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The farm
Farm manager Ian Dillon checking wheat
In 1999, we purchased Hope Farm, a 181-hectare (450-acre) arable farm in Cambridgeshire. It is contract farmed by one of our neighbouring farmers.
On the farm we predominately grow autumn-sown crops because they are generally considered to be more profitable than the traditional spring-sown ones.
For the first five years only two crops were grown: wheat and oilseed rape, in a three-year rotation (wheat: wheat: oilseed rape). Currently we have a four-year rotation of wheat: spring beans: wheat: oilseed rape. The rotation was altered to include spring beans in 2006 after considering both economic and environmental impacts.
Along with the arable land, there are just over 5 ha of permanent pasture, which is grazed by horses and sheep. The soil is predominantly heavy clay.
Key farm facts
- Total farm area: 181 ha (450 acres)
- Area of cropping: 160 (harvest 2010) ha (418 acres)
- Area of pasture: 6 ha (15 acres)
- Soil type: Hanslope calcereous clay loam
- Smallest field: 0.93 ha (2 acres)
- Largest field: 34.17 ha (84 acres)
- Length of hedgerows: 10.3 km (6.4 miles)
- Area of woodland: 0.5 ha (1.2 acres)
Last modified: 12 September 2011