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Chestnut Farm (2019-2023)
Name:
Chris and Louise Elkington
Location:
Grantham
Farm sectors:
Beef & Lamb
Twitter:
About Chestnut Farm (2019-2023)
- 55ha land of permanent pasture plus around 70ha temporary short term lets for the sheep enterprise
- Ewe numbers: Indoor flock of 154 ewes and 60 ewe lambs. Outdoor flock of 183 ewes and 61 ewe lambs (total = 458)
- Ewe breeds: Indoor flock are LLeyn and Roussin, outdoor flock are Lleyn x Aberfield
- Ram breeds: Charollais, Roussin, Lleyn and Highlander
- Other income: Gelston Lamb brand
- Chris and Louise’s objectives are to:
-
- Improve their grassland management
- Reduce mastitis incidence
- Increase scanning %
- Improve worm control
- Improve growth rates and reduce feed costs for rearing and finishing lambs
Lamb Strategic Farmers Chris and Louise Elkington, Chestnut Farm
Chestnut Farm is managed by husband and wife duo, Chris and Louise Elkington. The pair are no strangers to farming having both grown up on arable farms, however, they only began running sheep approximately ten years ago. Chris explains:
“It all started with a few pet sheep and we’ve grown up to 450 breeding ewes today. Along with the farm, we also own a catering company called Gelston Lamb selling our lamb direct to our customers through box schemes and catering at country shows and events.
“The main reason we wanted to be part of the strategic farm programme is to make our grazing strategy more efficient and also to increase our lambing percentage in our outdoor flock of Lleyns. We are looking forward to getting an outside opinion on how to improve our flock and meeting new and likeminded farmers in our area.”
Additional resources
Webinar: Chris Elkington Strategic Farm – Increasing lamb performance on a forage based diet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVoULjgG_uk
Webinar: Strategic farm – Managing lameness in the flock https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=li6qhvLnV_s
Webinar: B&L Strategic Farms How to start direct selling with Dupath Farm and Chestnut Farm https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1SjceBjKNs&t=7s
Podcast: Worm control in lambs https://audioboom.com/posts/7571477-worm-control-in-lambs
Spring 2021 video: Beef & Lamb Strategic Farm, Chris Elkington updates on project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zWkBRhg-dc
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Chris and Louise Elkington
Chris and Louise farm along with running a catering company, Gelston Lamb in Grantham, Lincolnshire.