The farm is a mixture of organic grassland and crops. Clover and other legumes replenish the soil, barley and oats provide the income and the straw is used to bed livestock and is returned to the soil as dung, increasing soil life and fertility.

We have a mixed commercial herd of suckler cows usually put to an Aberdeen Angus bull. Calves are born in the spring when the grass is at its best and their mothers can provide them with plenty of milk. The whole herd lives together until the calves are about eight months old, when they are naturally weaned from their mothers and sold to other organic farmers to grow on.

We are particularly keen on improving the soils at Stantyway, whether by enhancing the biological life with cattle manures or improving the structure with a range of deep rooting crops such as festulolium grasses,  lucerne and Egyptian clover. We do our best to avoid ploughing fields too often and prefer to use shallow cultivations and light machinery where possible.

We do most of the necessary operations ourselves, with a fleet of slightly older, lighter machines than is used on many farms these days. This means we have a better chance of getting the timing right for key operations and ensure the least damage to the soil. The older of our Massey Ferguson tractors is pictured here on dual wheels, which spreads its weight and avoids squashing the vital air and water pores in the soil