PROFILE | OVERBURY ENTERPRISES
How strategy to put soil health first has improved estate performance Farm manager Jake Freestone is reaping the rewards of a strategy to secure the long-term interests of his business.
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loucestershire farmer Jake Freestone took over the management of Overbury Enterprises near Tewkesbury back in 2003. But he soon realised that a highly intensive approach wasn’t going to maintain incomes and profitability. With yields plateauing and costs rising, the realisation that subsidies would reduce and greater emphasis would fall on environment and biodiversity issues, encouraged him to look for a way to maintain farm performance with a softer environmental touch. The approach was to breathe new life into soils, partly shaped by a Nuffield Scholarship including a study tour of US and New Zealand farms. He noticed how soils on non-tillage farms retained better structure and were more bioactive. It opened his eyes.
Improving soil health has paid dividends, says Jake Freestone
Soil structure With land resembling a building site with bricks and patio slabs interspersed with sand and gravel, the goal was to improve soil structure and resilience. What started as mintill trials has now turned into a notill cover crop strategy. Mr Freestone now direct drills
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all cereal crops using a 6m cross slot drill, pulled by a John Deere 9370. He acknowledges that a no-till approach has its problems during wet autumns. In such situations, he will revert to a spring crop. “The margins might be lower but lower fixed costs means it evens out.” Extended rotations include niche crops such as soya and linseed, encouraging beneficial pollinators, cover and companion crops, and livestock. And when you look at the figures, they are impressive. Continued overleaf
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DECEMBER 2021 • MIDLAND FARMER 11
