Agriculture

What we grow at Stondon Manor Farm

Historical cropping has been predominately Milling & Feed Wheat, plus some seed wheat grown for a local seed merchant, also Barley for malting, Oilseed Rape, Peas, Beans and now Spring Oats. Crops and varieties are grown to suit local markets.

The farm is ideally suited for both feed and milling varieties, with 6 flour mills and 5 feed mills within a 40-50 mile radius, with an export dock within 90 miles.

Malting Barley has been grown for over 30 years, and again close to maltings, it gives a good gross margin and on par with second Wheats, with fewer inputs needed to grow it.

Peas & Beans are a niche crop, as the varieties grown are specifically for the pigeon food trade which attract a higher premium than that of varieties destined for the feed sector.

How we grow it

We now apply all nitrogen fertiliser in liquid form via the sprayer, which is variable rate, through Satellite imagery. All crops are now drilled variable rate too. K Parrish & Son are utilising their inputs efficiently, plus targeting them more specifically. The result is high consistent yields proven through yield mapping at harvest.

All agricultural machines are fitted with RTK autosteer systems, which are accurate to 2 cm, repeatable year on year. This saves on fuel consumption, wearing parts, reduces unproductive overlaps and compaction. Less driver fatigue, plus increases daily output.

Minimum Tillage & Zero Tillage has been adopted for means of crop establishment, with no ploughing being used for 5 years. We have seen an overall improvement in the work-ability of our soils plus increase in earthworm populations. Reduced fuel usage and fewer passes for crop establishment and therefore improved soil structure, better for the environment with less CO2 being released into the atmosphere.

We have always followed a diverse cropping regime which has followed market trends and proximity to mills. With this in conjunction with our CSS we have created habitats for grey partridges, lapwings, skylarks and golden plover, which have all been seen on the farm.

We farm with passion & pride, it would seem that a possible fourth generation is in the wings with my 6 year old son showing a keen interest - only time will tell.

Satellite Technology has been introduced too us, far back as 1992, which was used for variable rate applied compound fertiliser. Improvements in satellite technology have allowed us to take things a stage further. Now we have applied variable rate technology to nitrogen fertiliser, which is all applied via satellite images and the sprayer applies everything in a liquid form.

We currently employ two full time staff who are involved with the day-to-day running of the farm with shared responsibilities for crop protection, cultivations, farm and unit maintenance. Our machinery is well looked after and maintained in house, with the exception of two machines

Since 2016 Harvest we are now recording within our Cropping Software Programme all Income & Costs per field. We will be able to look at each crop/variety bench marking against the rest of industry. This will enable the business to monitor the arable enterprise, making management decisions from this information.

We currently farm a total of 807 Hectares (Ha) of which 780 Ha is cropped in a traditional cropping rotation.

11 Ha of permanent grassland and various field grass margins, plus the same for Countryside Stewardship Scheme.