Sheepdrove Organic Farm

Sheepdrove Organic Farm gained a high public profile when Juliet and Peter Kindersley took the UK government to court over its handling of the 2001 outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.[1] They also campaigned for a better approach to the 2007 FMD outbreak.[2]

The Kindersleys established Sheepdrove Organic Farm during the late 1990s after the acquisition of land neighbouring their home at Sheepdrove Farmhouse. The holding was put through organic conversion under Soil Association UK certification and developed an organic rotation system with a broad range of livestock and crops. They soon began a home delivery service taking orders through a website at a time when online meat sales were highly unusual. The farm is renowned as a place where organic principles and environmental sustainability are promoted.[3]

Location

The farm is situated on 900 hectares of chalk downland in an area that crosses the boundary of Oxfordshire and Berkshire, near the village of Lambourn. The local landscape is recognised as nationally important, being in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Further information

This is an example of a diversified farm, not just producing crops and livestock but also actively managing the processing and marketing of its food, and with additional enterprises. On the site are: Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre, facilities for on-site butchery, and delivery despatch; organic herb plots; composting yards; and rented housing.

Opened officially in June 2004 by HRH Prince Charles, Sheepdrove Eco Conference Centre was constructed using eco-friendly materials with a strong emphasis on wood. It has a timber frame infrastructure, cedar roof shingles, wooden panel interiors, a wall made of re-utilised chalk and panels made of recycled plastic. The building gained the 2005 Special Award for Sustainable Architecture from the Civic Trust Awards. The venue is licensed by West Berkshire for weddings. The centre kitchen uses fruit and vegetables from the farm's gardens and meat from the organic farm.

Innovative projects at the farm include:
- Poultry Agroforestry. The farm's organic free-range chickens live in a multi-use field system with strips of hedge habitat, rows of herbs and open pasture. This provides shelter, shade, foraging areas and natural wild food for the chickens. The ground is managed in a rotation between grazed pasture and cultivated cropping.
- The Reedbed Water Treatment System. Waste water from the farm, conference centre, processing unit and houses is treated in the constructed wetland habitats of their reedbed system.

As with many farms in England Sheepdrove has entered the Defra agri-environment schemes to help support farmland biodiversity including special measures to restore habitats such as Sheepdrove Rare Butterfly Project which aims to attract marsh fritillaries. The farm has records of 25 species of butterfly, 10 species of bee, 6 species of bat and 104 species of bird (including 5 types of owl). Notable plants include the goldilocks buttercup, field gromwell and Venus's looking-glass.

The Kindersleys have artistic backgrounds and have enriched Sheepdrove Organic Farm with standing stones, outdoor sculptures, mosaic, murals and lettering work.

References

  1. ↑ BBC News (2001) Slaughter Faces Legal Challenge
  2. ↑ Newbury Weekly News (2007) Don't just cull, says top farmer Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ SEEDA (2006) Sustainable Business Awards Archived 2009-09-05 at the Wayback Machine.

Coordinates: 51°32′02″N 1°29′01″W / 51.5339°N 1.4837°W / 51.5339; -1.4837

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