David Wilson, Fir Farm
A 750-acre mixed full organic farm on the outskirts of Lower Swell. The River Dickler runs through the middle of the farm with 60 acres of water meadows bordering the permanent grassland. Hyde Mill field is particularly species diverse with a high content of greater burnet. The rest of the plot is a more open farm habitat on Cotswold brash soils.
Discover how David has been overseeing the work at Fir Farm.
Tell us a little about Fir Farm.
Other than permanent pasture, the farm has extensive areas of long term legume and herb rich leys grown to improve soil health and build fertility for cash crops.
We graze the grasslands with a suckler herd of 40 Sussex cows, plus a milking herd of 30 red poll cows. The plan is to sell the milk locally through vending machines and to produce our own cheese. We also have a flock of 700 breeding ewes, including 100 Hebridean ewes. On our arable fields we grow three main cash crops of wheat, barley and rye mostly as old heritage varieties.
What crops are you currently growing on the farm?
Across our arable fields we grow three main cash crops of wheat, barley and rye, mostly as old heritage varieties. We also grow spring heritage wheats, which are similar to durum type wheats, a hard wheat typically used in pasta production. The traditional varieties of wheat that we grow here are generally much lower in gluten content, which we then mill to produce high quality flour for making nutritious breads. We have a small mill on the farm which we use to sell our own flower, as well selling the grain on to the local flour millers. They particularly like one of the old varieties we grow, maris wigeon, as it produces a soft milling wheat and its tall growing habits smothers out the weeds.
Maris wigeon
What regenerative agriculture practices do you have planned for Fir Farm?
We're moving towards using longer term leys and permanent pastures to lift soil quality and to utilise the grazing for our expanding livestock numbers. We keep traditional breeds here which are good at utilising forage rather than needing grain. We also have an agroforestry experiment under way on 30 acres of land using mostly fruit tree species.
Cattle at Fir farm
What plans do you have locally to sell your produce?
We'll be restarting a meat processing enterprise to supply local butchers and restaurants. We currently have small herd of eight saddleback breeding sows which we manage to supply top quality pork, with the right fat cover aimed at the charcuterie market. We feed them on a simple diet of rolled oats and milk by-products, such as whey, to produce this high-quality meat.
We also use a small area to grow potatoes with the intention of introducing an area of vegetable production, which we'll grow beneath alleys of fruit trees. This has the potential to produce high yields of food per area of land.
We've also recently diversified into a timber business using our own sawmill to produce wood chip for biomass boilers. The tree trunks are purchased from within a thirty-mile radius form the farm. The trunks are then air dried at the farm before being converted into saleable products.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
We've recently taken on Lower Dean Farm under a five-year management agreement with a similar style of production. The previous intensive arable rotation will be replaced by more regenerative practices using herbal leys and longer rotations. It has some interesting steep grassed valleys with scrub and a good wildflower content that will respond well to careful grazing management.
Our overall aim is to produce affordable good quality food whilst also supporting wildlife.
David Wilson and Tim Bevan, Senior Wildlife and Farming Manager
Join Farm Manager David Wilson in this short film as he highlights and explains the importance of regenerative agriculture and the need of producing healthy food in harmony with the natural world.