Fir Farm Holdings Ltd
Fir Farm Holdings, an organic, PFLA mixed farm milking Red Poll Cattle and a pedigree Sussex suckler herd, finishing all progeny on site using regenerative methods. Visit www.firfarm.co.uk to find out more.
CATTLE
We have two breeds of cattle at Fir Farm, a dairy herd of Red Polls and a Sussex suckler herd.
Our Red Polls are milked once a day on a very extensive low input system. We sell all of our milk via 3 milk vending machines and we also skim the cream off the milk to make our own in-house ice cream. Heifers are used as replacements into the herd and steers are taken right through to finishing.
Our Sussex herd are calved in the Spring and then run amongst our two farms, tall grass AMP grazing, moving them every day onto fresh pastures on a 60 day rotation. This allows the cattle to pick through the forage, getting a diverse range of plants in each mouthful, before allowing the plant to recover and regrow.
All beef calves are taken right through to finishing, which ranges from 20 - 32 months, with the Red Polls being the later.
SUSTAINABILITY & CONSERVATION
Sustainability and conservation are at the heart of everything we do at Fir Farm and we are always looking at ways we can improve this. We are in a Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship Conservation Agreement with the aim of improving farm bird numbers and enhancing the environmental value of the farm.
Under the guidance of Vaughan Lewis from the Wild Trout Trust we have also carried out considerable improvement works to the River Dikler to enhance its value for Brown Trout and other river species.
We have planted approximately 100,000 trees and hedgerow plants in the last 8 years to add to the landscape value of the farm, provide wildlife corridors around the Estate, and a habitat for the many woodland species found in the Cotswolds.
ARABLE
Our arable enterprise works on a 5 year rotation, 3 years arable with the third crop being undersown with a SAM3 herbal ley mix which provides us with 2 years grazing. We have 50 acres of AB8 Floristically enhanced wildflower margins surrounding all of our roational ground to encourage pollinators and predators into our crops.
Our winter cereals are grazed with lambs to eat around 80% of the leaf matter. Being organic, this allows us to control any diseases in the crop. When the crop is eaten, it shocks the plant, which makes them push their roots further into the ground and encourage a growth spurt of fresh, disease-free leaves.
Contact Details
Address: Fir Farm Holdings Ltd, Rectory Farm, Mill Lane, Lower Swell, Gloucestershire, GL54 1LH England
Telephone: 01451 608900
Mobile: 07961573821