Our flocks of sheep are made up of Suffolk, Lleyn and more recently, Shropshires, which we introduced for natural grazing in areas of the estate where we are managing the land in a more traditional way.
We also have Saddleback pigs, the closest breed to the pigs that were historically on the estate.
We milk our cows traditionally, twice daily and have our own dairy on site, where we produce LIST OF PRODUCTS HERE. We also supply our milk to local cheesemaker Village Maid, who use it to make their ‘Heckfield’ cheese along with a selection of other Guernsey milk cheeses.
We grow a diverse range of crops, including oats, barley and peas for livestock feed, herbal leys of grass for silage and hay. Our grazable cover crops boost nutrients and provide additional feed during the winter. Herbal grazing leys of chicory, clover, turnips, plantain along with numerous species of grass are across our fields, allowing our animals to graze outside into the latter months of the year with the herbal leys supplying vital minerals and vitamins to the livestock.
Our aim is to allow the soil to remain natural, disturbing this process as little as possible, by keeping the soil covered and living roots in the ground - protecting and boosting the organic matter. We fertilise the ground using our own livestock, tended to by our farmers following organic guidelines, and working with natural remedies when it is required whilst we head towards a holistic approach.
Across the farm, we have 20 bee hives to produce our own honey.