Manor Farm, Chiselborough

The Holloway family give a engaging and informative description of the principal farm in our parish

A Short History

The Holloway family have farmed at Manor Farm since 1935. Bert Holloway (Richard’s grandfather) took on the tenancy, having been farming with his father and brothers at Knapp Farm, Norton sub Hamdon. He bought the farm in 1955.

The farm had been built as a model Victorian farm in 1861 for the Ilchester Estate.

Bert and Mary’s first years at the farm were in the times of Depression between the Wars and he spoke of the redundant farm labourers sitting on School Corner (now Village Hall) asking for work. He couldn’t employ them all which affected him greatly.

During the second World War he was ordered by WarAg (Ministry of Agriculture) to take on Bagnell Farm which was then vacant. He employed two full-time rabbit catchers whose efforts helped to pay the rent!

When Richard’s parents (Gerald and Eileen) were married in the 1950s there were 450 acres of land and 23 people working on the farm. Currently we are farming 600 acres with 5 people.

By the late 1980s the buildings were proving too small for modern farm machinery and they were sold for development. The farm was relocated to its current position meaning that lorries and heavy farm machinery no longer had to go through the village. It also enabled us to comply with slurry handling rules as until then this was taken out three times a day through the village.

70 trees of indigenous species were planted around the new farm development and the house was added in 1991 built to a traditional design using local craftsmen and local Ham Hill stone.  Although relatively new, the barns have already become home to bats and birds.

 During this time we cleared the Mill Pond which had become silted up.  Various indigenous trees were planted around the edges and it was stocked with carp and tench.  For a few years it was a popular place for fishing but this was stopped after a minority of visitors from outside the village began to abuse the facility.  It is now used as a breeding lake for carp.

We also planted the cider apple orchards in the fields surrounding the church.  The apples go to the Somerset Cider Brandy company at Burrow Hill although in recent years the demand for apples has fallen due to vast acres of apple orchards being planted countrywide. A village beekeeper has his hives in the orchards which is good for both parties.

The Farm

Manor Farm is a mixed farm of 600 acres lying within the upper Parrett catchment area. The main enterprise is dairy with 1.5 million litres of milk produced annually from around 170 Friesian cows. This is sold to Wyke Farm to make Somerset cheddar. We breed all our own replacements for the herd and buy in no other cattle with the exception of a bull every 5-10 years. An Aberdeen Angus bull is currently run with the heifers for ease of calving and these cross-bred calves (together with the Friesian bull calves) are sold to a local farmer for finishing.

We also have a flock of 100 Dorset Down ewes plus 70 cross-bred sheep. The Dorset Down flock was established in 1942 by Bert Holloway and was then a thriving enterprise with pedigree rams and ewe lambs being produced and sold all over the country for breeding. It is now a minority breed but we still sell some breeding stock.

90 acres of maize are grown to feed the cows, along with 70 acres wheat, most of which is crimped for adding to the cow ration and 15 acres barley for feeding to sheep and youngstock. We let out ten acres to a local farmer for growing potatoes which make Burts crisps. The aim is to be as self-sufficient as possible in terms of feeding the animals and to breed all replacements rather than buying stock in. Having a mixed farm allows us to do this and to maintain a healthy cropping rotation. The vast majority of grassland is permanent or semi-permanent.

In 2019 a new house was built on the farm. It uses electricity produced by the solar panels installed on the barn roofs as does the farm house and the dairy. The house will be for a farm worker so that there is someone on site to help Andrew and Victoria with calvings and lambing when Richard and Louise retire.

Last year we also planted 130 willow trees for cricket bats. These are in a damp spot adjacent to the A356 and also by the river Parrett. Care of the trees involves rubbing off the side shoots to stop them bushing out and they should be ready to harvest in about 15 years time when they will be replaced with a new plantation.

Manor Farm Field Names

Like most farmers, Louise & Richard Holloway know every field by its name. Some of the names have changed over time, and some have an interesting back-story. Here you can discover for yourself the names of the fields that are the major part of our landscape.

Farming and Environment

Over the last 25 years various schemes have been entered to maximise income while farming in an environmentally sensitive way. These have included:

Countryside Stewardship

• Buffer strips around arable fields to protect hedges and provide wildlife corridors.

• Hedge laying and coppicing.

• Hedge planting. We have planted 900 metres of mixed species hedging.

• Orchard maintenance

• Scrub clearance to expose lynchetts

• A Lapwing nesting area

Catchment Sensitive Farming

• Soil and manure sampling to make the best use of nutrients and avoid applying fertilisers unless necessary.

• Cultivation and early crop establishment after maize crops to prevent compaction, water run-off and soil erosion.

• Over-wintered cereal stubbles for the birds. (We have very healthy numbers of Skylarks and Yellowhammers)

Parrett Catchment Project

This was a pilot scheme in the river Parrett to hold flood water in order to relieve pressure downstream on the Somerset Levels and particularly in Langport and Taunton. It involves:

• retaining flood water for several days and releasing it (by sluice) when the Environment Agency think it is safe.

• environmental planting around the area.

• Fencing cattle away from the river to protect the banks.

Entry Level Scheme

This involves the above measures but also requires us to have individual management plans for hedge management, ditch management, nutrient management, manure management, crop protection and in-field tree protection. Nothing is left to chance.

We also now have 4 areas of ‘field corner’ which are areas left fallow to act as sponges and prevent erosion. Three of these areas are on Chiselborough Hill and are intended to help prevent water run-off into Chiselborough and Norton.

The Entry Level Scheme scheme also includes:

• Mixed stocking

• Every other year hedge cutting in some fields

• Farm environmental record

Farm Woodland Grant scheme

3 acres of mixed woodland have been planted using 15 different species of tree.

All of the above helped us to win the FWAG (Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group) Otter Award in 2007.

The Farming Year

The farming year starts straight after harvest and this year 75 acres of winter wheat have been sown following maize and potato harvests. This year Blackspir was ploughed for the first time in many years and has been planted with winter wheat. The field behind it at Turnpike is sown to grass. They will be swapped back next year but the reason for this swap in cropping is to rejuvenate the land. It also helps with pest control without resorting to insecticides.

The stubbles remaining after the corn harvests are left over winter and these fields will be used for maize or spring barley next year. This rotation of crops helps with weed control.

The breeding ewes were divided into three groups and the rams were introduced in mid September so we should be lambing in mid February. The ewes are brought closer to home in December when they graze the fields along the Norton road. They are by then heavily pregnant and easily spooked at the sight of dogs which is why there is no access along the field margins then.

Most of the cattle have now been brought inside for the winter months and this results in a lot more yard work, feeding and bedding stock daily.

Our standard cider apple orchards tend to be biennial in production and produce a glut every other year. This is a non-glut year for us which is just as well as demand from our local buyer (Burrow Hill) is down considerably due to lockdown and the fact that there was no Glastonbury festival this year.

Spring Update, March 2021

Since last writing we have had a very wet winter resulting in flooding on the fields next to the river Parrett and extremely wet conditions all over the farm.

In January we had our annual tb test which is always a stressful time as it involves the vets testing every cow and calf over 6 weeks old. We were very relieved to go clear as we have tested positive for two years running resulting in losing ten cows and being unable to move animals on and off the farm.

The ewes have now been brought indoors and lambing is in progress. They lamb indoors and then go out to the fields after a few days when the lambs are strong enough and have bonded with their mothers.

The calves are all indoors for the winter and will not go out until the weather warms up. In the mean time they are fed with cows’ milk and also a mix of cereals grown mainly on the farm then milled by a mobile mill & mix company. They are bedded on barley straw which they also eat.

The cows will also be indoors for a few more weeks until the ground conditions are drier and the grass is growing. They will then go outside to graze but even then they are fed with their mixture of home grown forage and cereals. We have installed a heat detection system for the dairy herd. Each cow has a necklace with a transponder on it and any unusual movement or lack of movement is recorded and sent via an app so that we know which cows are in season or if a cow is unwell.

This winter we had some more work done on the concrete areas which the cows walk over to get to the milking parlour. The ‘concrete groovers’ make a series of cuts on the surface to prevent the cows from slipping and falling.

We have planted 30 more cricket bat willow trees in an ox-bow by the river Parrett. This required permission from the Environment Agency which was granted.

On the wildlife front we had an egret on the fields next to the buildings on and off for a few weeks. It has now returned to the levels. There are also many skylarks, yellowhammers and other small birds. We have spotted muntjac and roe deer on our wildlife cameras plus the usual foxes and badgers. Hedge trimming was completed before 1st March to allow for nesting birds to be undisturbed.

Next week we have our annual inspection for the Red Tractor assurance which involves a whole farm audit looking at food hygiene, animal welfare and compliance for trading standards. Without a successful outcome we cannot sell our produce. If you see the red tractor logo on a food product we can testify that it really does involve some rigorous standards ranging from feed space per animal to cobwebs in the dairy.

We look forward to the ground drying out so that we can start some land work and will report in the Summer.

Summer Update, June 2021

The weather did dry out and it became one of the driest Aprils on record with a frost nearly every night. This enabled us to get on with cultivations and the drilling of the maize at the end of the month although the soil temperature was very low so germination was delayed. A record dry April was then followed by a record wet May which has meant that silage making was impossible. As we write the sun has come out and the land is beginning to dry so we hope to be cutting grass next week. This is two weeks later than anticipated but nature does have a way of balancing out in the end.

Since reporting in the Spring we are pleased to say that we passed our Red Tractor audit. We have been asked by our milk buyer to host a visit by a Rabbi representing the Jewish Community who wants to bless the cows and the farm. This enhances the cheese sales.

The apple trees were pruned and are now in blossom and look like producing a good crop. Demand for them has decreased in recent years so we will have to see what harvest brings. The cricket bat willows have had the first of their side shoots removed. This is done regularly to prevent knots in the cricket bats.

June looks like being a busy month with silage and hay making, sheep shearing and all the general livestock and crop husbandry.

Winter Update, November 2021

Here we are back in November having come full circle in the farming year.  It has been an unusual year weather wise but overall our crops have been good and the grass abundant.

The sheep were shorn in June.  This is done for the welfare of the sheep and cost around £400 for professional shearers this year.  We were paid for the wool in September -  a sum of  £29 which included £4 VAT to give to the Government.  We would like to see more wool being used in this country be it for clothing, carpets, mulching or tree guards (which is a new initiative that needs supporting especially in view of all the tree planting going on).

We are being encouraged to reduce the amount of ploughing we do in order to improve soil health so this year we have bought a ‘minimum tillage’ cultivator and hope for good results.  We have revised our manure plan to include consideration of the Phoshpate levels in the soil.  Everything has to be factored in from grazing sheep to cover crops to farmyard manure applied.

We have also had a consultant in to help us to complete an Energy Audit.  Our milk buyer now requires us to give them the amount of electricity used per litre of milk produced.  This is no easy task given that the barns have solar installations on them and this electricity is used as well as that bought in.    However this week it was announced on national television that Wyke is the first cheese maker to produce carbon neutral cheddar so we guess it is a worthwhile exercise.

- With thanks to the Holloway family