Hereford Monitor Farm (2017-2020)

Russell Price and Martin Williams are between them hosting the new Monitor Farm for Herefordshire. Included in their rotations wheat, barley, peas, beans, oilseed rape and potatoes.

Martin farms 800 ha arable crops on the banks of the River Wye at Fownhope, and also has a small flock of Jacob sheep and rents out land for grazing. Martin’s particular challenges are trying to decrease his cost of production, be successful in a very competitive market and to efficiently manage crops with limited chemical availability. On the Herefordshire/Worcestershire border, Russell Price’s arable farming operation includes 360 ha farmed in-hand, 290 ha contract farmed and 130 ha potatoes grown. The challenges faced by Russell’s business include black-grass, improving soil health, efficiency of crop nutrition and building a resilient farming business to withstand volatility.

Working together to form this joint Monitor Farm, Russell and Martin are confident that this collaboration will allow them to make comparisons in their businesses, thus providing a wide array of topics around which local farmers can share knowledge and best practice.

Information regarding our current West Midland and Welsh Monitor Farms can be found here: Monitor Farms | AHDB