Our land is our most precious resource

Soils

Soil health is critical to successful arable production and we think carefully about how we manage our soils to get the best out of them.  This includes looking after soil structure through choice of machinery, cultivation and timing, and soil health through rotation and fertility building.

Water

The business uses a water management policy to help us consider how we avoid pollution of water courses and groundwater.  This includes management of use of fertilisers and pesticides, as well as buffer strips against water courses and planning of cultivations and cropping.  

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We also store water harvested during the winter months in reservoirs to irrigate our crops during the summer. 

Surrounding Environment

The land we manage includes a significant area of woodlands and marshes, which are also part of our HLS scheme.  The marshes are managed through grazing and topping and woodland management has the benefit of providing sustainable source of timber for our biomass boiler.

SSSI

We are priviledged to occupy an area of ancient wet woodland which has been designated as a "Site of Special Scientific Interest".  the management of these area is carefully considered and is included within our "Higher Level Stewardship Scheme".  The woodland contains some very old trees including a notable black poplar, orchids and water voles.

Entry Level and Higher Level Stewardship

Much of the land we manage is in ELS and HLS Schemes.  These schemes bring objective management to environmental features of the farm in conjunction with commercial food production.