Huggate Monitor Summer meeting

This event will mark the launch of the Huggate Monitor Farm. The day will provide an opportunity for local farmers, growers and agronomists and the industry to learn about the farm business.

The day will involve conducting a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis for the business. This will be an opportunity to highlight local issues facing farms in the area, along with any topics attendees would like to discuss throughout the Monitor Farm programme: business, personal or technical areas.

Programme:

This launch will provide an introduction to both the Monitor Farm programme and the farm itself. Local farmers who attend will analyse the business and identify the key issues that they think need to be addressed during the three-year programme.

There will be short presentations followed by a farm walk and group discussions.

• Registration, tea and coffee, Basis and Nroso
• Welcome and introduction to the Monitor Farm programme Rose Riby, KE manager AHDB
• Introduction to the Huggate Monitor Farm business Gary Shipley, Huggate Monitor Farmer
• Farm Walk, to include:
• Soil types and cultivation methods and the inclusion of cover crops 
• Cropping and rotation
• Machinery
• Beef enterprise and grass management including environmental schemes
• Group SWOT analysis of the farm (Facilitated by Huggate monitor farm steering group)
• Group discussion on top ten issues for the Monitor Farm programme
• Introduction to the winter meeting programme Rose Riby, AHDB
• Lunch

For more information:
Please contact Rose Riby by e-mail rose.riby@ahdb.org.uk or call 07741 892283.
Meeting reports are available at: cereals.ahdb.org.uk/Huggate

About Huggate Monitor Farm

At his 657 ha, high-altitude family farm on the top of the Yorkshire Wolds, Gary Shipley grows winter wheat for feed, winter malting barley, oilseed rape/spring barley, vining peas for Birds Eye, potatoes, using a plough-based system. He is starting to investigate using cover crops in the rotation for soil benefits and sustainable farming. Soils are calcareous silty loam soils stretching to heavier clay loam. As well as arable cropping, the farm also has 150 gimmer lambs on rough grazing in the dales and a relatively young suckler herd. Gary wants to grow and improve the business while reducing his impact on the environment. And personally, his aim is to improve his skills, learn from others and increase his knowledge of modern farming practices.