Underley

Farm size – Ian farms 600ac at Underley, with 300ac of grassland comprising permanent pasture and ryegrass and white clover leys. There is also 100ac of maize to finish cattle, 150ac of wheat and the remaining 150ac is woodland. Ian is also trialling hazelnuts for the first time. Follow his progress with the hazelnuts on Instagram @herefordhazelnuts

Livestock – Ian has a herd of dairy beef cattle, finishing 750 each year. He buys 60% of calves from a family dairy farm based in Oxfordshire and the remaining 40% from Meadow Quality. The calves are between two weeks and two months old when they come in, with a batch of around 450 coming in the autumn and the rest in spring. Cattle are finished between 16–21 months and sold deadweight. Historically, most calves have been sired by a British Blue, but he is gradually migrating to Aberdeen Angus. Ian is currently a grazing Approved Finishing Unit (AFU), but will lose this status in the near future which poses a new challenge to the business. They currently manage their grassland as close to a low-input dairy as possible and rotationally graze, moving cattle every one to three days. Even with the loss of the AFU status, Ian still wants to graze cattle at Underley.

Environment schemes – Ian intends to apply for the Mid-Tier Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

Ian’s family moved to Underley 15 years ago separating the beef finishing and dairy businesses. During his time in the Monitor Farm programme, Ian’s will be focusing on having a sustainable business to pass to his children if they wish to farm – both in an environmental and financial sense. He wants to focus on establishing multi-species herbal leys, getting more from his FYM, including a current composting trial he is looking at. He is also keen to get expert help for the farm, including a critical eye on what they’re currently doing and to delve deeper into the farm business structure and accounts to overcome the current AFU challenge. Ian is also looking forward to inviting neighbouring farmers to Underley to discuss and share ideas on how he can take the business forward and benchmark himself with others.