beyond our small groups. **Nigel**: Any New Year’s resolutions? **Lucas**: ​I want to explore the viability of soil carbon sequestration through regenerative agriculture systems – and whether it’s financially viable for farmers to be paid for this service. I met a few experts at ORFC17 who I’ll be conversing with about this over the coming year. ### **Camilla Ker – Cheese Maker** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08771-1200x801.jpg) ### **Louise and Matthew MacDonald – New MacDonald Farm** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08767-1200x801.jpg) **Nigel**: What have been the highlights this year? **Matthew**: The highlight has been meeting like minded farmers! **Nigel**: Any New Year’s Resolutions? **Matthew**: To get certified organic and to take better care of our soil – to introduce some different leys ### **Veronica Burke – Scotland The Bread** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08770-1200x801.jpg) ### **ORFC17 Videos** Some pointed questions from the audience in the Real Food from Real Farmers session Some more great questions targeted at the expert panel such as…when can organic growers and producers put organic is healthier on their packaging? A passionate case from Simon Fairlie re the debate around what will happen to the money we currently pay into the CAP for food and the environment post Brexit… That’s it folks. Please feel free to share far and wide and leave a comment in the box below ### Joel Salatin Interview: Future Farming Systems URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/joel-salatin-interview-future-farming-systems/ Last updated: 2026-01-25T16:35:44.000Z ### **We were fortunate enough to interview American Farmer, Lecturer and Author Joel Salatin during his recent flying visit to the UK. He was the keynote speaker at a 2-day workshop we attended titled ‘The Role of Livestock in Future Farming Systems: From Theory to Practice’ run by The Sustainable Food Trust and hosted by Sir Alan and Lady Parker on their farm in Gloucestershire.** A self-described “Christian-libertarian-environmentlaist-capitalist-lunatic-farmer”, Joel Salatin produces high-quality “beyond organic” meats, which are raised using environmentally responsible, ecologically beneficial, sustainable agriculture on his family’s [Polyface Farm](http://www.polyfacefarms.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com) in Virginia. *TIME* magazine dubbed him the world’s most innovative farmer. His holistic grazing and mixed stocking systems are featured in Michael Pollan’s seminal book “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and the smash hit documentary Food, Inc – both of which helped propel him to international fame and inspire family farmers the world over to adopt his methods. He’s also a prolific author and has written many books including a series of how-to guides such as “Family Friendly Farming”, “Holy Cows and Hog Heaven: The Food Buyer’s Guide to Farm Friendly Food” and “The Marvellous Pigness of Pigs”. And it’s not only farmers that love him – he is one of the biggest voices in the sustainable-food movement and claims that we could sequester all the carbon that has been emitted since the Industrial Age if if every farmer in the U.S practice his regenerative farming systems. We got to learn more about these methods during the 2-day workshop (which you can read more about in our in depth report [here](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/2016/12/07/the-role-of-livestock-in-future-farming-systems/?ref=indiefarmer.com)). He was also kind enough to spare 15 minutes with us to pose on a cotswold stone wall (for a photo) and chat family farming, tech and more.. ### **We love your vision of creating a farm that your children want – do you have any practical advice on how to overcome the age old parent-child tension?** **Joel Salatin**: This parent-child tension is everywhere – the parents who own the farm or have developed the farm feel threatened by the children’s creativity or seemingly lack of gravitas about how much work it is to acquire the farm, the tractor etc and of course the younger generation feel inhibited by the older generations orthodoxy. So there is tension. Two things I would say, one is there needs to be place for the younger generation to try something embryonically without threatening the mothership, so carve out a hectare or two hectares – that will be yours. What parent wouldn’t be interested to see what their child can do in the corner of that barn or the corner of that shed or the corner of that field. Well the child might say that’s not big enough – it has to be big enough. The younger generation has to be willing to try a very small embryo and the older generation seeing that it’s so small doesn’t see it as a threat to the mothership and is much more likely to let that happen. The 2nd thing is to separate farm incomes, so both generation can enjoy functionally orientated compensation – I call these fiefdoms – the parents can have their enterprise and the children can have their enterprise and they can sink or fail on their own merits. So they don’t jeoporardise each other, so that the childs failure doesn’t jeopardise the parents income and the parents curmudgeon-ess doesn’t curtail the next generations inventiveness. So separating that out so you’re not being all for one and one for all. Sharing in common sounds good on paper and it sounds so warm and fuzzy and communial, but in real sense it doesn’t work – because pretty soon one’s going to feel like they are carrying the heavier load, the others not and we are feel – so divide the income streams and create spheres of autonomy and responsibility – in our family we have four – my wife and I and our son and daughter basically 4 of us as equal people – we actually sat down and created job descriptions so we didn’t step on each others toes – it was very liberating to create these spheres of authority autonomy and influence for all of us. ### **We’re huge fans of your innovative low-tech farm tools and ‘bits of kit’ that we’ve seen featured in your videos about Polyface Farm – do you have a current personal favourite?** **Joel Salatin:** My favourite one is the millennium feather net – that’s this x trust skid structure with a thousand layers in it – that enabled us (that came way after the original egg mobile that follows the cows) it enabled us to scale up the egg enterprise with the security of the electric netting, boundary to keep predators out and keep the chickens in – it gave us an tremendous level of control and incredibly functional structure in that it was not expensivee it doesn’t blow around, you can’t have a flat tire – anyone can move it – it’s really been a great functional unit. (Here is Joel offering his advice on the prototype egg-mobile at Fir Farm, Gloucestershire) ### **Looking to the future – what do you think might be your favourite bit of kit 10 years from now?** **Joel Salatin:** I think there are some cools pieces of infrastructure that would be neat – one would be some video surveillance – particularly for water troughs on rented land -10 miles away. Wouldn’t it be great to see real time video coverage – so I think cheap accessible video surveillance – we’ve played around with it a lot but right now we don’t have enough cheap ubiquitous cell phone service to make it happen. That’s something I’m looking forward to it and I think that it will come – so I can go down in the morning and as part of chores I can punch the computer monitors and bring up every water trough involved with the system -and say yep that ones working, that ones working – that would really help my day be stress free. ### **What are the main differences between organic and beyond organic?** **Joel Salatin:** The main difference is that organic does not (at least in the US) require pasturage and it doesn’t require a plant animal relationship – so your whole fertility program can be imported fish emulsion or even composted concentrated animal feeding operation manures – so you don’t have to have an animal at all on an organic farm, and where you do have animals, they don’t have to be on pasture and get green material or exercise or sunshine and all that – they can be confined in a building and still be certified organic. To me those are the two biggest areas. ### **Any last comments for young and old farmers?** **Joel Salatin:** All I would say is that there’s not a single farm on the planet that is fully leveraging and capitalising on its air, soil and water. And I’m not saying capitalise on it to deplete it, I’m saying to capitalise it to use and actually increase air soil and water whilst you’re using it. I know a lot of time in farming we feel warn out, we feel out of ideas, we feel can’t coming on (like flu) – I’m here to encourage folks that there’s a lot of can out there – we need to expose ourselves to new ideas, new people, new sets of eyes to full leverage the gifts we have. **Like us on** [**facebook**](https://www.facebook.com/indiefarmermedia/) **and follow us on** [**twitter**](https://twitter.com/IndieFarm/?ref=indiefarmer.com) **to get the latest stories and updates** **Enjoyed this interview? Share It! (with our social media sharing tools below)** #### **More Information** Check out our report on [The Role of Livestock in Future Farming Systems: From theory to practice](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/2016/12/07/the-role-of-livestock-in-future-farming-systems/?ref=indiefarmer.com). Also stay tuned for the upcoming interview feature in the next edition of [Farmerama Radio](http://farmerama.co/?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### The Role of Livestock in Future Farming Systems URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/the-role-of-livestock-in-future-farming-systems/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T15:08:32.000Z ### **I recently attended a 2-day workshop run by the Sustainable Food Trust titled ‘The Role of Livestock in Future Farming Systems: From Theory to Practice’ featuring Joel Salatin and a diverse range of expert panelists.** It was an extraordinary and diverse gathering of some of the UK’s leading food producers who had come together to learn from the pioneering livestock farming systems developed by Joel Salatin at his [Polyface Farm](http://www.polyfacefarms.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com) in Virginia. For anyone who hasn’t come across Joel before *TIME* magazine dubbed him the world’s most innovative farmer. His holistic grazing and mixed stocking systems are featured prominently in Michael Pollan’s seminal book The Omnivore’s Dilemma and the documentary film Food, Inc – both of which have helped propel him to international fame, inspiring many conventional and organic farmers to adopt his methods in the process. I got to see Joel speak for the first time at a free lecture and panel discussion held at Bristol University the evening before. He’s an incredible story teller and made a passionate case for how livestock are vital to restoring ecosystems. After Joel we heard from four panelists – each giving 5-minute presentations. The panelists included **Tara Garnett** (see 47 mins in above) – who initiated and runs the Food Climate Research Network. **Simon Crichton** (see 40 mins in) – an organic food expert with over 15 years of agricultural banking experience – who now heads the food, farming and trade team at Triodos Bank. **Mark Eisler** (see 34 mins in) – Chair in Global Farm Animal Health at the University of Bristol and **Zoë Harcombe** (see 55 mins in) – a researcher with a PhD in public health nutrition. These snappy and informative presentations led into a heated panel debate with Joel and Tara Garnett holding opposing and seemingly irreconcilable viewpoints, mainly around the benefits of holistic grazing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08254-1200x801.jpg) The panel minus Zoë who’s to the right Simon ### **Fir Farm – Day 1** Moving from the lecture theatre to the fields of rural Gloucestershire we arrived at Fir Farm in Lower Swell – the venue for our 2-day workshop provided by our generous hosts Sir Alan and Lady Parker. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08305.jpg) A converted barn – our venue for the 2-day workshop at Fir Farm After a short welcome and introduction speech by Patrick Holden, Joel took to the stage to describe the approach he has developed over 30 years in the management of a beef herd, pastured poultry and pigs. It was fascinating to learn that his farm services more than 5,000 families, 10 retail outlets, and 50 restaurants through on-farm sales and metropolitan buying clubs with salad bar beef, pastured poultry, eggmobile eggs, pig aerator pork, forage-based rabbits, pastured turkey and forestry products using relationship marketing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08306-1200x801.jpg) The view from the top of the hill On family farming and succession – I thought Joel’s advice on ‘creating a farm that your children want’ really resonated, as well as some useful tips on how to work with your farming parents in a way that ‘doesn’t threaten the mothership’. A topic I returned to later in the day when I got to interview him. However, what I found most exciting is his claim that we could sequester all the carbon that has been emitted since the Industrial Age if every farmer in the U.S practiced his regenerative farming system. > “If every farmer in the U.S would practice this system we would sequester all the carbon that has been emitted since the industrial age” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08296.jpg) Inside the barn ### **Tour of Fir Farm** After Joel’s speech and with the light fading fast we headed out on the farm for a quick tour.. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08268.jpg) Paddy Hoare giving us a brief overview of the enterprises at Fir Farm #### **The ‘Prototype’ Chicken Tractor** The team at Fir Farm have designed and built this prototype chicken tractor based on the ones used at Polyface Farm. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08269.jpg) The prototype chicken tractor ‘egg-mobile’ at Fir Farm ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08272.jpg) #### **The Hereford Cattle** We got to see a few of their Hereford cattle out in the field and heard how they move them weekly but with darkness upon us, we headed back to the main set of buildings to inspect some of the cattle that have been brought inside for the winter months. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08277.jpg) Meeting some of the Hereford cattle ### **Meeting some of the participants** One of the most interesting aspects of the workshop was getting to meet other farmers and food producers from around the U.K. Here are just a few of the participants I managed to speak with and photograph over the two days. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08302-1200x801.jpg) Andrew Brewster from Brewster Cattle Co and Muhsen Hassanin from Abraham Organics ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08310-801x1200.jpg) Nessie Reid – Political Ecologist and Performance Artist working on issues surrounding access to land, food waste and sustainable agriculture. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08295.jpg) Anthony Bown – Organic Farmer from Orkney ### **Fir Farm – Day 2** The second day of the workshop was dedicated to a series of sessions exploring some key themes and drawing on the expertise of Joel and the expert panelists. ### **Session 1 – Practical application of ‘mob’ / holistic grazing techniques** First up we got to hear from **Andrew Brewster** from Brewster Cattle Co, who talked us through his mob grazing techniques and showed us some useful practical tools and things to think about. Then Dairy Farmer **Robert Craig** from Dolphenby Farmer, Cumbria spoke about the importance of the plate meter in his grazing system and the challenges of the dairy in general. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/IMG_9689-1200x900.jpg) Interviewing Joel Salatin – stay tuned for a dedicated Q&A post soon and a feature in the next episode of Farmerama Radio ### **Session 2 – On farm processing as a key element of vertical integration** **Nina Purcell** from the Food Standards Agency spoke about regulation and how they want to make it easier for farmers to process their own produce. We then heard from **Thomas Harttung** from Aarstiderne talk about a project in Norway, where they have split an 800 acre farm in eight 100 acre farms to help drive innovation. Lastly, **Christine Page** from Smiling Tree Farm gave us an overview of her micro dairy, beef and lamb farm – where she sells everything direct. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08317-1200x801.jpg) Thomas Harttung – Co-founder and Chairman of Aarstiderne and Chair of the Sustainable Food Trust ### **Session 3 – Marketing opportunities for sustainable livestock products** In the final session we got to hear how **Lord Newborough** uses Bisen to slow traffic and attract visitors to Rhug Estate, how the Pasture Fed Livestock Alliance needs more producers to meet the growing demand for grass fed beef by **John Meadley** and **Tim Field** from Daylesford gave us an overview of their farming and direct sales food business and gave a short introduction to Agricology a new farmer to farmer platform for sharing best practice. ### **What happens next?** There were a number of exciting ideas from the event but one that really stood out for me was the establishment of a comprehensive dataset of the soil carbon outcomes from different farming systems. It was agreed that this would really help inform policy makers, especially those who have an interest in rewarding farmers for being soil carbon stewards. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08318.jpg) All rise – HRH The Prince of Wales put in a brief appearance for a presentation about Polyface Farm ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08316.jpg) Joel Salatin and Patrick Holden ##### Like us on [facebook](https://www.facebook.com/indiefarmermedia/) and follow us on [twitter](https://twitter.com/IndieFarm/?ref=indiefarmer.com) to stay up to date with the latest *Indie Farmer* stories **Enjoyed this report? Share It! (with our social media sharing tools below)** ### **More Information** Stay tuned for our upcoming Q&A with Joel Salatin – you’ll also be able to hear our chat in episode 17 of [Farmerama Radio](http://farmerama.co/?ref=indiefarmer.com) due to be released on Christmas Day ### Report: Slow Food Terra Madre 2016 URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/report-slow-food-terra-madre-2016/ Last updated: 2026-01-25T19:47:29.000Z Last month I attended the world famous **Slow Food Terra Madre 2016 – Salone Del Gusto** held in Turin, Italy as a delegate (and a reporter) from the 22-26th of September. It was my second Slow Food experience in Italy having attended the **SFYN** (Slow Food Youth Network) **We Feed the Planet** event in Milan last year – aimed at bringing together young farmers, food producers and change makers (for more info check out our photo story [here](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/2015/10/17/slow-food-we-feed-the-planet/?ref=indiefarmer.com)). ### **What is Slow Food?** In case you don’t know – here’s a quick overview. Slow Food is a global, grassroots organisation with supporters in over 150 countries around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to the community and the environment. It was founded in Italy by Carlo Petrini in 1986 and is promoted as an alternative to fast food – the slow food philosophy can be summarised simply as good, clean and food for everyone. It’s a philosophy that underpins many of the inspiring stories of independent farmers and food producers doing things differently here on *Indie Farmer*. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Slow-food-1.jpg) **At Piazza Carignano – one of the main outdoor exhibition areas* ### **It was a BIG event…** I was one of over 7000 Slow Food delegates – fellow farmers, food producers, chefs, activists and advocates – who had travelled from all over the world to come together in Turin to share food and knowledge. To give you an idea of the scale of the event – there were over 1200 foods exhibitors from over 100 countries. It was my first Terra Madre Salone Del Gusto and unlike previous years the organisers had decided to host the event in the city itself – spreading the exhibitors and events across Valentino park and some of the beautiful squares. Whilst it made logistics of getting from place to place a bit trickier it opened up the event to the whole city and made it accessible to everyone. Needless to say it was a huge success – drawing over 1 million people over the course of the 4-days – which was over triple the 300,000 people who attended the previous Terra Madre held in 2014. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Slow-food-2.jpg) **Inside the huge catering hall for Slow Food delegates* ### **Some highlights from the Slow Food stalls..** The first couple of days I spent a lot of time chatting to my fellow delegates and wandering around the 1200 stalls – sampling and buying incredible foods from all over the world. With so much to see and do it was nearly impossible making decisions on where to be at any given time – I was especially torn over which conferences and forums to attend – more of which below.. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Slow-food-3.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Slow-food-4.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/slow-food-5.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/slow-food-6.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/slow-food-7.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/slow-food-8.jpg) ### **There were fascinating conferences, forums, themed spaces and interactive tours..** The central theme of the program was loving the earth. To give you a flavour of a few of the topics – they included – **Can Agroecology Feed the World, When Chefs side with Farmers. They are Giants, But We are Millions**. One of my favourite interactive tours was **Slow Meat** – highlighting the effects of both industrial and more environmentally sustainable forms of animal agriculture and how we can all do more to eat less, better quality meat.. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07109-1.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07105-1.jpg) ### **Terra Madre Parade – sharing our love for the Earth..** In the early evening of Friday the 23rd I joined over 7000 delegates from over 100 countries in a huge celebration of Slow Food as we made our way with drums and flags and banners through the heart of the city along the riverside avenue of Corso Cairoli, up to Piazza Vittorio, Via Po and Piazza Carlo Alberto – marching, smiling and shouting the message of good, clean and fair food for all. It was an unforgettable experience and I somehow managed to juggle taking photos, shooting video and recording some short interviews for Farmerama Radio. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07124.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07139.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07207.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07128.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07176.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07201.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07151.jpg) ### **SFYN Tank** On the Saturday the Slow Food Youth Network organised a free, full day social-design workshop on 9 food issues for 99 young people engaged in grassroots food work and creativity. I was invited to be an issues coach for the ‘**Democratising Food Communications**‘ group and over the course of the day we spent most of our time brain storming. With less than 45 minutes to go until our 5-min ‘solution’ pitch – we decided to focus our efforts on an idea to create a platform and campaign to highlight the international issues around food labelling (and standards). It was great to see everyone working together as a team and Gilliane Jennifer delivered a fantastic pitch – receiving great feedback from the panel of ‘judges’. Other groups tackled subjects such as **Repurposing Abandoned Spaces for Food Production**, **Food Education Tools**, **Bridging the urban rural gap** and **Improving access to slaughterhouses for livestock Farmers** to name a few. To find out more check out the SFYN TANK site [here](http://www.sfyntank.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/IMG_4853.jpg) **The Democratising Food Communications Group* ### **Farmerama Radio** I was lucky to be joined by my Farmerama Radio c0-presenters Abby and Jo in Turin, where we recorded our first ever live overseas edition on the Sunday – featuring some highlights from the event alongside some other interesting farming stories from around the world. You can listen to the episode [here](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/2016/09/30/farmerama-episode-14-terra-madre/?ref=indiefarmer.com) or subscribe via iTunes [here](https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/farmerama/id1031542491?mt=2&ref=indiefarmer.com). ![img_4866](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/IMG_4866.jpg) Turin at night ### **Piazza della Republica** I spent my final morning in Turin at the incredible food market in Piazza della Republica and managed to pick up some delicious snacks for my plane journey home. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07323.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07283.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07293.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07304.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07311.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07251.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07270.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07266.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07261.jpg) ### **More Info** To find out more about Slow Food you can check out their international website [here](http://www.slowfood.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com) and the UK Slow Food website [here](https://www.slowfood.org.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com) Dan Saladino was there from the BBC Food Programme – you can listen to his report **Terra Madre Part 1: A Global Gathering** via the BBC’s Radio iplayer [here](http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z3fw0?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### Photo story: Agricology Open Day at Daylesford Farm URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/photo-story-agricology-open-day-at-daylesford-farm/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T15:24:36.000Z ### **Many different organisations across boundaries and labels have grouped together to form Agricology, a curated knowledge base for ecological farming ideas..** Farmerama Abby and I went along to the Agricology Open Day held at Daylesford Farm a couple of months ago to learn more about it and see some of their sustainable farming practices first hand… You can listen to the feature we recorded in [episode 13 of Farmerama](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/2016/08/29/farmerama-radio-a-post-brexit-farming-special/?ref=indiefarmer.com) embedded at the bottom of this post or available to download via iTunes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05377.jpg) Welcome address by Dalyesford Farm Manager Richard Smith and Susanne Padel speaking on behalf of Agricology. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05385.jpg) Richard talking about their pedigree herd of rare breed Gloucester Cows ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05387.jpg) The herd of dairy Gloucester Cows which they milk to produce Gloucester cheese to sell through the Daylesford shop ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05392.jpg) The herd of pedigree Friesian cows ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05393.jpg) The mobile speaker system bringing up the rear ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05395.jpg) Head grower Jez explaining more about their approach ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05397.jpg) Abby listening to Jed’s engaging presentation ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05398.jpg) Strawberry picking session.. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05404.jpg) Farmer Stephen Briggs explaining more about Agroforestry, a new approach to increasing farm production ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05408.jpg) Produce World Director Andrew Burgess talking about- LEAF (Linking the Environment and Farming) and field-scale horticulture ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05411.jpg) Tractor and trailer ride through the Daylesford Estate ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05415.jpg) Driving through the Estate ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05416.jpg) The herd of Aberdeen Angus cows and calves ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05422.jpg) An impressive crop of sainfoin ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05424.jpg) Bees collecting pollen from the sainfoin ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05432.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05439.jpg) Not exactly sure what was going on here but the cows were very rather amused.. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC05446.jpg) One of the modern mobile chicken tractors for their small flocks of organic free range egg laying hens ### **More Information** [Agricology](http://www.agricology.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com) [Farmerama Radio](http://farmerama.co/?ref=indiefarmer.com) To stay up to date with the latest Indie Farmer stories **follow** and **like** us on [facebook](https://www.facebook.com/indiefarmermedia/), [twitter](https://twitter.com/IndieFarm?ref=indiefarmer.com) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/indiefarmer/?ref=indiefarmer.com). ### Farm Profile: Slow Grown Chickens at Fosse Meadows URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/farm-profile-slow-grown-chickens-at-fosse-meadows/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T15:30:17.000Z #### Over the last few months I’ve been out and about with my camera profiling some of the small independent farmers and foodmakers who supply Farmdrop – a local food business on a mission to fix the food chain. In the first of the series I meet chicken farmers Nick Ball and Jacob Sykes at Fosse Meadows in Leicestershire to find out more about their slow grown chicken enterprise. ##### What’s the history of the farm and the business as it is today? It all started seven years ago. We gave up our city jobs (I was a fashion designer and Jacob was a property developer) and together we set up the chicken farm on my Dad’s farm for six years. We then moved to the council farm here near Lutterworth about a year ago. It’s an independent business with family ties and links. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00744.jpg) Nick and Jacobs chickens scratching around in the hedges ##### Why did you setup Fosse Meadows? We started the company because of our love of good food. I’m a fourth generation farmer so it ticked lots of boxes for both of us. We wanted to do something out of the norm – something that will keep us working 12 hours a day 7 days a week for a long time! ##### What do you produce? We produce fabulous chicken, turkeys and geese. The difference with us is that we grow our birds for longer, so they take on more texture and taste with an incredible flavour. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00469.jpg) Free range slow grown chickens ##### What do you love about Farmdrop? It gives us another outlet to reach a wider audience rather than just our farmers’ markets. We’re right behind the ethos of supporting the artisan farmer. Farmdrop are selective in who they work with and it’s a transparent business – you know what you’re getting as a customer and as a producer too. We also love being able to sell online. Although it sounds simple, doing this ourselves would be a huge amount of work and cost on top of doing everything else on the farm. Farmdrop makes it really simple for us to get our products direct to customers who want that level of convenience with confidence in the produce they eat. ##### Tell us more about your methods of production: In essence it’s an organic production system: all the sheds are mobile and the stocking densities (the number of livestock in a unit area) are low. There are no fences – our birds can go where they like. They like a hedge! They have as much outside roaming space as they want and they get that from morning to dusk. We also grow our birds for longer than most organic systems and as a result we use non-organic certified feed and straw bedding as it wouldn’t be economically viable to do so on the scale we’re at. Our farming practices are the same as organic in every other way that we have small flocks, moveable sheds, and we don’t put any fertilisers or pesticides onto the grass. We don’t put any antibiotics into their feeds unless prescribed by a vet for welfare reasons (which is very very rare). ##### What else should we know about how the birds are reared? At Fosse Meadows we grow our birds for longer than organic standards. We give them a natural no additive feed with no antibiotics given as standard. We are using chicks from France which have a much more elongated breast and bigger legs – this means they roam further and you get much better quality meat. Because they can roam, they are not these short little legged chickens with enormous breasts which can’t really move anywhere, which is what you find in the supermarkets. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00934.jpg) Day old free range chicks ##### Can you talk us through the life-cycle process of your chickens and turkeys? The chicks arrive every two weeks (we saw 3000 arrive today). We then grow them for three to four weeks under brooding (heat) lamps in a barn. We then bring down the temperature to get them acclimatised to going outside. At three to four weeks we take them outside to a mobile shed which has been moved onto fresh pasture and they live for the next eight weeks or so out in the field – closed up at night to keep them safe from Mr Fox. But essentially they are free to roam and to do what chickens wish to do and then they go for slaughter around 81 days old (12 weeks) – where 1,500 are collected from the farm every Monday to go to the slaughter house and processors ready for sale to our customers. The turkey chicks arrive on the farm as day-olds again and are under heat lamps for four to five weeks and will go out at around six weeks into the field and until a few weeks before Christmas (the ones you saw on the farm today were 2.5 weeks old). ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00572.jpg) Chickens enjoying the shade under Nick and Jacob’s tractor ##### Can you tell us the difference between your bog standard supermarket free-range chicken and the slow grown chicken you rear here – in terms of health and taste? We use a different bird for a start. We’re using a slow growing bird, which means they roam further and they don’t just sit and eat all day. They sit, eat, drink, get up, walk around, go outside and sit in the sunshine. Your supermarket free range chickens won’t be doing these things because their legs aren’t strong enough. The supermarkets will have plenty to say to make out the opposite – that they do have strong enough legs and they’ll have passed all the tests. For example, they’ll state they have ‘slow grown bird’ – which will have been grown a day older than non-slow grown birds. They will have slow growing breeds which are designed to grow a day longer than their normal birds on the basis that it is now a day older they can call it a slow grown bird – the legal limits. In terms of end taste, with our birds you’ll get a much thicker skin and you’ll have a much better fat content and there will be lots of flavour in that fat. We’re trying to emulate the great Label Rouge chicken of France, known for their great chicken practices. When our customers finish eating our chicken and decide to make some stock or broth they notice that the bones are much stronger – they’ve developed and so you can’t just snap them in your fingers – which means there’s more nutrients and minerals in those bones, which gives a much better stock and a lovely jelly. The meat is also totally different. It’s a lot firmer and has more structure. You need less meat to fill you up compared to supermarket chicken. ##### What breeds do you have? Gladys – she’s my favourite! No, only joking. They are Hubbard birds. We use 3 different strains of Hubbard bird and they are known as a Cotswold White and a Cotswold Gold. It doesn’t mean they are from the Cotswolds, it just a way of distinguishing them. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00650.jpg) A Cotswold White Chicken ##### Tell us about your turkeys: Our turkeys are slow-growing birds grown for six months – this is about twice as long as the turkeys sold at supermarkets at Christmas time. With our birds you get a great fat content that runs through the meat so it stays lovely and succulent. None of this dry turkey! The breed is a Bronze bird (they come from the breeders Farmgate Hatcheries) and they are the same birds as a Kelly Bronze which are based on the American wild turkey. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00818.jpg) Young turkeys on the farm ahead of Christmas this year – Nick & Jacob grow theirs for approximately twice as long as supermarkets. ##### How about the cockerels? The cockerels are the same breeds as our chickens and we grow them to 81 days. We’ll grow some of them on for another 6 to 8 weeks for even more flavour. The texture of cockerel is more-meaty – it’s going towards more lamb or beef. ##### And the geese? They are kind of a special occasion thing. Again slow-grown, additive-free and reared on home grown wheat and grass . With it’s rich, dark meat, they’re a little like the cows of the bird world. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00993.jpg) Free range Geese ##### The world would be a tastier place if… If everyone, when dining out, asked if it was a free range chicken and if it wasn’t refuse to eat it. Too often you go into a restaurant and they don’t care about the ingredients. I always make a point of asking to get people thinking. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC00895.jpg) Jacob about to tuck into a slow grown roast chicken. Yum ##### When you’re not working… Working. Gardening. Driving down to London (A holiday from the farm). Once upon a time we were playing tennis – which we’ll try and resurrect at some point. ##### Best kept farming secret…do you sing to your turkeys? We’ll talk to the turkeys and we’ll talk to the geese – because they’ll respond. They like to be talked to and the turkeys talk back. Chickens don’t seem too bothered either way! ##### More Information See all of [Fosse Meadows’ delicious slow-grown poultry](http://bit.ly/2bMYPiN?ref=indiefarmer.com) on the Farmdrop shop. Farmdrop are on a mission to fix the food chain and believe the way mass-produced food is made and distributed is all wrong. They deliver fresh, delicious food from local farmers and foodmakers to your door and because you’re buying direct, producers also get a much better deal. A version of this article first appeared on the Farmdrop blog [here](https://www.farmdrop.com/blog/149130661738/on-the-farm-with-nick-ball-and-jacob-sykes-at?ref=indiefarmer.com#JuFvreiR3MM7TuEK.97). To stay up to date with the latest Indie Farmer stories **follow** and **like** us on [facebook](https://www.facebook.com/indiefarmermedia/), [twitter](https://twitter.com/IndieFarm?ref=indiefarmer.com) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/indiefarmer/?ref=indiefarmer.com). ### The Elder Tree URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/the-elder-tree/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T10:13:22.000Z ### **If you go for a walk anywhere in the countryside at this time of year there is one plant that you can’t fail to notice – the Elder tree. Amidst the vivid summer greenery the elder blossom is instantly recognisable…** Hundreds of tiny creamy white flowers are held in flat disc-shaped clusters that remind me of tiny galaxies of sparkling stars. The scent of the tree is also very noticeable, being sweet, sometimes cloying and overpowering, and quite distinctive. The Elder has four characteristics that make it excellent for foraging: 1. **It is easy to find as it grows all over the place, in hedgerows, beside the roads, on the edges of woodland, on unused land etc.** 2. **It is very easy to identify and you are not likely to pick something else by mistake.** 3. **It is easy to pick both the flowers and the berries.** 4. **There are plenty of recipes using Elder to try out, most of them delicious!** As well as the edible flowers and berries, Elder has another useful characteristic. The pith can be removed from the young branches leaving a hollow tube of bark that can be made into a simple kind of whistle or flute. The Latin name Sambucus Nigra refers to a Roman musical instrument played by shepherds called the Sambuca, presumably made from Elder. The English name Elder is from the Anglo-Saxon word Aeld, meaning fire, because the hollow bark tubes were used as blowpipes to blow on glowing embers to revive a dying fire. I have not yet tried to make a musical instrument or blowpipe from an Elder branch yet, I will have to give it a go sometime! The Elder has a long tradition of folklore associated with it. It is supposedly the tree on which Judas hung himself after betraying Jesus, and has thus been linked to bad luck and witchcraft. There was a widespread belief throughout Britain that you should not burn Elder wood inside your house, or use the wood to make anything for use within the household. This restriction was not particularly onerous as Elder does not burn very well, and is not very useful for carpentry! But its association with magic and the devil gave it a certain power. Hearse drivers would use an Elder handled whip, and charms and amulets could be fashioned from the wood. In Scotland there was a belief that Elder only grew on a spot where blood had been shed, although Elder is much less common there than it is here in Sussex, where if this belief were true would indicate that it was a very violent and bloodthirsty county! Interestingly the flowers and berries were not considered bad luck, the flowers being hung up inside houses or around the heads of teams of Oxen as they had the effect of repelling flies. There is a very interesting fungus that grows solely on Elder trees, the Hiraeola auriculae-Judae, or Jew’s ear. It is called this because it resembles an ear growing out of the tree, and because of the Elders traditional association with Judas. These fungi are not uncommon, and they are edible, having a gelatinous but not unpleasant texture, and are best added to soups and stews. Elder has long been used as a medicinal plant. John Evelyn, a very influential physician writing in 1664 called it ‘a catholicon against all infirmities whatever…If the medicinal properties of its leaves, bark and berries were fully known, I cannot tell what our countryman would ail for which he might not fetch a remedy from every hedge, either for sickness or for wounds…The buds boiled in water have effected wonders in a fever, the spring buds are excellently wholesome in pottages, and small ale in which Elder flowers have been infused is esteemed by many so salubrious that this is to be had in eating houses about our town.’ Earlier still, in 1644 a Dr Martin Blockwich produced a 230 page treatise devoted to the properties of Elder called ‘The Anatomie of Elder’ that was popular enough to go through several editions. This was not just folklore – Elder Flower Water (Aqua Sambuci) is an official preparation of the British Pharmacopoeia, used for mixing medicines and as a vehicle for eye and skin lotions. As well as medicine, Elder was used in cookery. The young buds were pickled in vinegar and apparently tasted like capers, as described by Charles Carter in ‘The Compleat City and Country Cook’ 1736\. More well known are the drinks that can be made from Elder. Elderflower cordial is most peoples introduction to the plant, and really does taste of summer hedgerows. the internet is full of cordial recipes so I won’t give one here, but they are very easy to make and well worth trying. More complicated but with equally good results if done properly are the wines, which can be made both with the flowers to give a delicate, floral white wine, and the berries which give a rich red wine. In the 1700’s cheap elderberry wine was often mixed with real red wine to bulk it out and increase the profits of unscrupulous wine merchants. Aubrey (1626 -97) tells us that ‘the apothecaries well know the use of the berries, and so do the vintners, who buy vast quantities of them in London, and some do make no inconsiderable profit by the sale of them.’ Elder wine, both the flower and berry varieties, remained very popular through to the 1930’s in England, and many people still make them today. Again, it is easy to find a recipe if you are interested. So when you notice an Elder tree, remember all the uses to which it can be put, and the rich folklore associated with it, and I hope you will be inspired to try out some recipes. **More information** [BBC Good Food Homemade Elderflower Cordial Recipe](http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/531660/homemade-elderflower-cordial?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### Why the grass might be greener for a new breed of sheep farmers URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/why-the-grass-might-be-greener-for-a-new-breed-of-sheep-farmers/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T15:38:14.000Z #### The past decade has seen consumers develop a taste for single-origin coffee, “premier cru” cider and mineral water with a “terroir”. Phoebe Weston meets a new breed of carnivores who believe 100% pasture-fed meat is the way forward. “It’s very nutty”, says the lady at the end of our table with an empty fork in her right hand. Her neighbour nods in agreement, “yes—rather smoky and robust”. “That’s a good word”, says Sarah who is standing at the front, leading the tasting. “Robust. Anyone got any more words… you lot at the back?” At first glance, this might look like a cheese tasting, but rather than passing platters of cheddar up and down the table, we’re passing platters of grass-fed hogget. Hogget is lamb aged between 12 and 24 months and this tasting evening is part of a new movement that promotes rearing livestock solely on pasture. I’m in The Table Café on Southwark Street, which is mainly home to eateries for people who are short on time— Eat, Pret, Itsu. Outside there are people in suits and black cabs flying up and down like yo-yos. However, tonight the restaurant is filled with farmers who have left the water-logged fields of Wales and the scraggy fells of Yorkshire to come and have their hogget tasted in the shadow of the Shard. We’re tasting four shoulders of hogget—from Gloucestershire, Kent, Wales and Yorkshire—which have been simmering away for the last six hours under the watchful eye of Head Chef Shaun Alpine-Crabtree. They are all cooked in the same way and the aim of this evening is to ascertain whether different pastures affect the flavour of meat and whether this group of meat-eaters can discern the difference. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/thetablecafe.png) The four shoulders of hogget before being slow-cooked, credit: @thetablecafe “Terroir” refers to the concept by which food produced in a certain locality derives distinctive characteristics that are related to that place. We talk about “terroir” with wine, cheese, cider, beer, honey and even water, all with subtle differences in maturity, texture and origin. However, there are currently only three options for lamb— English, Welsh or New Zealand. From Kentish chalk grassland to the limestone uplands of Yorkshire, there’s a new movement of evangelists who believe you can taste the terroir in meat too. > *“It’s time to treat lamb like we treat wine and cheese”* Last year, the Abergavenny Food Festival hosted a “single estate lamb tasting” and increasingly restaurants are putting the finer details on their menus. Consumers want to get an idea of the locality of their meat— the breed, the length of time it has been hung, the age of the animal, the region it is from and its diet. Created four years ago, the Pasture Fed Livestock Association (PFLA) is at the forefront of this new movement and promotes 100% pasture-based diet through its certification scheme. The PFLA has around 60 certified farmers, 30 butchers and over 200 members (who are mainly farmers), as well as 650 supporters. There are now around 15,000 hectares of land managed under this system of farming in the UK. “From the luscious Cotswold to the lean, complex black Welsh mountain to the lofty, hard Hardwick to the nimble Swaledale, it’s time to celebrate difference”, says Nick Miller, a Welsh sheep farmer, who introduces the evening. “We need to think about breed, pasture and husbandry. It’s time to treat lamb like we treat wine and cheese.” When I arrive I’m greeted by a platter of forty raw radishes. If I hadn’t pre-paid for the evening this might have been my cue to run. However, I hang on in there and before I know it I have radish greens in one hand and a watermelon cocktail in the other. The first person I meet is a farmer called Roland Pritchard from North Gower in Wales who has come to London especially for the evening. He’s wearing a shirt with “Gower Salt Marsh Lamb” embroidered in italics above his pocket and has a melodic Welsh lilt. I introduce myself and explain that I am writing a piece about this evening. Rather than seeing this as an opportunity to talk about his meat, the conversation takes an unexpected turn. “My son’s looking for a girlfriend, how are you fixed?”. There are about 50 guests, seated on six long tables. The other people sitting on my table kindly agree to be involved in my tasting experiment. Unlike wine tasting, the art of hogget tasting is completely undeveloped, and we’re a bunch of complete novices trying to learn the language of lamb. Armed with pencils, an information booklet on the farms and a box for tasting notes underneath, the evening begins. Nick’s partner and fellow sheep farmer, Sarah Dickens, is leading the tasting and introduces our first farmer, Jonty from Gloucestershire. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/thepanel.png) “My sheep are like labradors”, says Jonty, who farms in the Cotswold “they’re really steady and a bit dopey… and they die easily.” The Cotswold is a slow-maturing long wool breed, famous for their curly golden fleece. Due to a decline in the wool trade, numbers have declined rapidly in the 20th century and were close to extinction. However, renewed interest in heritage breeds has led to a — somewhat modest— revival and there are now 2,000 breeding females. Jonty gives us a textured description of his sheep which graze on sandfoy, ribgrass, self-heal, birdsfoot trefoil and various other grasses I’d never heard of. His “species-rich meadows” contain between 60-80 species of grasses and herbs and their names are littered with references to historic and bygone features of rural England. I am filled with reassurance about the flavour of Jonty’s hogget. “They’ve been rooting up different nutrients and tastes that are all going to be in the meat you eat tonight”, he assures us. Jonty is also a lecturer at the Royal Agricultural University and director of PFLA. He speaks with obvious affection about his work; “There is a real movement here— re-learning the old skills of grassland management is crucial.” The hogget passes down the tables with a small pot of well sautéed potatoes. Mint sauce is also passed along until Roland (the matchmaker) loudly says that if you appreciate lamb you won’t need mint sauce with it. Clearly in the company of purists, I tactically position one of the sautéed potatoes over the generous dollop sitting on my plate. The meat is creamy and the abundance of fat means that even after being cooked for six hours it has remained moist and has a lovely salty finish. Jonty’s golden-fleeced herb-eating hogget tastes as luxurious as it sounds. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/PFLA1-2-400x300.png) A platter of grass-fed hogget from the evening, credit: Pasture For Life Association “It tastes like millefeuille”, says the lady at the end of our table. “It’s creamy and buttery— almost fragile”. “Good words!” says Sarah, “anyone else got more words…you lot at the back?” The discussion branches into many tiny conversations. There is something surreal about people discussing forkfuls of meat with such earnestness. “It’s smooth and then it almost gets slightly bitter at the end”, says Inigo. Alex nods in agreement, “I’m getting herby”, he says confidently. Alfred the chef seems to be the most sceptical on our table: “Isn’t that because it was cooked in butter and rosemary?” he comments. Perhaps it’s not those lovely ancient-sounding herbs we have to thanks but a knob of butter and a sprig of rosemary? ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Cotswolds.png) Next up is Neil who farms in Malham, in the Yorkshire Dales. The farm has been in the family for four generations but pasture-fed hogget is a new product. His wiry brown hair looks like it has been gelled down especially for the occasion. Polished shoes and an ironed, checked shirt have replaced the woolly jumper I see on his Twitter posts. He looks slightly uncomfortable in his new setting. “Paint a picture for us Neil, tell us where you are”, says Sarah. “My sheep aren’t swanning around like Jonty’s”, says Neil. “They live between 1,200–1,800 feet and graft away at anything they can get between the rock and lichen.” Through winter Neil’s sheep feed on hay from the farm and then are finished on species-rich spring grass, “not that we’ve seen much of that up North”. His hogget— richer, more aromatic and muskier. It had a less lingering taste and was drier than the Cotswold. The lady with salt and pepper hair was again the first to pipe up with a suggestion; “the colour is very different and it tastes earthier…. more rugged”. “Like the landscape!” offers her neighbour, keen to make the connection between its upbringing and taste. Whether it was due to the scarcity of pasture up north or other factors, the two samples did seem to taste significantly different. This hogget is leaner and by common consent it is because it had been scaling the dales. It seems to make sense— exercise deepens the flavour and also creates space within the muscles for fat to build up. This integration of fat into muscle creates a richer meat. Shaun, the head chef, explains that “although these pieces of meat are similar cuts and similar weights, they act significantly different when you cook them”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/yorkshire-10.png) Fidelity Weston introduces the Herdwicks of Kent who are managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust. Herdwick sheep are well suited to conservation grazing and the meat they produce is a by-product of the nature reserve’s management for wildlife. As well as grazing species-rich chalk grassland, these Herdwicks nibble woody species such as bramble and hawthorn, therefore keeping denser vegetation at bay. “Now these sheep are out of kilter in that they are not in their natural environment”, she explains. In the aftermath of the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001 there was an active effort to move Herdwicks — traditionally located in the Lake District— around the country so they wouldn’t be wiped out in case of another disaster. “I guess they’ve accumulated so much soft fat because they’re a mountainous breed now living a life of luxury down south”, says Amanda. We discuss the power of suggestion in influencing the flavours we find in the meat. Elliot says he thinks it would be better to hear the farmers’ comments at the end therefore meaning we would have a less biased interpretation of the taste. Alex disagrees, commenting that “If you’re thinking about these stories it makes the meat taste objectively better. Your mind is thinking about these images and pictures that are associated with the lamb.” If you think about other products with “terroir”— cheese, wine, cider— they’re all telling stories too. Perhaps weaving narratives into our food is all part of the experience. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Kent-1.png) The last one is Nick and Sarah’s hogget— a small, active sheep which grazes on the foothills of the Black Mountains. “We have very bad winters and our sheep lose a huge amount of weight during the winter”, Nick explains that the hogget we’re tasting tonight is a two year old uncastrated male, born in April 2014, killed on April 2nd 2016 and hung for nearly three weeks. Apparently we should therefore expect to see more muscle and a bit more texture. Unusually for sheep farmers, both Nick and Sarah are vegetarians— Nick has been since 1978 and Sarah nearly as long. Although their vegetarianism started due to concerns about traceability, Sarah says she’s now not eaten meat for so long it is now “too rich and makes me feel sick”. The couple judge the success of their meat by sight and smell. “It tastes like liquorice!” someone shouts. There is an echo of agreement. “I guess keeping the balls on has given it a much stronger flavour”, says Inigo. The fact it still has its testicles dominates conversation. Someone just shouts out “it tastes of testicles!” without further qualification. My neighbour, who is a farmer, tells me this is not just an excuse to be juvenile, the testicles would make a significant difference to the taste. I wondered if anyone had actually consumed a testicle before. However, I concur, it did taste rather robust. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Abervagenny-1.png) Hogget eaten in May and June is generally sweeter in flavour and then tastes leaner later in the year as the nutrient-depleted autumn grass comes through. I spoke to Jonty afterwards who said he thought his Cotswold hogget was slaughtered a month too early; “I really wanted to give them that little bit more time”, he explains. Rather like annual variations in wine from the same vineyard, so too the cold spring in the Yorkshire Dales affects the taste. Alfred, the chef, explains that “the seasonal variation in flavour is a particularly British selling point, and one that most farmers are yet to capitalise on”. Head Chef Shaun explains to me; “There’s something wonderful about meeting the people who look after and safeguard our land— our heritage— and sharing the food here all together. This is principally what food is about.” “I was initially skeptical when the PFLA approached me about doing meat tasting evenings, like I think most chefs would be. But I’m such a convert. So often we eat food without thinking about it and tonight there’s been some great discussions. It’s so refreshing,” explains Shaun. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/chefshaun-4.png) Chef Shaun Alpine-Crabtree talks to the tasters, Credit: Pasture For Life Assocation I can see the reasons a consumer would want pasture-fed meat, but I’m curious why farmers would bet their livelihoods on such an embryonic market. Roland tells me about his salt marsh lamb from North Gower. “It started 12 years ago when we were selling our lamb to the Common Market”, he says “and we were only making £15 or £20 a head. A lot of our friends said there was salt marsh lamb in France and we could be doing better marketing it as such, so we did and now we’re sending it all over the country and doing well off that.” Salt Marsh lamb in France from the Somme region has received the much coveted French AOC label— commonly associated with wine and cheese production— meaning there are strict guidelines on how it can be produced. James Rebank’s book “The Shepherd’s Life” which documents his life as a Cumbrian sheep farmer has become the unexpected hit this year. Talking to The Telegraph he explains the severity of the crisis that is crippling this ancient industry: “I’ve seen people who have grown up with the pressure to get bigger and bigger, try to be more efficient, but that makes you so reliant on the supermarkets who can effectively kill you off. You become more vulnerable, not less. We are stuck with the supermarket model at the moment…whatever you do, however you change, they want it to be cheaper than that.” Jonty says he would lose money if he sold it to the supermarket, but can make a bit of money if he sells directly to the consumer— “not everyone buys on price and the people that buy from us want different things”. These farmers are selling directly to people who know where the meat comes from, rather than selling them as untraceable commodities to the supermarket. Like Nick and Neil, Jonty also get payments from the EU for managing their land for wildlife and receive Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) grants that might not be open to other farmers. Combined with the Basic Payment Scheme, a medium sized wildlife-friendly farm of 100 hectares would get about £30,000 annually in payments from the EU. Higher Level Stewardship grants are designed to support active and environmentally beneficial management practices. Management practices include hedgerow management, maintenance of woodland diversity, maintenance of traditional farmland buildings, prevention of soil erosion and the creation of ponds. The payment depends on the options chosen but farmers could get payments of up to £280/hectare for species-rich meadow. The Common Agricultural Policy, introduced in the 1960s, accounts for 40% of EU spending and funds these grants. At the end of last year EU subsidies were late due to a technical fault and farmers had to borrow £120m in overdrafts to cover their costs. Most farmers would be insolvent without these subsidies.**The Herdwick herd: Where farming and wildlife conservation meet** I leave the shadow of the Shard and venture into the Kentish countryside to visit the Herdwick and their wildlife-rich meadows for myself. It’s May and the countryside is awash with different shades of green— new leaves next to evergreens, blossom of different colours and the horse chestnut trees decorated with white and pink candles. I can’t remember the hawthorn bushes ever looking so much like thick snow. I meet Dave Hutton and Mike Keeley; Dave manages the grassland and Mike is in charge of the sheep. Mike drives us slowly through the herd in his Landrover. The field is filled with buttercups and the little white faces of small, curious sheep. I’m told there are 300 of them in all. Mike explains that they would be finishing their Herdwick hogget on pasture regardless of the PFLA scheme. The sheep here are primarily for conservation and grazing them on this low quality grassland is crucial as it means there is space for the wildflowers to come through. Commercial breeds— i.e. non traditional breeds— would not do well on nutrient-poor grassland. As Mike explains, “our sheep are primarily a tool for conservation, the meat is a by-product”. We turn off the engine and hear a continuous stream of bird song come from the trees and the occasional bleat of a lost lamb. Dave is keen to see how the wildflowers are getting on. At first glance it just looks like grass with the odd sheep dropping and tuft of wool. However, squatting down next to Dave I can see little green shapes emerging among the grasses. In a month the valley will light up with wild flowers and industrious insects keen to take advantage of the window of warmth. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/daveandmike-3.png) Dave and Mike examining the grassland Mike’s agricultural background is in the Livestock Market where he says he’s “never heard a whisper about pasture-fed meat”. Mike is unconvinced that a large commercial farm can make money finishing meat on pasture. I put this theory to the test and my next stop is to a commercial farm of 1,000 acres that does not receive any government payments for wildlife management. **Court Farm: Intensive pasture-fed farming turns a profit** Court Farm in Kent is run by Andrew Lingham and has been in his family for more than 150 years. I drive up the heavily potted track into the yard where I park the car and my eye follows signs to a farm shop. Just under the barn next door are signs that say “Votes for Women!” attached to scarecrows. Inside the farm shop there are paintings by a local artist, newspaper clippings on the walls, walking maps, baskets of unwashed potatoes and a poster advertising the spring party barn dance— “£10 a ticket for the Hot Rats & the Hartley Morris Men”, to be hosted at Court Farm. The space is speckled with creativity and productivity. The butchers is at the far end of the farm shop. When I arrive Billy Reid is hand-rolling ‘faggots’— balls of minced pig’s heart, liver and belly fat. “I won’t shake your hand”, he says wryly. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/billywalkinfridge-2.png) Billy in the walk-in-fridge standing next to hanging hoggets Billy sells Andrew’s meat in Blackheath and Woolwich market in south London at the weekends. The meat he butchers is almost all pasture-fed, the majority of which comes from Court Farm. After drying his hands on his white overalls he hands me a cup of builder’s tea in a chipped white mug. “About a year ago people started asking me about whether the meat was grain-fed or grass-fed. Gradually numbers have been increasing and now I reckon around 5% of customers will ask. They associate grass-fed meat with being better quality than their grain-fed counterparts.” Scientists say it is higher in Omega 3 and 6, has more minerals, less of the bad fats and more of the good ones that we need in our diets. Billy says he hasn’t yet been pushing his meat as pasture-fed and thinks there’s a growing market for it. Further up the hill is Andrew’s office, which is piled high with papers, obscuring half of the window that lights the room. “So why do you do 100% pasture-fed?” I ask. He sighs loudly, like you would expect from a man with so much paperwork. “Where do I begin?” “I have been finishing my livestock on cereals and it wasn’t working— I was losing money year on year. Simple as that. For this farm to stay afloat and for me to make some money out of it, I’ve got to be able to take the costs out of it. And going into pasture was the way forward for me, it’s more efficient. This is my first winter finishing lamb without using cereal.” He paused. “And how did that go?” I ask. “Yeah, you know what, I think we’ve made some money”. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/courtfarmview.png) View of Court Farm from the ridge For Andrew, finishing his livestock on pasture has reduced his overheads as he has not had to plant and harvest grain for animal consumption. The traditional breeds are hardier and can stay outdoors all year around and the carcasses still reach a similar weight. He says regardless of the PFLA, he would be rearing his livestock on grass because he can fundamentally produce better quality meat more cheaply. This decision points to problems in the industry more broadly. “We’ve complicated farming and agriculture too much. We need to improve how we work with nature and work the land rather than spraying chemicals and always working against it. We’ve taken the skill out of farming that we had from our fathers and grandfathers and forgotten it. Using a can of spray is too easy, we need to re-learn management skills.” The supermarket price wars are worse than ever and average farmer’s incomes have halved in the last four years. Year-round competition from New Zealand is battering the price of British lamb. Around half of all farms are in debt, which means they struggle to invest in growing their business or investing elsewhere. Nearly 50% of farmers are remunerating themselves less than minimum wage (£7.03/hour). The industry is currently facing its worst decline in farmers’ incomes since the outbreak of BSE in the 1990s. For many farmers falling prices has led them to rethink— some farmers have scaled up, whereas others are diversifying in order to shield themselves from the volatility of the mainstream market. Not only does Andrew believe he can produce his lamb more cheaply pasture-fed, but he claims using too many fertilisers is a “false economy”— in the long term he believes soils will actually be more productive. The transition from small traditional farms into larger more intensive ones has led to traditional practices such as crop rotation being replaced by the use of chemical fertilisers. Last year he made the switch and is already making more money than when he finished his livestock on cereals. “Conventional farmers still think we’re a bunch of nutters, pure and simple. At some point the public need to pick up and run with it. After that, I’m convinced other farmers will follow suit.” I ask Andrew if he thinks grass-fed meat might taste better than meat that has been corn-fed. He says “the jury’s out, but it’s definitely a different flavour”. For him, as with many pasture-fed farmers, part of the motivation for selling pasture-fed meat is to avoid selling it on the open market and being subject to the mercy of supermarkets. Andrew can get a better price selling local from his farm shop. Not only is there a movement for farmers to grow grass-fed, but this is in part fueled by increasing consumer interest in the benefits of grass-fed meat, both in terms of heath, the environment and animal welfare. As seen from the tasting, the notion of “terroir” in grass-fed hogget seems fairly convincing. Not only do we have meat on our plates but the depth of the nation’s heritage too. Jonty, farmer and lecturer at the Royal Agricultural University, likens the PFLA movement to “the revolution that organics was 30 years ago”. The PFLA has been going for four years and already there is a growing number of meat evangelists. Although I’m certainly not well-versed in the language of lamb, perhaps a future for single-estate, pasture-fed hogget is not as distant as we might think. **Grass-fed Nation** Graham Harvey’s last book “The Killing of the Countryside” won the BP Natural World Book Prize. His new book, “Grass-fed Nation”, released last month, lays out the argument for grass-fed food. The agricultural story editor of The Archers talks to me about why grass-fed farmers hold the key to our heritage. Lamb is not just lamb. All those species of grass will be contributing different things, all of them will have some influence on the composition of flavours, it couldn’t be any other way. I wrote my book “Grass-fed Nation” because I think the only thing limiting the sale of really good food is public understanding. As a pasture-fed farmer, once you get your story out you have customers for life. The problem is the whole supermarket model depends on food being a commodity. Pasture-fed farmers are removing their food from the commodity market. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/grahamharveygrassfednation.png) Graham’s new book, released in May 2016, credit: Graham Harvey In my book I write about working on the Thames Valley farm as a student in the 1960s. I thought the rich and creamy milk produced by that pastoral landscape was as distinct as the *terroir* of any French wine or artisan cheese. I guess the flavour of that milk was partly in my head. I’d spent the summer seeing how the cows grazed and the pasture they were on. The experience of being on the farm was all part of the taste. These stories are so important. From a marketing perspective, having a customer who understands the stories and can make a link between the land and the flavours is a brilliant advantage. I used not to not be able to talk at farmers’ meetings without getting booed, but farmers are more open to talking about grass-fed. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that high-input systems are unsustainable. I’ve written about farming since the 1970s. I am an optimist now, or at least much more so than I was 10 years ago. The public are still convinced by modernistic stuff, but increasingly farmers are realising we must get back to a more ecological approach to farming. The Pasture For Life Association (PFLA) are ahead of the game— they’re still an embryonic institution but they’re producing something better. I grew up on a council estate in Reading and our milk came from a local dairy. The farmer set it up between the wars when prices slumped and he was forced to become entrepreneurial to survive. By the 1950s he was selling to half the town. For 50 years farmers have been protected, but part of me thinks it needs to get really hard for them for change to happen. Our current farming model has to break down and something’s got to go in its place. Sooner or later today’s farmers will have to go out and sell it direct. Now that will be a great thing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/grahamharvey.png) Picture of the author, credit: Graham Harvey All these environmental schemes are there because production is seen to be at odds with nature. The notion that you either have a lot of food or biodiversity, but not both, is hugely oversimplified. Higher Level Stewardship payment, which rewards farmers who make active environmental management practices, is necessary at the moment, although I do think in the long-term the system would be better with no subsidies at all. It may be naive of me, but if you have a pasture-based farming system you get lots of biodiversity without having to pay. Taking small bits of land out of production and creating spaces for wildlife is window dressing— if you had the right production system you wouldn’t need to do that. I was interviewed by a food journalist last month who asked me if this was “another guilt trip”. It is completely the opposite. We’ve eaten pasture-fed meat for thousands of years, this is not some reaction to “clean eating”, it’s what this island of ours does. There’s an explosion of cooking books but they all start in the wrong place. Food doesn’t start in the kitchen but on the farm, and we must link up our food with the wildlife and social history of that land. For example with National Trust properties, instead of just marketing the house, we should be marketing the grassland and the food it’s producing. These grasslands also have wonderful stories and are part of our heritage. When you buy the food you become part of that ecosystem. It’s as authentic as you can get. #### Farm Websites: [www.gowersaltmarshlamb.co.uk](http://www.gowersaltmarshlamb.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com) [www.blackwelshlamb.com](http://www.blackwelshlamb.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com) [www.hilltopmalham.co.uk](http://www.hilltopmalham.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com) [www.conygreefarm.co.uk](http://www.conygreefarm.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com) [www.kentwildlifetrsut.org.uk](http://www.kentwildlifetrsut.org.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com) [www.pasturerearedgrassfed.com](http://www.pasturerearedgrassfed.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com) [http://www.trealyfarm.com/](http://www.trealyfarm.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com) #### Further reading Pasture For Life: “It can be done” [http://www.pastureforlife.org/news/pasture-for-life-it-can-be-done/](http://www.pastureforlife.org/news/pasture-for-life-it-can-be-done/?ref=indiefarmer.com)\> PFLA website: [http://www.pastureforlife.org/](http://www.pastureforlife.org/?ref=indiefarmer.com) PFLA forum: [https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/pasture-fed-livestock-association-newsletter-and-farm-tour-programme.22544/](https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/pasture-fed-livestock-association-newsletter-and-farm-tour-programme.22544/&ref=indiefarmer.com) Talking grass: [http://www.talkinggrass.co.uk/pasture-fed-livestock-association-ready-farmer-members/](http://www.talkinggrass.co.uk/pasture-fed-livestock-association-ready-farmer-members/?ref=indiefarmer.com) Comparison between grain-fed and grass-fed meat: [https://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/AG\_Beef\_2011-01.pdf](https://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/AG%5FBeef%5F2011-01.pdf?ref=indiefarmer.com) Telegraph: “Forget free range: Is grass-fed and pasture-raised better for animals, industry and us?” [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/forget-free-range-is-grass-fed-and-pasture-raised-better-for-ani/](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/features/forget-free-range-is-grass-fed-and-pasture-raised-better-for-ani/?ref=indiefarmer.com) Telegraph: “Whatever we do, shops tell us to be cheaper: the growing crisis in Britain’s farms” [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/12164932/Whatever-we-do-shops-tell-us-to-be-cheaper-the-growing-crisis-in-Britains-farms.html](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/industry/12164932/Whatever-we-do-shops-tell-us-to-be-cheaper-the-growing-crisis-in-Britains-farms.html?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### Photo story: Farming to London March 2016 URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/photo-story-farming-to-london-march-2016/ Last updated: 2026-01-25T19:50:36.000Z ### **More than a 1000 farmers took to the streets in the Farming to London March – delivering a letter to 10 Downing Street urging the Government to do more to safeguard an industry that is struggling to survive.** We caught the train up from East Sussex to photograph the protest (see our gallery below) and live tweet from the front line. Here are a few highlights.. Spearheaded by Dairy Farmer David Handley of [Farmers for Action](http://farmersforaction.org/?ref=indiefarmer.com) the peaceful protest brought together British Farmers of all sizes and sectors (Dairy, Beef, Lamb, Arable, Horticulture) with the aim of highlighting the need for more sustainable prices and support for British produce. The protest culminated in a small delegation delivering a letter to David Cameron at Number 10\. After some confusion they were finally allowed to deliver the letter.. Returning from Number 10 David gave a short speech to wrap up the protest, after which everyone headed back to their coaches. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03621.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03624.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03629.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03633.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03635.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03636.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03637.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03638.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03642.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03645.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03647.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03649.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03653.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03654.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03656.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03658.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03659.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03662.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03674.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03676.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03677.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03679.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03681.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03684.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03686.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03688--1-.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03693.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03697.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03707.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03712.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03718.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03723.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03725.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03735.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03743.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC03752.jpg) ### A Beginners Guide to No Dig Gardening URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/a-beginners-guide-to-no-dig-gardening/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T15:44:07.000Z ### **In this beginners guide to No Dig, award-winning expert and writer Charles Dowding explains the basics of growing using a non-cultivation method that is gaining popularity in sustainable gardening and farming communities around the world.** Its often said that heavy soil needs aerating, but soil life can do this, and build structure at the same time. Feed the soil at surface level, keeping the structure intact: its a simple approach, working with natural processes. I am often asked the questions below, and here are my replies based on 35 years of surface mulching, no dig market gardening in south west England. During the 1980s I cropped 7 acres of Cotswold Brash, then farmed a white clay in SW France, now crop an intensive quarter acre in Somerset, on clay with loam on top. ### **Can deep-seated compaction problems really be remedied?** At Lower Farm, Somerset in 1999/2000, I took over a third acre of clay soil which had been compacted in wet weather by heavy machinery. There were putrefying lumps of grey-orange, airless soil, whose surface was sticky in winter and rock-hard in summer. Gradually it became brown, healthy clay as soil life multiplied and brought in air, without any cultivations. I cleared the weeds by hand and surface mulched with 1-2 inches of compost (18-month-old horse manure in this case) and in the first year, crops were below average as the soil was recovering. But in the second year there was good growth; for example parsnips grew deep and long into the still dense but more aerated clay. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/IMG_4814-400x267.jpeg) Making new beds on untilled pasture with a lot of couch grass, March 2013 Every autumn I spread another 1-2 inches of compost, and from year three onwards my vegetables were abundant. Furthermore, weeds were few and easy to pull or hoe, on the surface which stayed soft in dry weather and was not sticky in winter. My conclusion is that feeding earthworms and other soil organisms from above allows the soil to recover damaged structure, over time. A rare exception is soils where a true pan has developed, such that growth and drainage are awful. In this case, a broad forking or subsoiling are worth doing. Incidentally, what is sometimes referred to as “compaction” is just soil’s natural firmness, which is a good thing. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/IMG_5825-400x267.jpeg) The same beds on June 30th ### **Incorporating manures?** People ask how you can incorporate manures “to rooting level”, but the question should be why incorporate them at all? A reason sometimes given is to place food “in the rooting zone” but this is contrary to how plants grow – they feed mainly at the surface where there is most life and most food. Hence the successful and super-healthy growth of plants in undisturbed, mulched soil – its nature’s way. There are also a variety of products you can use alongside the mulching process, companies like agron stock a variety of options, just follow this link to see if anything takes your fancy – [learn more about our brands](https://agron.io/pages/brands?ref=indiefarmer.com). #### **How do you eradicate serious perennial weeds?** As I often hear from gardeners on my courses, its also difficult to eradicate serious perennial weed problems with digging! I have demonstrated so many times that you can mulch to eradicate couch grass, creeping buttercups, dandelions, ground elder et al, that its beyond doubt: mulching is a highly effective way to clear most perennial weeds, and to weaken the few persistent ones. Also its requires less time and less effort, what’s not to like? You could also use a [weed eater](https://www.mechanopedia.com/best-battery-powered-weed-eater/?ref=indiefarmer.com) to remove any weeds. It might be that you’re starting on a new patch and there are a lot of weeds, meaning it would take quite a while to get rid of them. Using a weed eater or any other apparatus can speed us your gardening process so that you can use that area to grow your desired plants. At Homeacres three years ago, there was a hundred square metres of soil with plentiful couch grass, just where I put the new greenhouse. Thorough mulching in February meant I had only a handful of new shoots to remove all season long, with my crops growing while the weeds died underneath. The most persistent perennial weeds such as convolvulus and equisetum take longer to eradicate but again, mulching/feeding soil is effective, with some follow-up removal of shoots with a trowel. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/IMG_6211-400x267.jpeg) Charlotte potatoes July, tubers develop in the compost ### **Aren’t mulched soils slower to warm up in spring?** The opposite is true unless you spread light-coloured mulches such as straw and paper. Dark mulches of compost soak up the sun’s early rays and actually warm more quickly than dug soil. Every spring I notice slower growth on the *dug bed* of my experiment, partly from its dark compost being incorporated, partly from the 8-10in layer of dug soil having a broken connection with the soil below, which is then slower to transmit the earth’s warmth upwards. No till / no dig preserves the capillary contacts between surface and subsoil, for better temperature and moisture transmission, both upwards and downwards. ### **Do mulches provide cover for overwintering pests and slugs?** This may or may not be true, depending on the mulch. If slugs are an issue, then mulch with compost which does not provide cover for them. For other soil pests such as leatherjackets, yes this can be a problem but I am unsure that it justifies tillage. Over nine years of comparing plant growth in dug and undug soil, I have noticed only a few instances of extra damage on mulched soil, and usually in a first year of mulching to eradicate masses of weeds, which were harbouring slugs and other pests. ### **Is no dig most suited to light soils?** My no dig garden in France 1992-7 was on white clay (boulbene), and growth was fantastic. The produce was always admired at market, including by farmers who knew the soil. Also at first they had been sceptical of a “bio” (organic) approach but many switched to it soon after. Southern France has a warmer, drier climate than Somerset and I could mulch with hay as well as compost, but the principle is the same: feed the soil to increase the number and health of its active organisms, then they do the aerating and create a durable, healthy structure at all levels. ### **Are no till farming and no dig gardening the same?** Often different because machinery is used to break up living mulches and weeds, so there is a little surface cultivation in no till farming. Slugs are easier to deal with in gardens because surface debris can be cleared to the compost heap. ### **More Information** See [www.charlesdowding.co.uk](http://www.charlesdowding.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com) for more details, also his books and videos, check out his courses at Homeacres and an online course too. To stay up to date with the latest Indie Farmer stories **follow** and **like** us on [facebook](https://www.facebook.com/indiefarmermedia/), [twitter](https://twitter.com/IndieFarm?ref=indiefarmer.com) and [instagram](https://www.instagram.com/indiefarmer/?ref=indiefarmer.com). ### Photo story: UK Farmers join Brussels Protest URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/photo-story-uk-farmers-join-brussels-protest/ Last updated: 2026-01-24T13:39:23.000Z We went along to the Brussels Protest to join some of the 5000 european farmers that have gathered outside the European Commission to demonstrate against record low prices for milk and meat. The majority of farmers I met were campaigning for some form of market intervention to restrict supply and help increase prices. You can listen to a series of short interviews of several of the people featured in the photo story in [Episode 4 of Farmerama Radio ](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/2015/11/18/farmerama-radio-episode-4/?ref=indiefarmer.com) At times the largely peaceful protest escalated with a couple of daring farmers taking on the Brussels riot police in their John Deere tractors.. ### One-straw revolution – an introduction to natural farming URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/one-straw-revolution-an-introduction-to-natural-farming/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T15:46:59.000Z ### **Who was Masanobu Fukuoka?** Masanobu Fukuoka’s book *The One-Straw Revolution\** was published in 1975\. Those who embraced the swift advances in technology of that time, especially in agriculture, dismissed it as the work of a crank; those who questioned the impact that agribusiness had on the planet and loved nature for itself, embraced it, and Fukuoka inspired devotion amongst his followers. One such, Larry Korn,\*\* an Asian scholar and soil scientist, brought his ideas back to the US after working with Fukuoka on his farm for several years. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Fukuoka-closeup--1-.jpg) Masanobu Fukuoka. Photo Larry Korn. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/the-one-straw-revolution--1-.jpeg) The One-Straw Revolution Book Cover. *The One-Straw Revolution* was Fukuoka’s first book and in it he sets out his beliefs about how to farm, live and eat. Written when Fukuoka was 61, the book begins with a brief account of why he turned his back on a career in plant pathology some thirty five years earlier. He had been studying in Yokohama under a professor he found inspiring, pursuing specialised research into a fungus that infected citrus trees-highly focused work in which he was “struck by how similar this minute world was to the great world of the infinite universe”. Then he fell ill with pneumonia, and after recovering physically, he became depressed. One night, aimlessly wandering in the hills above the city, he collapsed with exhaustion and slept. On waking he watched as a night heron flew over the water below, and this sight brought on an overwhelming sense of joy and transcendance. In the same moment he describes how he cast off all his previous beliefs in favour of one truth. As Fukuoka puts it, all of a sudden he understood that it was impossible to ‘know’ anything through using our intellectual capacities, as he had been doing in scientific research. He put this new found faith into practice straight away, resigned from his post, and returned to his family’s citrus farm, to devote his life to practical farming. But he had not abandoned the scientist’s desire to provide empirical evidence for his assertions: from then on he made it his life’s work to test his new belief in ‘natural farming’ and to demonstrate to the world that it was just as productive as science-driven agriculture. I struggled to fully appreciate what Fukuoka was getting at philosophically until I had read the whole book, which includes regular digressions into his spiritual ideas. As I understand it, his ideas about nature and life are similar to Buddhist precepts, which contrast strongly with Western habits of dualistic thought and a high regard for rational argument, human intellect, science and materialism. Fukuoka saw people as firmly embedded in cycles of life and with no right (let alone duty) to dominate nature or to take from it more than they put in. Moreover, he believed that the human mind is not properly equipped to understand the mysteries of nature. On the more practical side, he was clearly shocked by the speed with which Japanese farmers were abandoning ancient agricultural practices in favour of an agribusiness model after the second world war. Above all, perhaps, he believed that the contemporary attitude that nature could not provide enough food for people without huge technological input, was simply wrong. ### **The ‘Natural Farming’ Model** With this background, Fukuoka set about designing his own ‘natural farming’ model. He lived on the island of Shikoku, southern Japan, in a sub-tropical climate where the main crops were rice and mandarin oranges. If I describe his farming year, it should give a good idea of what he was trying to do, and also explain better what he meant by his four ‘core principles’ of farming. So, to start with in his typical rice field\*\*\*, he would not undergo the usual cultivation associated with preparing the ground for planting as in a British arable field. In fact our concept of a ‘linear’ year beginning with preparation for planting and ending with harvest has to be set aside as in Fukuoka’s mind the year was fundamentally simply an annual, repeating cycle. Indeed his first core principle is **‘NO CULTIVATION’**. Hence, I will just jump into the cycle at the point when rice seeds are planted, end of April/beginning of May. At this time, rye or barley plants would already be growing in the field, and the rice seeds would thus be broadcast (by hand) amongst the young plants, along with some white clover seeds. The clover seeds reflect Fukuoka’s second core principle of **‘NO CHEMICAL FERTILISER OR PREPARED COMPOST’**, the clover being intended to provide a green manure to feed the young rice plants. In May, just after planting the rice, the rye or barley is ready for harvest, which in Fukuoka’s method, is done by hand. Then the rye or barley straw is spread back over the field with a little poultry manure to aid its decomposition, and act as an additional natural fertiliser of the young rice plants. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Breaking_the_Straw.jpg) Breaking the Straw. Photo Larry Korn. The straw serves an additional purpose which ties in with Fukuoka’s third core principle: **‘NO WEEDING BY TILLAGE OR HERBICIDES’**. To control weeds Fukuoka’s main strategy was plant competition (tilling would in his opinion simply give the weed seeds an advantage by turning them over in the ground and exposing them to light). As the rice seeds are planted just before the prime time for summer weed germination they get ahead of the weeds and additionally the straw spread over the seeds suppresses weed growth, as does the clover. Then, in October it is time to plant the winter rye or barley in amongst the ripening rice plants (more white clover having been sown just before if necessary). Soon after this it is time to harvest the rice (again by hand) and -again- scatter its straw over the winter grain seedlings for the reasons given above. Over the winter months, the winter crop remains in the ground and little work is carried out in the field until the cycle begins again in the spring. Readers will not be surprised by now that Fukuoka’s fourth core principle is **‘NO DEPENDENCE ON CHEMICALS’**. Fukuoka sought to create “a balanced rice field ecosystem’, and pest and disease problems were rare. His main pest challenge was surprisingly mundane-sparrows! To stop them eating seeds broadcast in the field, he hit upon the ingenious (and labour-intensive) solution of coating the seeds in clay pellets, which would break down gradually in damp conditions allowing the seed to germinate. So there is no doubt, I should perhaps include a fifth principle not articulated by Fukuoka: **no tractors**. Fukuoka applied similar principles to the growing of various orchard fruits and vegetables: in fact, he went one step further with vegetables by interplanting them in the grass beneath the orchard trees and even on the mountainside (“growing vegetables like wild plants”). ### **Natural farming today** This carefully planned and labour-intensive approach to farming was successful in terms of yield and quality as well as soil fertility compared with crops grown conventionally. Ecologically minded farmers since Fukuoka have assimilated some of his practices. For example under the organic system there is no use of artificial fertilisers, pesticides or herbicides, and permaculture seeks to maximise production on a unit of land without harming the environment. Fukuoka’s farm was very small by modern standards and his heavy reliance on manual labour makes the system untenable on most farms now given the cost (and challenge of finding) agricultural workers. Many famers would no doubt also question how weeds could be controlled without cultivation or crop rotation. However, behind Fukuoka’s four core principles I take one over-riding key message. When a farmer recognises what nature has provided them with in their parcel of land, in terms of soil, climate, possible crops and feasible livestock, then they can work with nature for the benefit of the wider environment and their community. They may even have enough leisure time for creative pursuits as did their Japanese forebears whose haiku appear on the walls of Fukuoka’s local Shinto shrine! ### **Fukuoka and farming politics** As is clear Fukuoka believed in nature’s own balancing and fertility providing capacities, and he questioned the value of science when it is applied narrowly to sort out one problem without reference to the wider context of other plants, animals and climate: “an object seen in isolation from the whole is not the real thing”, he argued. Fukuoka’s commentary on the politics and economics of agriculture were also prescient and remain relevant today. He asserted robustly (and made enemies in the process) that economic and political self-interest dictated the actions of chemical companies (supported by government), as much as belief in the science and efficacy of their products. He observed that their influence had forced many Japanese farmers out of business, leaving those remaining abandoning traditional methods for new that rendered them just “ a factor in modern agriculture’s equation of increasing speed and efficiency”. Where they had remained in tune with nature’s cycles (and limitations) they now found themselves working frenetically, at the whim of agricultural salesmen, commodity markets and capricious consumers. His methods posed an alternative that relied on the farmer’s understanding of his land and the input of human labour and he showed that it was possible to produce a wide range of foods, especially where the emphasis was on producing little meat but plentiful vegetables, grain and fruit. ### **Fukuoka and food** Fukuoka turns his attention to food in the second half of the book, beginning with regret for how barley (a crop very suited to Japanese conditions) was forced out of production by imports of cheap American wheat. He also regretted how people then abandoned a “natural diet” of grains (particularly brown rice) that had co-evolved with humans over thousands of years of farming. To attempt to convey his idea of natural food he includes two mandala (similar to a flow diagram and a pie chart) identifying links between various farmed and wild foods in his environment, and their seasonal supply. To eat simply from a range of these foods, cooking simply with just the addition of salt, seemed to him to tie an individual to their environment and a community to each other in a way that conferred spiritual benefits as it reflected unity with the natural processes. He also stressed the importance of local supply and in his view “a community that cannot produce its own food will not last long”. Some of his ideas can be difficult to grasp-for example when he contrasts intellectual “discriminating” knowledge and natural “non-discriminating understanding”. He disapproved of the random search for new flavours or food experiences, regarding it as evidence of how “food and the human spirit have become estranged”. “People nowadays eat with their minds, not their bodies”, he argues, and as food directly links to spirit and emotions our diets should never be approached as simply a materialistic solution for our physiological needs. Whilst his prescriptive discussion of four types of approach to food ranging from the bad “lax diet” entirely based on tastes to the best “natural diet” can feel a little obscure and puritanical, Fukuoka does forcefully remind us that food and farming are inextricably linked: “the front and back of one body”. ### **What is Fukuoka’s legacy?** Sometimes the pressures in modern agriculture and food production can seem an insurmountable obstacle to change. But Fukuoka’s life and work set an example. Whilst he was alive, he travelled and shared practices to re-vegetate land suffering from desertification. He continues to inspire many in sustainable agriculture and food and I know of at least one professional chef whose view of food is shaped by *The One-Straw Revolution*. Personally I was moved and challenged by his powerful emphasis on growing and eating in tune and time with nature, both for individual health and spiritual well-being as well as healthy communities. I don’t think many of us could follow the life of manual labour and extremely simple living and eating led by Fukuoka himself and his largely voluntary workers on the mountainside in Shikoku, and we would be hard put on our farm to adopt some of his practices. But he clearly lived well (and long), farming successfully in defiance of those most influential in world agriculture. Reading this book has left me with renewed energy to seek ways of living and working that get closer to Fukuoka’s ideals. ### **More Information:** \*Masonobu Fukuoka, *The One-Straw Revolution*, New York Review of Books, New York 2009 (originally published in Japanese, Tokyo, 1978) includes introductions by Larry Korn (editor) and Frances Moore Lappe, and a preface by [Wendell Berry](https://d3c.d0f.myftpupload.com/stories/wendell-berry/?ref=indiefarmer.com) \*\* You can read more about Larry Korn and his work in sustainable agriculture at [http://www.onestrawrevolution.net/One\_Straw\_Revolution/Larry\_Korn.html](http://www.onestrawrevolution.net/One%5FStraw%5FRevolution/Larry%5FKorn.html?ref=indiefarmer.com) \*\*\* It is also interesting that Fukuoka did not grow rice with standing water in his fields. He did hold monsoon rain in the field in June to control weeds, and then he ran water through the field during August but otherwise the rice grew without artificial irrigation (54-5). ### Silent Spring by Rachel Carson – Review URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/silent-spring-by-rachel-carson-review/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T15:52:55.000Z ***Silent Spring***[\[1\]](https://indiefarmer.com/2015/07/02/silent-spring-by-rachel-carson-review/?demo=true&iframe=true&theme%5Fpreview=true&calypso%5Ftoken=7e2f05f5-e6e8-4f95-84f5-dd998260aca4&ref=indiefarmer.com#%5Fftn1) is one of those books that many people may have heard of, even if they have not read it. Until about one month ago, this was true of me. It is an immensely powerful book, one that forms part of your personal experience in a way only a few books do. Its author, Rachel Carson, was born in 1907\. She loved nature as a child and chose to major in science and marine biology at university. There were financial pressures, but she graduated with high marks and taught biology to undergraduates while she obtained a masters in Zoology. In 1932 she began to study at the United States Bureau of Fisheries, and also wrote material to publicise their work. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Rachel-Carson-948x1200.jpg) Rachel Carson At home, she suffered challenges which led her to take full-time employment (analysing marine data with the Fisheries Bureau) so that she could support her widowed mother and her sister’s two orphaned daughters. She also wrote free-lance wildlife articles. In 1948 she gave up nearly all of her government work to concentrate on writing and independent research, proceeding to begin a three part ‘biography of the sea’ the first part of which was published by Oxford University Press[\[2\]](https://indiefarmer.com/2015/07/02/silent-spring-by-rachel-carson-review/?demo=true&iframe=true&theme%5Fpreview=true&calypso%5Ftoken=7e2f05f5-e6e8-4f95-84f5-dd998260aca4&ref=indiefarmer.com#%5Fftn2). Around the mid 1950s her main focus moved from the sea to conservation issues, especially the increasing use of manufactured pesticides. At home her responsibilities increased: in 1957 when her niece died prematurely, she adopted her five-year-old son, supporting him alongside her 88-year-old mother. Rachel Carson was a rigorous scientist, and *Silent Spring*, though readable for the layperson, is packed full with verifiable research and data. In one chapter alone, she credits 42 sources for her information. This is significant, because she was well aware that her main conclusions were about as welcome to the chemical industry as a climate change campaigner at a Hummer show. Before publication she took the precaution of consulting other experienced scientists and medical researchers, fearing potential legal challenge unless she had her facts completely straight. This scientific rigour as well as widespread favourable public opinion[\[3\]](https://indiefarmer.com/2015/07/02/silent-spring-by-rachel-carson-review/?demo=true&iframe=true&theme%5Fpreview=true&calypso%5Ftoken=7e2f05f5-e6e8-4f95-84f5-dd998260aca4&ref=indiefarmer.com#%5Fftn3) meant that attempts by representatives of the American chemical industry to gag and discredit her soon fizzled out. Indeed, the book was almost immediately hugely influential. Despite having to cope with treatment for breast cancer and failing health, Carson did get to testify to President Kennedy’s Scientific Advisory Committee in 1963, and see some of her advice implemented through bans and restrictions on pesticide use (especially DDT). What then, does *Silent Spring* tell us? Carson chose to introduce her book with an imagined scenario: the American countryside in a spring devoid of birds and other wildlife-hence silent. In the remaining sixteen chapters she explains how this possibility, in her view, was a distinct probability, unless action was taken to reduce the use of recent manufactured chemical pesticides and herbicides. To begin with, she explains the invention of the two main groups of industrial chemicals, chlorinated hydrocarbons (eg DDT) and those based on organic phosphorus (eg parathion). She argues that these products, largely invented for military purposes, got deployed after the end of the Second World War in a different war: against insect pests. Carson provides us with details of this chemical war waged in the environment around her. Pests such as the fire ant and the spruce budworm were targeted (seemingly even when their threat was minor) and she catalogues the unintended consequences-polluted ground water; contaminated soil; death and disease in migrating salmon, water fowl, and songbirds (robins, in particular); and hedgerows decimated by herbicides. > **Over increasingly large areas of the United States, spring now comes unheralded by the return of the birds and the early mornings are strangely silent where once they were filled with the beauty of bird song. The sudden silencing of the song of birds, this obliteration of the colour and beauty and interest they lend to our world have come about swiftly, insidiously and unnoticed by those whose communities are as yet unaffected. (95)** She includes too, an analysis of the toll taken on human health. She details cases of accidental exposure of workers to DDT as well as the known and/or suspected harm (including cancer) as a result of handling or eating plants or animals affected by chemical use. Primarily she questions the wisdom of introducing factory-made chemicals so fast and in such large quantities to the natural environment without testing their long-term effects. Specifically, she describes how the concentration of harmful chemical residues intensifies with each stage in the food chain. She also explains what biological resistance means and how an intended target pest could become resistant ( in the previous example of fire ants, a pesticide called haptachlor ended up virtually eradicating its predator, the corn borer): > **…farmers have repeatedly traded one insect enemy for a worse one as spraying upsets the population dynamics of the insect world (234)** Along the way Carson gives us insight into her philosophy of living things, and especially the idea of balance in nature: > **…a complex, precise and highly integrated system of relationships between living things which cannot safely be ignored any more than the law of gravity can be defied with impunity by a man perched on the edge of a cliff (226).** But above all she sets out to win both our minds and our hearts. I believe that she respected and felt committed, deep down, to the balance of nature, a commitment that developed out of her love of nature and her experience as a biologist. Continually she reminds us that to ignore nature and act as if humanity’s special role is to conquer it, can lead to very nasty surprises. So her ecological commitment was both moral and pragmatic; we should accept and honour the fact that we are part of the web of life, whilst to disregard that truth is irrational, as it may cause us serious harm. Carson argues then that science and ethics go together. Those of us involved in sustainable farming or who adopt an ethical approach to the food, beauty care and other products they buy, or who work in animal welfare, human health, biodiversity and much more, all owe her a debt. No wonder *Silent Spring* had such a huge impact. We can celebrate that Carson’s work led to the near-universal banning of DDT[\[4\]](https://indiefarmer.com/2015/07/02/silent-spring-by-rachel-carson-review/?demo=true&iframe=true&theme%5Fpreview=true&calypso%5Ftoken=7e2f05f5-e6e8-4f95-84f5-dd998260aca4&ref=indiefarmer.com#%5Fftn4) and restraint in the use of other industrial chemicals. She reminded those of us that are farmers that there are benefits from abandoning the unnatural ‘monoculture’ model of agriculture for an approach that encompasses biodiversity. But two other questions she raised still hang uncomfortably over our ways of doing things. First is the question of independent scientific research. In her own time Carson lamented the disparity between the huge budgets lavished on chemical -cide research and the modest sums allocated to biologists. She reminds us that most scientific research is dictated by commercial interests. And, in large part, bodies fund research that they consider will lead to financial gain; other potential research areas that could have led to huge benefit to human life, or the environment, go overlooked. Now, just as then, it is crucial to ask: is there a commercial objective that could be compromising research we read or hear about? Could there be a deliberate attempt to drown out any conflicting results? Second is the question of public health. Her account of investigations to establish how human beings are affected by “chemical and physical agents that are not part of the biological experience of man” (171) gives the layperson an idea of what a complex area cause and effect is, in relation to health. And I’m not convinced that even our experts understand the full impact, at a genetic and cell level, of chemical pollution in our water, our air and maybe our food, through industrial and agri-business practices, food additives, medication… But I’d like to end on a positive note. Carson’s efforts led to bans on chemical products known to injure human health and she put the issue of environmental pollution on the political agenda in democratic societies.[\[5\]](https://indiefarmer.com/2015/07/02/silent-spring-by-rachel-carson-review/?demo=true&iframe=true&theme%5Fpreview=true&calypso%5Ftoken=7e2f05f5-e6e8-4f95-84f5-dd998260aca4&ref=indiefarmer.com#%5Fftn5) Her arguments in favour of biological control as a viable alternative to chemical spraying have led to widespread, safe and effective use of biological predators. (I really wish she was still around to tell us what she thought of GM.) Her guiding principles – a belief in ecology and ethical independent science- are her abiding legacy, and remain our best guides still in ongoing debates about the environment. ### **More info?** [Silent Spring by Rachel Carson – Amazon](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Silent-Spring-Penguin-Modern-Classics/dp/0141184949?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### **Photo Credits** Crop Duster photo by Ken Hammond Rachel Carson portrait from her official [US Fish and Wildlife Service](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United%5FStates%5FFish%5Fand%5FWildlife%5FService?ref=indiefarmer.com) employee photo taken in 1940. ### **Footnotes** \[1\] I used the fiftieth anniversary edition: *Silent Spring* Penguin Classics London 2012\. This includes a foreword by Caroline Lucas. \[2\] *The Sea Around Us* Oxford University Press 1951 \[3\] The book was serialised before being published in September 1962, principally in the popular New Yorker paper; it was chosen as book of the month just after publication, CBS Radio dramatised it, and reviewers praised it. \[4\] DDT was banned in agricultural use in the US in 1972\. Other countries followed suit (not until 1984 in the UK however!) It is still used against malaria, and there are vociferous supporters of its use for this purpose. However, research shows that mosquitoes build up resistance to DDT very quickly, and that community led approaches involving more than just DDT are most effective. In 2014 a UK study found higher levels of DDT residues in those suffering with Alzheimers. \[5\] It is interesting also to note how many key issues she identified back when she wrote the book over fifty years ago. She raised the question of health and safety for consumers of garden chemicals (sold alongside foods in the supermarket), and the related question of misleading marketing (she felt that what were essentially poisons had a cosy, domesticated image in adverts and packaging). She set a benchmark for good research. She showed how politicians may invent crusades -at the end of the second world war the war on insects gave a plausible reason for putting decommissioned military planes back into service. She also touched on the issue of grass roots democracy when she described an environmental campaign by inhabitants of Maine. ### A guide to hay making by hand URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/a-guide-to-hay-making-by-hand/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T16:01:41.000Z Inspired by my visit to **Monkton Wlyd Court** (an education centre for sustainable living) last summer (whilst on my Indie Farmer Road Trip) I’ve put together a short guide to hay making by hand featuring **Simon Fairlie**, small-scale farmer and co-editor of **The Land Magazine**.. **1\. Sharpening your Scythe** – The majority of farmers these days use a tractor and a mower for cutting grass but in the absence of modern machinery the most important tool you’ll need is a good sharp Scythe… ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08846.jpg) **2\. Scything or Mowing –** recently popularised in the BBC Series Poldark, scything is a real art as demonstrated in my video of Simon mowing below and according to him it can take at least 5 years (or seasons) to turn a lad into a professional mower. So you better get practicing! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08848.jpg) Here’s a short video I took of Simon in ‘full swing’… **3\. Turning your hay** – to aid the drying process it’s important to turn the grass over the course of the ‘haying’ period.. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08840.jpg) **4\. Moving your hay** – Once your grass has turned to hay (which normally takes a day or two fine weather) you’ll need to move it to the barn. To do this fork some hay onto a large blanket, which can then be wrapped it into a bundle and transport by foot to the farm yard. Depending on the size of the field you may need to make several ‘trips’ to clear the field. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08844.jpg) **5\. Spreading your hay** – sometimes if the hay isn’t quite ready but the weather looks set to change it’s a good idea to get your hay as close to the barn as possible and then spread it in the farmyard.. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08836.jpg) **6\. Stacking your hay in the barn** – the final and most important stage of hay making is to get your hay safely in the barn before it rains. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08861.jpg) And whilst I haven’t convinced my dad to sell our tractors and hay making equipment quite yet here’s a ‘man versus machine’ YouTube video with a surprising outcome.. ### **More information** To find out more about Austrian scythes visit [http://www.thescytheshop.co.uk/ ](http://www.thescytheshop.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com)run by Simon Fairlie Visit the annual Scything fair (normally held in June) [http://www.greenfair.org.uk/](http://www.greenfair.org.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### Agricultural Philosophy: Wendell Berry URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/agricultural-philosophy-wendell-berry/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T10:05:45.000Z A couple of months ago I wrote about how I got interested in agricultural philosophy and the ideas behind decisions about farming models. A couple of people suggested that I do some research into Wendell Berry, a man I had vaguely heard of, but really knew nothing about. For those of us who like labels, his name is associated with ‘agrarianism”, a philosophy that puts our human ties to each other, to other living things and to the land first. Here I will try and explain some of his key ideas, particularly in relation to farming. ​Berry was born in 1934 in Kentucky, North America, and he is a prolific writer, poet and ‘philosopher farmer’ whose work ranges widely over farming and ecology issues, but whose name seems to be little known in the UK. He came from a farming background in Kentucky, and grew up on a farm, though his father also practised law. He studied English at university in Kentucky and at Stanford near San Francisco, then lived in Europe with his wife and young children before settling, in 1965, on a small, challenging farm neighbouring the family farm that his brother ran back in Kentucky. ​Though Berry could have remained in cities, writing and teaching, the countryside of his childhood pulled him back. In 1973 he told an interviewer that he thought the biggest voices in American culture were ‘mainly embarrassed about country things’, and farmers were given no models or vision to aspire to. Berry decided that he was going to be a voice for small farmers, not least because as he explained to the same interviewer he felt that they were ‘pretty well understaffed with advocates’. In doing so he has explained that he felt that he was taking up a family tradition dating back many years to an incident in his family that had gone down in its history. In the Jefferson lecture of 2012 Berry tells the story of how in 1907 his grandfather sent his tobacco crop off as usual for sale; the next day after attending the sale in the local town, he returned without a penny. The American Tobacco Company, which held a monopoly, had made its payment-this barely covered the costs of transport of the crop and the family endured financial hardship for the whole of the following year. ​That family history has influenced Berry’s ideas about farming throughout his career. In 1974 he gave a speech at a symposium on agriculture that led to his controversial work, The Unsettling of America . In this speech he contrasted the small farming he grew up with in the 1930s and 1940s, (when many farmers were near self-sufficient, and what shopping they did took place at local fresh food markets) to the agricultural model then being pushed on farmers by the representatives of agribusiness and government. These modernising forces with their unsubtle slogan of ‘get big or get out’ were decimating the small agricultural businesses of his childhood in the name of economic efficiency. But for Berry they were acting with ‘monstrous ignorance and irresponsibility’, driving farmers off their land and killing communities in their ‘monomania of bigness’ (quotes taken from his lecture at the symposium). ​In Berry’s view agribusiness does not offer a good deal for anyone except possibly its investors. His abiding belief is that everyone’s lives ‘must still come from the ground’ (Plowboy interview 1973), that ‘no matter how urban our life, our bodies live by farming; we come from the earth and we return to it’ . Therefore, specifically, all of us need to value or look after soil as our means of survival. But agribusiness is an agricultural model that tends to be driven by the goal of maximising quantitative output on land (eg milk per cow, crop per hectare, weight of carcase in shortest time)- it rarely mentions sustainability. Sustainability means preserving the quality of the soil, the health of the animals, the purity of the air and water on the land and the quality of the food produced in its system. As Berry reminds us, agribusiness managers will simply move on once the land is depleted. ​But farming is emphatically not, in Berry’s view, comparable to mining. Rather, it is a long-term project best carried out by people who make a commitment to one place, hand down knowledge over the generations and put sustainability of the farming practices on their land above quick profit. He associates this attitude to farming with family farms, rather than businesses owning large tracts of land and farming through contractors. And by choosing to work a farm alongside his writing career, he explains that he hoped to put into practice some of the values he associated with that farming way of life. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/Wendell-Maggie042-copy-3.jpg) Wendell Berry & Maggie Photograph by [Guy Mendes](http://www.guymendes.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com) ​Berry’s own commitment to farming is therefore driven by a whole complex range of reasons. He keeps returning in Agrarian Essays (as well as his fiction works) to the idea that the small farming businesses of old rural Kentucky were self-sustaining household economies. People in them were self-reliant and independent, they ate healthy food, benefited from outdoor work and the women worked as well as men and were equally valued as part of the family business. He contrasts their way of life with those of people today, questioning the value of urban/suburban sprawl, factory farming and food production, giant anonymous retailers, wage slave economies and relentless competition. ​But, interestingly, when challenged by an interviewer in 1993, Berry was not sentimental about these past farming communities ; rather, he stressed how his ideas gave him a vision for a better future for all of us. Asked for his advice back in 1983 about how people can improve their lives he emphasised the benefits of community, staying in one place, and living as part of the greater world of nature. But those who wish to live in the country may find it easiest to do so by supporting any farming enterprise with other work (as he himself has done). And those who prefer cities can find a connection with farmers and country life through the way they eat and buy food. He stresses the symbiotic relationship between consumers and farmers: whilst farmers have a duty to produce food responsibly, city people need to eat responsibly (The Art of Living Right). They can go to farmers’ markets, avoid factory- farmed and produced food and if they are really interested think about growing their own vegetables. ​In this short account I have only considered Berry’s ideas about farming. He is also fascinating on what ‘place’ means to us, on ecology and biodiversity, on gender issues, science, education and global economics. Though he gave the prestigious Jefferson lecture in 2012 and is admired and read by a lot of people especially in the US, he remains a little bit of an outsider. I think he confuses people because he is both deeply radical and yet in some ways conservative: he can be outspoken; he has not been a big fan of digital technology, and he is a practising Christian. But for anyone like me who is interested in ideas about farming and food, and the ‘bigger picture’ of where we are heading with our agricultural practices, I would absolutely recommend reading and listening to his work. He writes so clearly and decisively, and pinpoints cultural conventions so exactly, that he simply makes you think harder and see things afresh. ### **Featured Image** Thanks to the Artist Greg Newbold who kindly granted *Indie Farmer* permission to use his painting titled ‘Beckoning the Peace of Wild Things’ taken from the Wendell poem of the same name. We will be doing a follow up feature interview with Greg and the influence of his rural farming experiences growing up on his work but in the meantime you can find out more at [www.gregnewbold.com](http://www.gregnewbold.com/?ref=indiefarmer.com) or follow his blog at [www.gregnewbold.blogspot.com](http://www.gregnewbold.blogspot.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com). ### **Further Reading/Listening** \-I suggest you start by listening to the Jefferson Lecture online (see reference 2). \-Agrarian Essays (reference 4) gives a good overview of Berry’s ideas and their development over the years. The Editor, Norman Wirzba, also writes short interesting introductions to each section which sum up what the philosophy of ‘agrarianism’ means. \-Berry has written novels and many short stories, several based in a fictionalised Kentucky town, which evoke the small farming world. His poems express his more idealised vision. \-For a sense of the political/idealistic drive behind the revival since the 1970s of small farms, organic farming and ecology listen to his 1974 lecture (reference 3 below). \-He has a twitter account which offers short pithy comments on his interests:[https://twitter.com/WendellDaily](https://twitter.com/WendellDaily?ref=indiefarmer.com) ### **References** **1.** Bruce Williamson, ‘The Plowboy Interview’ in Conversations with Wendell Berry, Ed. Morris Allen Grubbs (University Press of Mississippi 2007) (‘Conversations’). **2.** The Jefferson Lecture 2012 available online: [http://www.neh.gov/news/2012-jefferson-lecture-wendell-berry.](http://www.neh.gov/news/2012-jefferson-lecture-wendell-berry?ref=indiefarmer.com) **3.** Lecture given by Wendell Berry at the Agriculture for a Small Planet symposium, Gonzaga, Spokane, on 1 July 1974 and available online: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1tioiBrZRE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1tioiBrZRE&ref=indiefarmer.com). **4.** Wendell Berry, ‘The Body and the Earth’ 1977, collected in Agrarian Essays, The Art of the Commonplace, Ed. Norman Wirzba (Berkeley, Counterpoint, 2002) (‘Agrarian Essays’). **5.** Jordan Fisher Smith, ‘Field Observations: an Interview with Wendell Berry’ in Conversations. **6**. Gregory McNamee and James R. Hepworth, ‘The Art of Living Right: An Interview with Wendell Berry’ in Conversations. ### A beginners guide to Lambing URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/a-beginners-guide-to-lambing/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T16:12:07.000Z ### **Growing up on a farm you get introduced to lambing at an early age (yes that’s me holding a lamb with the rather anxious looking ewe in the background) but for the vast majority of people it’s not something they come across or really understand fully.** The last few years prime time programmes like lambing live and celebrity presenters like Kate Humble have helped broaden the appeal with a main stream audience tuning in to see the realities of sheep farming up and down the country. Since it’s one of the busiest times of year on our farm it’s tradition that my four sisters and I take it in turns to spend weekends and holidays over the 3-4 week period helping bolster the lambing team. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSCF22091.jpg) This year will be my first as a full-time farmer and with just over a month before our flock of 213 Suffolk and Mule ewes are due to start! Over the next few weeks we’ll be busy preparing for the most important part of the shepherding calendar. For all those novice shepherds or anyone interested in learning more about the process here’s my short beginners guide to lambing.. ### **1\. Conception (or ‘Tupping’ as it is known in the sheep world)** On our farm it all begins in the Autumn when we put our 4 rams in with our flock, a ratio of around 1 ram to 50 ewes. With our ewes and rams in prime condition it doesn’t take long for nature to run it’s course and the rams begin ‘tupping’ as demonstrated by our Charolais ram below… ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC04850-2.jpg) ### **2\. Gestation period** Once pregnant the ewes have a gestation period of around 5 months. Having made careful note of the day the rams go in we calculate our lambing start date (which is the 21st of March this year). ### **3\. Lookering** It’s vital to keep tabs on the wellbeing of your pregnant ewes by lookering them on a daily basis to ensure they have plenty of grass, aren’t caught up in brambles or upside down in a ditch. Depending on the weather conditions lookering is either undertaken on foot or with the aid of a 4×4 vehicle – such as demonstrated by my sister below.. ### **4\. Feeding** The correct diet is of paramount importance to the health of our flock of pregnant ewes. In addition to moving our ewes regularly to fresh grass, we feed supplementary hay during wet and cold spells and also provide energy blocks in the lead up to lambing to help prevent incidences of twin lamb disease. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/IMG_1284.jpg) ### **5\. Scanning** We scan our ewes about 10 weeks prior to their due date to determine our lambing percentage, each ewe is marked up (by spray painting) with a particular colour corresponding to singles (blue), twins (no mark) or triplets (green) and quads (two green dots). The past couple of years we’ve achieve a percentage of around 186% which is fairly good for a lowland farm. A really good percentage is around the 200% or two lambs per ewe. This year however we had to abandon scanning due to stormy weather – so we’ll be lambing the old fashioned way. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSCF2085.jpg) ### **6\. Preparing the lambing pens** We lamb both indoors and out in the fields, with the whole flock coming in every evening so we can easily monitor ewes, help difficult lambing’s and minimise mortality rates. A lot of preparation goes into transforming our hay and straw barn into a dedicated sheep maternity ward, with a system of smaller individual pens and larger multiple pens. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSCF2200.jpg) ### **7\. Easy Lambing’s** When the time comes the majority of our ewes just get on with it, producing healthy lambs either onto a bed of straw (if indoors) or onto grass if they lamb down during the day. Once they have lambed down the ewes then normally ‘mother’ their wet lambs by licking them dry, after which they take to their feet to suck vital colostrum from their mother’s bag. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07222.jpg) ### **8\. Difficult Lambing’s** Sometimes things don’t go as smoothly and we have to intervene by helping with the delivery. One of the obvious issues can be poor presentation, such as a breach when the lamb is born backwards. To help with the delivery we use a number of lambing aids such as lubricant and ropes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07196.jpg) ### **9\. Fostering** Sometimes during difficult births we aren’t able to save the lamb – when it’s a twin the ewe can still raise their other lamb as a single but if it’s a single that loses it’s lamb then we look to foster a lamb from a triplet or quads. The fostering process can be tricky and ewes can often reject the fostered lamb based on the smell. We use a number of tactics to help reduce the chance of this happening such as using the skin of the dead lamb over the foster lamb and applying talcum powder too. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC074501.jpg) ### **10\. Numbering and Ringing** To stay organised and keep track of who belongs to who we number and colour code each ewe and their lambs with spray paint (as demonstrated by number 37 below). To prevent infections we dip the lambs naval in iodine and also ring their tails and balls ready for turning out. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07081.jpg) ### **11\. Turning Out** Once the mother and her lambs are fit and healthy to leave the lambing pens we load them up in a trailer and turn them out in the fields.. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07190.jpg) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC07232.jpg) ### **12\. More Lookering** The work doesn’t stop there though – the lambs are still venerable to the elements and predators like foxes. Last season I noticed a distressed ewe that was missing a lamb. After searching the whole 10 acre field for sometime I managed to find her lamb down a badger hole – luckily the little chap was still alive and I pulled him out, reuniting him with his mum and sibling. ### 17 classic tractors we want in our shed URL: https://www.indiefarmer.com/17-classic-tractors-we-want-in-our-shed/ Last updated: 2026-01-26T16:29:11.000Z #### **Because they don’t make ’em like this anymore…** A handy guide to 17 classic tractors we fancy, each with some useful gems of info and a pulling power score – our own indie take on tractor top trumps. If you are someone that has a passion for collecting vintage tractors then this might be worth a read. The more you know the better. Plus, this may give you the push you need to restore the tractor that you’ve got sitting on your farm. ### **1\. Ford 9600 Tractor** The most powerful tractor in the UK when it was released – the 9600 still cuts an impressive figure in the modern world of farming – that’s if you’re lucky enough to see one in the flesh, as they are as rare as hens teeth over here… **Pulling Power 10/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/trundle1.jpg) ### **2\. International B414 Tractor** Advertised as ‘the tractor with everything I wanted most’ this single clutch model sold well in the UK and they are a common sight at vintage tractor fairs..**Pulling Power 7/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC09928.jpg) ### **3\. David Brown 885 Tractor** A good performer and another favourite at classic tractor rallies..**Pulling Power 6/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/photo-29.jpg) ### **4\. Case L Tractor** Made from 1929 – 1940 – a true classic and though not a particularly comfortable ride – you needn’t concern yourself repairing punctures…**Pulling Power 8/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08428-1.jpg) ### **5\. Ferguson TEF 20 Diesel Tractor** Made from 1946-56 and commonly known as the Little Grey Fergie – the clean lines and innovative engineering make this the ‘designer’ tractor drivers choice. **Pulling Power 8/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/photo-19-1.jpg) Here’s another one with a rad two tone paint job.. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08346-1.jpg) ### **6\. Belarus Tractor** Made at the Minsk Tractor Works in Belarus since the 1950s. Famed for their basic spec and ‘champion of reliability’ 70s advertising campaign – you don’t see many ‘working’ examples these days… **Pulling Power 5/10**. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC06701.jpeg) ### **7\. Massey-Harris Model 25 Tractor** Made from 1932-46 – the model picture is one of the 14,000 earlier versions painted in the green hue. **Pulling Power 6/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC06645-1.jpeg) ### **8\. Fordson Dexta Tractor** Made from 1958-61\. **Pulling Power 7/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08327.jpg) ### **9\. Allis-Chalmers Model B Tractor** Made from 1936-57 the Model B was designed for the small-farm market with early literature focused on the economy of using tractors instead of horses. **Pulling Power 7/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC06644.jpeg) ### **10\. McCormick Farnall Super A Tractor** Made from 1947-54\. **Pulling Power 6/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08441.jpg) ### **11\. International-Harvestor B-250 Tractor** Made from 1956-61\. **Pulling Power 6/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08345.jpg) ### **12\. Fordson Major E27N Tractor** Made from 1945-52 – was a popular machine and a favourite at classic tractor rallies. Bonus point as my grandfather owned one. **Pulling Power 8/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC08434.jpg) ### **13\. Ford 5000 Tractor** Made from 1965-76\. A relatively modern classic tractor – you probably won’t remember their ‘Mention our name and get a good seat’ print campaign which extolled the virtues of their cushioned, sprung and contoured tractor seat. As demonstrated below the cab also has more than enough space for a farm dog too. **Pulling Power 7/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC09903.jpg) ### **14\. David Brown VAC 1 C Cropmaster Tractor** Made from 1947-53\. **Pulling Power 6/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/photo-57.jpg) ### **15\. Caterpillar Tractor** A real head turner and room for a date – **Pulling power 8/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/photo-59.jpg) ### **16\. Muir Hill 121 Tractor (Also known as Muriel)** Made from 1972 – a British workhorse of considerable size with two large wheels and known for their equally large turning circle. **Pulling power 8/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/photo-110.jpg) ### **17\. Field Marshall** Made from 1945-57 these green beauties are a site to behold at classic tractor rallies. **Pulling Power 7.5/10** ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/50/da/50da6983-f19c-4a8d-b0d8-40d0b69cdad3/content/images/2026/01/DSC09920.jpg) ### **More info** Check out [Farm Autotrader](http://farm.autotrader.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com) [Classic Tractor Magazine](http://www.classictractormagazine.co.uk/?ref=indiefarmer.com)