Using teamwork to keep Dartmoor farming alive

The Jordan family has been at Moortown Farm for more than 100 years, after Robert’s great grandfather moved there from a neighbouring property in 1913. Ever since, the family has worked as a team, building on each other’s strengths to become a respected part of the local community.

John Jordan remains head of the family. After taking advantage of affordable land prices during the 1980s and 90s, both his sons, Robert and David, returned to the farm after time away, with their wives, Rebecca and Hannah, also central to the business. Robert’s children Jack and Charlotte now add a third generation of fresh knowledge and skills, with David’s daughters, Millie and Ella, destined to join them in the years ahead. 

Set within Dartmoor National Park, the extensive hill property comprises owned and rented land, a Duchy moorland enclosure and grazing rights across several thousand acres of common land. This supports beef cattle, including pedigree Galloway, 1,000 breeding ewes and a herd of Dartmoor ponies, as well as ridden horses used mainly for farm work on the rugged terrain.

Responsibilities naturally reflect individual interests and strengths. Robert focuses mainly on the sheep, David on the ponies and Jack has a growing interest in the cattle. But when required, everyone mucks in to get jobs done quickly and efficiently.

“It’s all hands on deck when there’s a big job to do and we carry out all our own harvesting,” says Robert. “We’re always there to back each other up.”

Supporting the local community and the wider farming industry is also central to the Jordans’ ethos. Like his father before him, Robert serves on a regional National Sheep Association Committee, is vice-chair of the Dartmoor Commoners’ Council and chair of the local parish meeting.

But while the family values tradition, the Jordans are looking ahead, determined to adapt to survive.

“Having sheep on Dartmoor is under threat so we’re in a time of flux, looking at different systems and expecting to increase cattle numbers,” explains Robert. “My son wants to continue farming here and we’re doing everything we can to make it possible.”

The Jordans are well known for their success in the show ring with Scottish Blackface and North Country Cheviot sheep and Dartmoor ponies but are not a ‘showy’ family. Despite their achievements, they remain a modest, close-knit family, proud of maintaining livestock bloodlines built up over generations.

“Their bloodlines are longer than mine,” Robert jokes. “It makes all our family’s hard work worthwhile - and long may it continue.”