We manage our land fairly intensively with the use of rotational grazing between the sheep and the cattle and careful application of well-fed manure and usually measured fertilizer, however in 2022 we made the decision not to use fertilizer.

Although our management choices keep the stock numbers relatively high, we are fortunate enough to hold huge diversity within the land. We keep thousands of metres of hedgerows, which are protected with double fences between fields, and have a beautiful collection of historical features including building ruins, old stone walls and hidden secrets such as “potato cellars”, all of which can be seen closely from the busy web of footpaths and bridleways that filter through our land.

Throughout the year, the seasonal changes to our land are stunning. I always love June, when the grass on the mowing fields are full of clean, bright green blades of grass, looking fresh after the ewes and lambs have kept the plants low through April and May, but three gateways later I can be on the vintage paddocks that have had six months rest, totally thriving in a variety of wild plants and insects, ready for the spring calving cows and calves to graze for the summer. It’s such a special time and a very special place.

Not only am I lucky enough to raise livestock so close to the Stiperstones ridge, but I am also lucky enough to raise my children here. One of the most enjoyable parts of farming here is being able to educate my own children on how healthy, honest British food finds its way to the consumers and letting them explore the magnificent changes our land makes year on year. From the hundreds of new lives welcomed in the spring, to the biodiversity of the different parcels of land, to the way the water sources alter through a year, it is all simply beautiful.

As I’m sure you can tell, I am incredibly proud to be a dedicated British Beef and Sheep farmer, but I’m also so proud to know that we’re able to create a home for an abundance of wildlife alongside our practices.

In the future, I pray that our farm can continue to thrive, growing British beef and lamb to high welfare standards, but I also predict that with the abolishment of the Single Farm Payment looming and the increasing popular demand from the public for further biodiversity, flood management, plantations and to globally reduce the carbon footprint, I detect that we will also be required to use our land to provide these changes.