Since Chris and Jenny’s return to Elms Farm in 2003 they have continued to implement the long standing conservation standards started by the Brown family back in the 1950s. They have planted more than 40,000 trees, reinstated over a mile of hedging that was previously lost to intensive farming & also worked on habitat management that benefits the existing wildlife population and encourages new species.

It is key that all the activities here at Elms Farm complement each other so that their cumulative effect of the farm on the local community and its surroundings is highly beneficial for as many people as possible. In 2012 the farm also installed a bio mass log boiler that now provides all the heat and hot water for the farm.

Elms Farm's hedgerow management plan has ensured the survival of many hedgerow species by employing traditional methods of maintenance such as cutting and laying. Please visit our events page for dates of the hedge laying courses we will be running this autumn.

The farm’s field rotation has changed from intensive non profitable arable, and we are now striving to achieve a 6 year rotation. This will comprise of 4 years grass followed by pigs, 1 years' wheat utilising the straw for the animals and the corn for our poultry and then the final year of barley utilising the straw and the barley for feed for the animals.

Fodder crops such as stubble turnips are then planted straight after barley to provide over winter feed for our sheep, cattle and pigs. The rotation then returns to grass to start the 6-year rotation again. We believe this is a much more sustainable approach to utilising the land available. Each field also has either a grassland or wildlife margin throughout the rotation.