Farm provides habitat for threatened bird species

Over the summer, keen-eyed twitchers have been monitoring Launceston Farm for breeding populations of six farmland bird species which have suffered the most severe decline in numbers in recent years: Grey partridge, Lapwing, Turtle dove, Yellow wagtail, Tree sparrow and Corn bunting. Most of which have been spied on the farm.

Launceston Farm is in a high area of importance for conservation and we are stepping up our environmental stewardship commitments to manage the farm in ways which benefit these threatened bird species.  Measures include leaving the stubble over the winter once the crops have been harvested rather than spraying it or ploughing it up to provide food and habitat for ground nesting birds, using wild flower seed mixes on grass margins to encourage insects and hedge cutting every two years rather than every year which will provide additional food and shelter.

For more information on the South West Farmland Bird Initiative check out the Natural England website.

Launceston Farm beef headed for Waitrose shelves

With the difficulties facing the organic market at the moment it is difficult to get a higher price for organic meat than convntionally farmed meat.  However, we have started selling our beef toWaitrose as they recognise the quality of beef from our Aberdeen Angus cattle meaning we get a better price.

Another issue we are keen to look at is how we add value to our own product.  Beef is pretty versatile so we need to explore our options and be more creative about what we sell, how we sell it and who we sell it to.  Jimi's farm tours for the B&B guests inspire lots of visitors to take home a piece of top-side but I am sure there is more we can do.  Watch this space...

Renewable potential for farmers

Having just completed my dissertation - hoorah! - on renewable energy generating opportunities for farmers in Dorset, I thought it only fair to share some of my very interesting findings with you all...

Farmers have to be entrepreneurial to keep their businesses going, whether that is through diversifying their enterprises or trying different methods of farming to create new sources of income. Renewable energy generation on farms, through technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels and growing energy crops, presents a real opportunity for farmers to reduce the impact of their operations on the environment and save money.

Ironically, in the area we live in, the beauty of the very landscape farmers have been working so hard to maintain is one of the main obstacles to setting up these kinds of projects as they are considered to have a significant impact on the function of the landscape which makes gaining planning permission very difficult.

We are going to explore all the options fully at Launceston Farm and see what we can do within the planning restrictions and hopefully soon we will be able to start slashing our bills as well as our carbon footprint.

Launceston Farm on You tube

Welcome to the world of multi-media! Thanks to Tom at Galvanised Media, Launceston Farm is now on You Tube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipDFrYr-0xI

Check it out and let us know what you think.

Piglets by Christmas - we hope...

Launceston Farm would like to extend the warmest of welcomes to our gorgeous, new addition - a Middle White boar named Magnum who is on temporary loan from a local farm.

The girls are generally looking a bit miffed at the moment but we are optimistic our young stud will do his best to make sure our seemingly unwilling ladies are ready to sow down by Christmas.

Middle whites are a rare breed of pig from Yorkshire. They are relatively small and have a distinctive short snout which means they are less inclined to root. According to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, the Middle White's succulent, sweet-tasting pork has been recognised worldwide. In Japan, the Emperor is said to eat no other type of pork.

We were interested in breeding Middle Whites to help preserve this treasured breed.

Harvest is in - finally!

Farmers the length and breadth of the country have been suffering with the weather again this year but it is huge relief to us here that harvest is very nearly finished.

And the crop yields have been surprisingly good. This is the farm's second year of implementing organic methods of farming so there is still uncertainty around every corner for Jimi and Sarah...

Organic cereals event a big hit

Jimi and Sarah came away from the 2009 Organic Farmers & Growers national cereal event knowing with even more certainty that going organic was the right thing to do as much for the ethics as for the economics.

Amongst the expert speakers were a marketing guru expressing his view of the organic market and farmers from the front line discussing their own experiences. Other highlights included the lunch of organic roast beef and the "big kit" - both big sellers for our Launceston Farm team who even made it onto one of the official event photos!

Organic Farmers & Growers have a very lively blog with lots of interesting stuff on organics from around the world if you are intersted in finding out more.

History revisited at Launceston Farm

Ploughing up unusual objects is not all that uncommon for farmers but we all got a bit of a shock when, out cultivating, we upturned a World War II aeriel bomb in Scraggs field. The highly efficient RAF bomb squad travelled 200 miles from their base to diffuse the mechanism which was all very exciting - particularly for the chaps on the farm...

Historical artifacts from the war are fairly regularly upturned at Launceston. The countryside adjoining the North side of the farm, Crichel Down, was used as an RAF bombing range during the second world war. On a more romantic note, Jimi's grandfather, the first generation of this farming family to reside at Launceston, married one of the land girls working on the farm during the war, Judy Castle. He proposed to her in the Crown Hotel in Blandford over a cup of tea.

Slow Food at Launceston Farm

Dorset's Slow Food group descended on Launceston Farm at the beginning of this month to find out more about Sarah's contribution to the slow food movement in the area. Sarah's herd of Boer/Cashmere goats are a perfect example of how meat should be produced, reared on a small scale in free-range conditions over time to produce a tasty and high quality product.


The Slow Food movement is an international campaign, founded in 1986 by an Italian food and wine journalist as a backlash to 'fast food' and the way we are consuming large quantities of what he saw as poorly produced, unhealthy junk food. With hundreds of members all over the world, the movement is becoming an international force for change regarding the way we produce and consume food.

Visitors to the farm in May included producers and consumers who all got a chance to sample Sarah's legendary goat curry. There were also buyers for the goat skins which one lady from Eastern Europe informed me was the more traditional alternative to a hot water bottle - hopefully many cosy nights ahead!

Spring frollocking

Plenty of very cute animal photos in our blog this month as all the goats and cows - along with their babes - have been turned out into the fields for the spring.

Launceston Farm tours are about to take on a new dimension as Jimi is working on some bench seats for the back of the landrover so that more of our guests can enjoy gorgeous scenes like this one.

Launceston Farm makes national news

Half a page spread in the Guardian - not bad for a first flirtation with the national press! A massive thank you to our favourite B&B reviewer, Sally Shalam who has given us a glowing report.

Sweet, sweet love....

Following a fantastic Valentines Weekend at Launceston Farm with five lovely couples and a lovely travel writer and her friend all celebrating the festivities, the English fiz was flowing.

On the farm, the spring beans have been planted and three fiesty new fellas are on their way to cheer up our lonesome cows.

With easter fast approaching, Sarah will be whipping up the shortbread rabbits...Wren can hardly bear the excitment!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...at last!

We just thought the house looked pretty...

Despite the hazardous two inches which have brought Dorset to almost complete standstill, the show must go on. Being the time of year for ploughing, Phil is out there braving the elements - almost as intrepid as Tia (pictured here).

We hope all the snow eases up in time for Launceston Farm's impending Valentines Day celebrations.

We would love to see any other shots of the Tarrant Valley in the snow if anyone has any...?

Happy New Year from the farm!

Following a rather jolly New Year's Eve party in the Old Cart Shed for twenty lucky razellers, Sarah is back to work tending to her herd of Cashmere goats. The kid meat has been flying off the shelves this year and we are hopefully going to sell the skins to a London based footwear company.

Merve, Phil and Jimi have all been hard at it to make sure the animals are fed and watered over the winter and all those essential maintenance jobs are carried out to stop any wily cows - or goats - escaping.

We will hopefully be equally busy with the B&B this month with three nights for the price of two for the whole of January and February - what a treat!