Calving has begun, and with warmer temperatures, crops are sprouting; there’s plenty of new life at Dyson Farming’s livestock farm, in North Somerset. 

Since starting the business from the ground-up in 2017, our fully traceable, multi award-winning beef and lamb continues to thrive at the Southwest estate. 

Traceability and provenance are an important area of the business. We use technology to generate a digital footprint of every animal born and bred at Hinton Farm, recording future eating quality and upholding high welfare and environmental credentials.  

There are 250 cows and 1300 sheep across the farm and the welfare of our animals is of course the highest priority. Whilst we are proud to be a part of various assurance schemes, we strive to exceed the standards. 

There has been notable investment to install excellent facilities; such as pasture tracks (walkways) to the grazing fields, and winter housing, as we want to provide the animals with the best living environment possible. In turn, we also believe this contributes to the overall quality of the produce. 

Peter Lord, South West Farm Manager talks about the ongoing optimisation to achieve a truly circular farming mix. 

“Livestock is a major part of our whole farm approach, growing crops within the arable rotation to feed and produce livestock helps to reduce the need for bought in feed, keeping food miles down and food production local for our customers.” 

This is the third crop of strawberries to be grown at our glasshouse in Carrington. We currently have two batches of crop in progress, with the area planted in December now entering the flowering stage.

Pollinating strawberry plants is what triggers strawberry development, as each flower on the plant turns into an individual strawberry. As the first flowers open, we introduce bees, which are crucial to the eventual shape and quality of the fruit.

Beehives are positioned evenly throughout the glasshouse so that each flower is pollinated equally, to produce a beautiful shape and delicious taste. Each hive box comes with its own Queen, so the bees naturally return to their own hive at the end of each feed. This also means that if the bees ever need to be moved or protected they can;  a special door allows them to return home, but not back out of their hive until the door is re-opened.

We use Bumble bees as they are excellent pollinators as well as being naturally docile and friendly, meaning our glasshouse team don’t need to worry about a sting.

In February 2021, following several months of planning, Dyson Farming collaborated with the Environment Agency and Wild Trout Trust to deliver phase I of the Dunston Beck restoration project. The objective of this project was to restore the natural function of the Beck whilst increasing pool areas and oxygenating riffles (areas of shallow, free-flowing water created by coarse sediment) to improve aquatic life in the Beck. (You can read our original phase I article here).

A year on and works to extend the scheme under phase II are in progress further downstream. This will see the river length increasing from 350m to 420m by allowing the Beck to have a natural weaving path through the landscape, returning to its original features and providing some flood relief.

At the start of the project, Dyson Farming conducted baseline surveys by undertaking ecological surveys. The project will continue to monitor wildlife and water turbidi​ty in and around the Beck. The reduction in turbidity means there will be less sediment held within the water body, reducing the phosphorus load and resulting in a cleaner Beck.