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Showing 13–24 of 52 non-featured articles

A New 24 Metre Dribble Bar, Joe's Best-Ever Verdict, and the Butchery Appeal We Lost

10 March 2025 · 4 min read

First outing for our new 24 metre dribble bar, vet praise that means more than any KPI table, plans for routine batch weighing of finishers, and the formal end of the on-farm butchery story after our appeal was rejected.

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Farm News

100 Applicants in Ipswich, Single Figures for Arable: A Real Look at Farming Recruitment in 2025

04 February 2025 · 4 min read

New Year team appraisals, the realities of managing two businesses 50 miles apart, and a striking contrast in recruitment response between our Ipswich roles and an arable and contracting position that has been open since October.

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Farm News

The Biggest Year of Change We've Had: A 2024 Reflection

17 December 2024 · 4 min read

A year-end look back on what has been the most transformative twelve months in the recent history of our family farming business. The highs of acquiring Procters Sausages, marriage, awards recognition and a growing contracting operation, balanced against real losses, a tough autumn Budget for farming, and the questions about succession we now have to answer.

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Farm News

Winning the Sustainable Farming Award 2024: what it means for our business

12 November 2024 · 5 min read

In November 2024 we picked up the Sustainable Farming Award at the National Pig Awards. It was a proud moment, and a useful one too. Here is what the award recognises, what we have changed to get here, and what we are working on next.

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Industry Insights

Will My Son, My Niece and My Nephew Get the Same Chance? The Budget Changes That Could Break Family Farms

10 November 2024 · 4 min read

My honest reaction to the Budget changes to Agricultural and Business Property Relief, why the maths simply does not work for active family farms at current returns on agricultural assets, and what it could mean for the next generation of an industry that does not move at the speed of policy.

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Contracting

Why precision matters: how RTK guidance changes every operation

24 October 2024 · 7 min read

Every operation we run uses RTK guidance. That sounds technical, and the systems behind it are, but the difference it makes is straightforward: less waste, better work, a finish you can see in the field. Here is what RTK is doing on each pass.

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Farm News

63 Years Since Last Time: Hosting the Local Ploughing Match, Mixed Farmer Finalists, and Joining AHDB's Environmental Pilot

14 October 2024 · 3 min read

A short month of community, recognition and a new commitment to environmental measurement. Hosting the local ploughing match for the first time in 63 years, attending the FW Awards as a Mixed Farmer of the Year finalist, and being selected for AHDB's Environmental Baselining Pilot.

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Industry Insights

From field to fork: how we feed our pigs with what we grow

08 October 2024 · 7 min read

Most pig farms buy in their feed. We do not. The grain that becomes the feed that becomes the pork is grown, milled and fed on a single farm in Essex. Here is why that matters and what it means for the pork we produce.

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Farm News

Eleven Months in the Making: We Have Acquired Procters Sausages

11 September 2024 · 4 min read

After three years of writing about wanting to take more control of our pork from farm to fork, the deal is finally done. Procters Sausages joins the family. Plus an update from the Agsenze and Agrisys gilt weighing trial, which is already showing our most experienced stockperson things he is not sure he would have picked up by eye.

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Contracting & Seasonal Features

Harvest 2024: An All-Arable Update with Some Pleasant Surprises and One Real Disappointment

06 August 2024 · 4 min read

Harvest started 14 July. Winter barley back a tonne on last year, OSR in, wheat after spring barley disappointing, but the continuous wheat trial and the double organic manure block both telling us something useful for next season.

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Farm News

From 14.1 to 16.8: A Quiet June That Was Not So Quiet, Plus a Wedding and a Finalist Nomination

02 July 2024 · 3 min read

A look ahead to harvest, Ed running contract spreading through to the autumn, wheat purchase pricing for the home mill, an unusually variable month for farrowing performance, and on a personal note, becoming a married man and a finalist for Mixed Farmer of the Year.

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Farm News

Krakow, the NEC, and an Environment Agency Visit That Asked Where to Buy Our Pork

27 May 2024 · 4 min read

A stag do, the Pig & Poultry Fair, a useful day speaking at the Swinco conference, and an Environment Agency inspection that ended with the line that captures everything about why we are still trying to get on-farm butchery over the line.

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