Downton Estate farm

The farm combines agricultural production with biodiversity preservation. Soil health, animal welfare, and landscape conservation are at the heart of every decision.
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The mixed farming system provides the opportunity to apply manure on a rotational basis to maintain and build organic matter in the soil. This helps to retain moisture and provides the perfect habitat for earthworms, soil bacteria and funghi. As custodians of the land we do all we can to nurture the soil.
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To help achieve our environmental credentials very little inorganic fertiliser is used on the grassland and the whole farm is within an agri-environment scheme. The objectives of the scheme are to provide habitats to encourage farmland birds, small mammals and to preserve a patchwork of traditional old meadows which are rich in wild flowers and are interspersed with historic field boundaries, some of which will be laid in the traditional manner.

The dairy herd of 180 cows originally consisted of pedigree Ayrshire cows and a nucleus of Ayrshires remains with red and white Holsteins now forming the balance of the herd. The replacements for the dairy are reared on the farm and our milk goes to a national dairy processor and is sold as liquid milk in British supermarkets. Our cows are out at grass grazing nutritious herbal pastures during the summer and are fed a balanced diet of grass and maize silage when they are housed in the winter. Each of our cows will produce 9,500 litres of nutritious milk each year, that’s 16,625 pints!

The sheep flock of 2,800 ewes of varying breeds include North Country Mules, Exlana and Lleyn ewes which are crossed with Suffolk and Texel rams.  A proportion of the ewes lamb outside.  The Exlana ewes shed their wool and don’t require shearing on an annual basis. The sheep flock graze the permanent grassland on the steep hills and hidden valleys. They also tidy up the dairy pastures when the cows are housed in the autumn. The 4,200 lambs produced each year are mainly sold as stores for finishing on other farms.

We look to improve our carbon footprint wherever possible whether by reducing manufactured fertiliser inputs through careful application of manure produced on the farm or the use of electricity generated from the solar panels on the roof of a building at the dairy.
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GPS technology is used to apply fertiliser at variable rates, only applying additional product where required.
The tractors and combine harvester are all GPS linked and have self-steer equipment to ensure field operations are carried out as efficiently as possible, reducing fuel usage and soil compaction.
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The arable farming follows sustainable practices with crops direct drilled where possible to reduce the loss of carbon by cultivation and to build our soil organic matter.  Cover crops are planted to keep a root structure in the soil and stubble turnips provide grazing for the sheep, adding organic matter to the soil.  The use of the plough is kept to a minimum. The wild bird mixes planted as part of the agri-environment schemes provide a valuable feed source for birds during winter.  The legume fallow mixes which are incorporated into the rotation are not only fixing nitrogen for the following crop but are alive with insects at flowering in the early summer.

We have a farm staff of seven and each year a placement student from Harper Adams University is employed offering an opportunity to gain experience on a diverse mixed farm. During lambing staff numbers swell with local people joining our farming community.  

Arable crops grown, include wheat, barley, both spring and winter varieties, oats and oil seed rape. Milling varieties of wheat are grown to be turned into flour; barley is grown for malting for lager and beer production. Seed crops are also grown and a proportion of the grain produced is fed to livestock on the farm. Most of the surplus feed wheat produced is sold to mills who make feed for the local poultry industry.