About the farm
In 2000, we purchased Hope Farm, an arable farm in Cambridgeshire. It is contract farmed by one of our neighbouring farmers.
About Hope Farm
In previous years, we predominantly grew autumn-sown crops because they were considered to be more profitable. Recently, we have introduced a greater area of spring-sown crops, to help deal with pernicious weed problems and maintain overall profitability.
During the first five years only two crops were grown - wheat and oilseed rape. These were grown in a three-year rotation (wheat - wheat - oilseed rape). The rotation has evolved to take account of market opportunities and help implement a robust integrated pest management programme, so for harvest 2016 we grew winter wheat, spring barley, winter beans, winter linseed and spring millet.
Along with the arable land, there is also permanent pasture, which is grazed by horses and sheep. The soil is predominantly heavy clay.
Key facts
- Total farm area: 181 hectares
- Area of cropping: 161 hectares - harvest 2010
- Area of pasture: 6 hectares
- Soil type: Hanslope calcareous clay loam and Evesham clay loam
- Smallest field: 0.93 hectares
- Largest field: 34 hectares
- Length of hedgerows: 10.3 kilometres
- Area of woodland: 0.5 hectares
Our farming blog
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Food and farming that’s Fair to Nature
Fair to Nature is the only UK farm scheme to deliver the scale of land management wildlife requires to thrive. Find out more about this gold standard for nature-friendly farming and how it is helping farmers to create and manage diverse and successfu...
Posted 03/06/2021 by Kathryn Smith -
Review of Agri-Food must work for Nature
Northern Ireland’s Agri-Food Sector can play a pivotal role in addressing the nature and climate nature and climate emergency, at the same time as providing economic opportunities for rural communities and supporting healthier, sustainable diets. An ...
Posted 26/05/2021 by Kathryn Smith -
Sharing farmer knowledge across the farming sector on ways to work with nature to reduce pesticide use – IPM survey.
Guest blog by Steph Morren, Senior Policy Officer Take the survey here Increasingly, farmers and other land managers are looking for ways to reduce their reliance on pesticides. This is due to a number of reasons including concern for the environmen...
Posted 25/05/2021 by Kathryn Smith -
What the outcomes from the Welsh and Scottish elections mean for making our food system more nature friendly
Guest blog from Andrew Stark, Land Use Policy Offer RSPB Scotland and Rhys Evans, Policy Officer RSPB Cymru Scotland A new Parliament On May 6th, Scotland voted in a new Parliament and Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs). There were 129 seats u...
Posted 24/05/2021 by Kathryn Smith -
Curlews in crisis - curlew LIFE project launches
Guest blog by Samantha Lee, Senior Project manager, Curlew LIFE project The UK breeding population of curlews has almost halved since the mid-1990s. This is not just a problem because we don’t want to lose this species from our landscapes, but becaus...
Posted 24/05/2021 by Kathryn Smith -
Farming on RSPB Ramsey Island
Guest blog by Greg Morgan, Site Manager RSPB Ramsey Island and Grassholm RSPB Ramsey Island lies a mile off the coast of north Pembrokeshire, about as far west in Wales as you can go. The island is famed for its population of chough, a rare member of...
Posted 03/05/2021 by Kathryn Smith
How you can help
At Hope Farm, we're developing farming techniques that will benefit wildlife.
