Environmental stewardship, welfare and farm practices

The whole farm is in Higher Level Stewardship (HLS), an environmental stewardship scheme supported by Defra. Environmental Stewardship’s primary objectives are to conserve wildlife, maintain and enhance landscape quality and character, protect the historic environment and natural resources and promote public access and understanding of the countryside.

HLS work carried out on the farm has been wide-ranging and includes the building of an otter holt, restoration of Devon hedgebanks, restoration of and new planting for the traditional orchard, increasing the area of culm grassland in the woodland, fencing the woodland from poaching livestock, and the restoration of an 18th century stone and cob barn.

The farm is run on a low input, no artificial fertiliser system, using well rotted farmyard manure on those fields where we work to maximise grass for the livestock. There are also a number of fields that are left unimproved to encourage the significant numbers and varieties of native wildflowers, grasses, insects, small mammals and birds that thrive on poorer soils.

All our animals are free-range, and the breeds are native, traditional or rare breed, ideally suited to non-intensive conditions.

Lambing is delayed until the end of March/beginning of April, so that the lambs and new mothers have access to fresh spring grass, and to avoid freezing winter nights in the lambing shed. Our lambs are fed solely on their mother’s milk and grass, which results in slow maturing, excellently flavoured meat. As hardy animals with a low stocking ratio, our sheep are naturally well covered and don’t need concentrates to bulk them up. Hard feed is only given to the in-lamb ewes for the six weeks leading up to lambing and for a short while after in the early stages of producing milk. Antibiotics are only used where an individual animal’s welfare means treatment is advisable. 

Apart from the amusement he provides, the llama protects the sheep and lambs from predators.