We've moved our blog!

Launceston Farm's beautiful new blog can now be found on our website:

http://www.launcestonfarm.co.uk/

Please come and find us!  This blog will not be updated from here on in so come on over to the bright side...

Farm's prehistoric burial sites to get extra protection

Not being an avid archaeologist myself, I had a few questions about the significance of our commitment under the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) agreement to protect a group of prehistoric burial mounds on the farm, compared with our other environmental commitments such as conserving local wildlife and enhancing the landscape.

After a bit of delving, I soon found some answers. The long and short of it is that over half of important archaeological locations such as Neolithic burial mounds, buried Roman towns and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries around the UK are in danger of being destroyed and modern farming has a significant role to play. According to English Heritage, modern tillage techniques have done as much damage in the last 6 decades to historic sites as traditional tilling did in 6 centuries.

Archaeologists need to make sure they effectively communicate to farmers through schemes like HLS, the value and interest of preserving ancient sites and monuments which are the only evidence we have for the majority of human history. (Photo shows an example of an ancient burial site (long barrow) on a farm in Gloucestershire.) 

For any intrepid guests who are staying at the B&B and are interested in seeing best examples of the burial mounds on the farm, Sarah will happily point you in the right direction.

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.