Supporting the community

Bicton College student Tia Whitrow has been named Cornish Mutual South West Agricultural Student of the Year. As a prize for this prestigious award, Tia will receive funding to attend a leading agricultural event of her choosing.

On the southern slopes of Dartmoor, the Cleave family has been farming at Higher Mill Leat Farm for more than three decades. The family-run hill farm blends a traditional farming system with modern methods to create a thriving multi-generational business.

Improving efficiencies and embracing new opportunities has always been Andrew and Nicky Branton’s mindset on their Tiverton dairy farm. But this approach has been reinvigorated since their children Izzy and Matthew joined the business.

Family circumstances brought fifth generation farmer George Greed back to the farm sooner than expected but fortitude and resilience are important on Fortescue Farm, where Jilly, Ed and George have demonstrated their determination to create a sustainable future for the farm.

Cornhill Farm in West Cornwall is expanding its education and community outreach programme thanks to a new farm trailer sponsored partly by farming insurance experts Cornish Mutual.

Enterprise stacking is a form of farm diversification with integration and sustainability at its heart. Farmers Tim May and Dave Oates told the Farming Focus™ podcast how they’re stacking enterprises on their farms to build business resilience.

Having grown up on a dairy farm and worked in several other farming businesses, it wasn’t until Andrew Sincock moved into the commercial world, he began to appreciate the manure he’d been surrounded by in his former life. He shares what he’s learnt on Farming Focus™. “My interest in organic manures started really when I joined Agriton. Of all the products they supplied, one really caught my eye and stood out as being very different, very interesting, very simple,” explained Andrew.

In a Farming Focus™ bonus episode, Mel Bradley and Ben Mortimer return to the podcast to discuss the main considerations and practical aspects of starting and running a successful farm cluster group, based on their experiences with the Kenn Valley group in Devon.