The Estate farms in hand a total of 1000 Ha. This goes under the name of Revesby Farms. The farm side is run by the Wiggins-Davies family and Farm Manager Chris Baylis.

The farm land is located in the heart of the Estate and surrounds Revesby Reservoir. Revesby reservoir has proved to be a vital asset for the farm. It lends its self to the busy fishing operations and is a water provider for irrigating the farm's valuable root crops. The reservoir itself covers 15 hectares of land and allows extraction of over 30 million cubic metres of water. The Miningsby beck stream naturally replaces the extracted water, as a result no local wild life is affected by the water abstraction.

The topography of the farm ranges from the low lying fenland south of Revesby to the higher land in the Wolds around Miningsby. The soil types range from the fen silts to medium soils.

Over the last three years the farm has restructured many of its operations. The present arable system consists of three main areas:

	Combinable crop production
	Root and field vegetable crop production
	Environmental protection

Combinable crops / Cereal Crops

The farm's cereal crop production is based upon first wheats, oilseed rape and malting barley. The farm grows specific wheat varieties for pre-determined market outlets for milling and biscuit grades. The farm also capitalises on its closeness to the local grain ports and produces feed wheats for this market.

The oilseed rape is grown under energy contracts on land not suited for the production of root crops. This land tends to be the wetter, heavier land in the rotation so growing of oilseed rape is favoured because of its early sowing date allowing the land to be worked and sown whilst dry, thus avoiding unnecessary soil compaction, improving root development for greater nutrient uptake and improving soil structure for the following wheat crop.

Spring sown malting barley is grown mainly after sugar beet on the lighter land surrounding the farmstead at Revesby. The light free-draining nature of this land not only allows the sowing of this crop in late winter or early spring when most land is unworkable, but also produces the quality of malt required for malting within the UK.

Root and field vegetable crop production

Potatoes are tubers and are only indigenous to central and southern America. They were first brought into Europe in 1570. However it was not until 1586 that Sir Walter Raleigh (a relative of the owners of the Estate) brought the potatoes to the UK. Potatoes are of a major importance to Revesby Farm.

The main core of this rotation is the pre-packed potato enterprise. Each year Revesby Farm's produce in excess of 3500 tonnes of pre-packed potatoes destined for three major supermarkets. The soil type surrounding our Miningsby farms lends itself ideally to the production of pre pack potatoes and under the recent restructuring of the farm business the farm looks to increase this enterprise with the future renting in of clean potato land. Second early varieties are also grown on processing contracts, these potatoes are usually grown on the lighter soils which are not ideal for quality pre-packed potatoes. The south-facing aspects of these fields provide early establishment in the spring, allowing the harvest of this crop in early July. This marketing period not only meets early premium prices, but also allows the busy harvesting workload of the farm to be spread more efficiently throughout the summer months.

Peas

Vining peas are grown within this rotation on contract with a local vining group, which harvests in July. These peas are destined for the major supermarkets. The Pea crop provides another profitable break crop within the rotation. The nitrogen fixation ability of the crop reduces the requirement of inorganic nitrogen of the following wheat crop which is more sustainable and reduces the imbalance of natural farm land biodiversity.

Parsnips

The lighter soils on the farm enable the growing of parsnips which utilises the irrigation land that is not being used by the potato crop in that cropping year. This further break crop helps to extend the duration of time between each potato crop, which in turn helps the natural decline of soil-borne pests and diseases. This natural decline reduces the amount of pesticides required so reducing costs and increasing sustainability.

The Farm regularly requires seasonal labour; if you are interested please contact the Estate Office.

The diverse range of break crops within the cropping rotation has many benefits for the economics of the farm business and for the farms biodiversity. The break crops enable the farm to grow only efficient first wheat's crops thought the rotation, which reduces the cost of production for the farm business. The large proportion of spring-sown crops within this rotation provides over wintering of stubbles and ploughing which provides natural habitation and encourages a range of nesting birds. The farm aims to avoid any disruption to nesting birds through the busy spring planting season and monitors all such aspects closely.

Quality assurance

All the farms produce is of the highest standards of quality and welfare, this is proven by the variety of assurance schemes the farm complies with. These include:

	FABBL Farm Assurance Scheme for Beef and Lamb
	Assured Combinable Crops
	Assured produce
	Tesco’s Natures Choice

Environmental schemes

Over recent years the farm has totally restructured itself to prepare for the changes in farm economies under the CAP reform. Part of this restructuring has seen parcels of farmland developed into conservation areas under the various stewardship agreements within the reform. These conservation areas not only allow us to carry on farming on a day-to-day basis without affecting local habitats and wildlife species but have also enhanced the biodiversity within the farm.

We now run Estate Tours, they are a great way to see and understand our Traditional Estate.