Farming
Raynham currently farms 4,200 acres through a combination of the in-hand farm, an outside farming partnership and further land rented in for feedstock. The land is part of a seven course rotation containing root and cereal crops.
There are 600 acres of grassland which is grazed by the Estate’s herd of Aberdeen Angus beef cattle and 700 acres of woodland managed commercially under a 10-year woodland management plan.
All the farmed and grassland is entered into two Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship Schemes to ensure that there is enhanced habitat creation and soil health, providing greater resilience to our farming system. The in-hand arable land is also in an extensive SFI agreement.
Raynham Estate has been known for centuries as an innovator in agriculture. The second Viscount was renowned agricultural innovator Charles “Turnip” Townshend who created the Norfolk four-course crop rotation system which he put into practice at Raynham in the early 18th century.
In the Norfolk four-course system, wheat was grown in the first year, turnips in the second, followed by barley, with clover and ryegrass under sown, in the third. The clover and ryegrass were cut for feed or grazed in the fourth year. The turnips were used for feeding cattle in the winter.
This new system was cumulative in effect, for the fodder crops eaten by the livestock produced large supplies of previously scarce animal manure, which in turn was richer because the animals were better fed. When the sheep grazed the fields, their waste also fertilised the soil, promoting heavier cereal yields in the following years.
The system was a driving force behind the Agricultural Revolution and earned the second Viscount his affectionate nickname. He was considered responsible for the resulting large-scale cultivation of turnips across England that followed.
The focus on new technologies is something that the family strives to continue at Raynham; harnessing together new science and the old techniques of soil management to promote our soil health and crop yields. A more targeted approach to reducing cultivations and the introduction of a significant area of over winter cover crops ahead of spring crops across the farming business has helped us to achieve more resilient system.
The by-product of the AD process as noted above, is called Digestate, and we apply this to the land as an organic fertiliser. This has not only increased the productivity of all crops, but it also improves the health and structure of the soil. So much so, we have reduced our reliance on artificial fertiliser by up-to 50% and through improved farming techniques also reduced our use of chemicals by 20%, with an aim to reduce this further.
