The Estate’s
2,500 acres (1,000ha) are divided broadly as follows: 1,100 acres
(440ha) is put down to grass, forage and leys; 550 acres (220ha)
is arable; 50 acres (20ha) is kale and turnips; 500 acres (200ha)
is held under the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, and the rest
is woodland.
Crops
Cereal crops
are sown at Cholderton in the autumn and the spring. Autumn sowing
commences in early October and spring sowing generally in February
or March, depending on soil conditions.
Oats are the
favoured crop for autumn sowing, as these are particularly suited
for growing in organic conditions. They are vigorous, tend to
suppress weeds, and produce a nutritious grain that can be fed
to livestock or sold for rolling to make porridge. Harvesting
takes place in September, and all the straw is baled and retained
for animal feed or for bedding.
Barley is sown in the spring into
seedbeds that have been made in the autumn by ploughing stubble
or grass fields that have reached the end of their productive
life. Barley is not as vigorous as oats and does not suppress
weeds to the same extent. Weeds may be controlled by the careful
use of a flexi tine harrow but this is only used occasionally
and never when ground-nesting birds are present. This implement
is drawn by a tractor up and down the rows of young barley and
is able to remove weeds mechanically while doing the minimum amount
of damage to the crop. Normally one pass is adequate to achieve
the required weed control in the growing crop.
The barley
is harvested in August. All the grain is stored at the main granary
and is rolled for consumption by the cattle. Normally enough grain
is gathered in to feed the stock until the next harvest. All straw
is baled and is used for bedding and for feeding to the livestock.
Cereal crops
form part of a rotation. This takes the following form:
Year 1 legume/grass
ley
Year 2 legume/grass ley
Year 3 legume/grass ley
Year 4 spring barley
Year 5 winter oats
Year 6 winter oats
Year 7 legume/grass ley
Year 8 legume/grass ley
Greater flexibility
can be put into the system by the use of fodder crops such as
kale and protein crops such as vetches.
Kale is grown as forage for the dairy herds and to build soil
fertility. Growing extremely vigorously in the autumn, it is frost-hardy
and is grazed by the cows, access being controlled by an electric
fence. When the grazing has been completed, the kale stubble is
topped and spread with well-rotted manure. Spring barley follows.
Vetches are an extremely vigorous
leguminous crop. They completely smother all weeds and are very
attractive to pollinating insects during the mid-summer flowering
season. They die off and are harvested in mid-September. The seed
can be used as a protein supplement for cattle feed. Vetches clean
the ground and build soil fertility. Vetches are also sown with
oats in the autumn and used for silage in the following spring,
producing exceptional crops.
Field margins
In line with
Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) guidelines, the headlands
or margins of some arable fields are allowed to become grassy
strips. These have immediate, and low cost, benefits for wildlife.
They provide nest sites and forage areas for grey partridges;
provide cover for rodents, which in turn become prey for barn
owls; and act as ‘wildlife corridors’ connecting different
natural features of the Estate for the benefit of wildlife. The
bigger fields are divided by 'beetle banks', which have a similar
botanical composition to the arable margins. As the organic regime
at Cholderton becomes mature, it seems likely that these margins
will become richer in beneficial wild plants.
The
Transition from 'Inorganic' to Organic Grassland
For many years
the farm has been managed on a semi-organic basis. Nitrogen fertilisers
were used on the grassland, amounting to approximately 200 units
of nitrogen per acre (0.4ha) per annum; but about 10–15%
of the total acreage of pasture was composed of legumes such as
red clover, sainfoin and Lucerne, mixed with cocksfoot, meadow
fescue, timothy and perennial ryegrass. These leys received no
fertiliser, but were dressed with manure in the autumn or after
a hay or silage cut. The remaining pastures were composed of ryegrass,
timothy and white clover mixtures. The white clover varieties
then available were not persistent and these leys required a supplementary
nitrate dressing to boost production to levels necessary to maintain
the stock enterprises.
The transition
to an organic system has meant the complete cessation of the use
of artificial nitrogenous fertilisers. All nitrate is now supplied
from composted manure derived from the grazing stock and from
the nitrogen-fixing bacteria that attach themselves to the roots
of leguminous plants.
The principal
species of leguminous plant in use are:
Sainfoin
This has been grown at Cholderton since 1730. There were once
several local (Landrace) varieties of this important fodder plant;
these types included Cotswold common, Essex common, Cambridge
common and Vale of Glamorgan common. Of these only Cotswold common
and our variety, Hampshire common, remain in cultivation. Each
variety was selected over generations for the particular local
conditions.
Sainfoin means
holy hay – it is a magical plant, with beautiful racemes
of pink flowers in June. Animals thrive on its high protein, non-bloating
fodder. It is the best source of nectar for honey bees. It is
also very attractive to a whole range of pollinating insects;
bumble bees being present in huge numbers in flowering crops.
Sainfoin seed is harvested most years and is used on the Estate
to sow an additional acreage. It can remain in the same field
for up to 80 years.
Red
Clover This later flowering legume is ideal for silage
production. It responds well to the application of farmyard manure
and is mixed with perennial ryegrass and timothy to boost yields.
It is not grazed in the spring, but a silage or hay cut is taken
later and the aftermath grazed until the late autumn, care being
taken to ensure the plant is not damaged by trampling in wet conditions.
These leys are left down for three to four years before being
ploughed for cereal production.
Lucerne
Like red clover, this later flowering legume is good for silage
or hay production. It is frequently strip-grazed by the dairy
cows and then dressed with farmyard manure. It can be particularly
productive in late summer and autumn and is very resistant to
drought. Butterflies are very attracted to its flowers in August
and September. In a favourable year many thousands of butterflies
– 12 different species – can be seen nectaring.
Lucerne can
cause bloat, so it is necessary to restrict its accessibility.
In time cattle do appear to become less susceptible. Lucerne is
sown as a part of a mixture with cocksfoot, ryegrass and timothy.
These grasses help the cattle to digest this highly nutritious
fodder crop.
White
Clover This is the most widely grown forage legume on
the Estate. It is the main workhorse of the general purpose, grazing-forage
conservation ley.
White clover
can produce up to 250 units of nitrogen per acre (0.4ha) per annum.
It is therefore capable of giving a huge boost to its accompanying
grasses. White Clover is highly nutritious but in certain conditions
is quite likely to give stock bloat. The flowers are attractive
to honey bees; while it does not compete with sainfoin as a nectar
producer, it does flower over a longer period. White clover leys
are both grazed and used for silage and hay production. Fertility
is maintained by the application of farmyard manure. Leys are
left down for one to six years and are then followed by a cereal
crop.
