Shifting from Set Stocking to Mob Grazing for Profitability & Biodiversity

Join fourth generation farmer Olly Martin for a farm walk and hear how and why he switched from set stocking to mob grazing three years ago when he returned after a break from the family farm. Committed to taking an objective view of what is required to ensure the long term environmental and financial viability of his family farm, he continues to innovate and adapt.

Olly will talk about the benefits and challenges of adopting new approaches to grazing based on the results, both financial and environmental.

He rears Aberdeen Angus and White Park cattle at Danefold Farm on a variety of different landscapes from the Low Weald moving through to ground upon the South Downs.

‘Coming back to farming after a break I decided that I needed to reevaluate what I was doing and maximise the benefits of using herbivores for increasing soil matter yields. I switched from set stocking to Adaptive Multi Paddock Grazing 3 years ago, we have seen a transformation already. Going forward I want to make sure that there will be an objective to be adaptive and holistic and not fix on one system or way of approaching the way I farm !

By having the cattle outside all year round, it saves us a great deal of labour, but perhaps more importantly, it’s better for their health, mimicking a more natural way of life. We feed them hay over the winter especially through the really cold months of January-February time, when there are hardly any nutrients in the ground at all – again all pasture-fed feed. In fact, naturally they will lose a little bit of condition over the winter, which is then put back on during the spring.

Although they are slower to finish, the White Parks have got a premium for the fact that they are White Parks, a rare breed, but also because they are ‘Pasture For Life’ certified and so farmed to very high standards of animal welfare.’

Funding provided through the Farming in Protected Landscapes (FiPL) programme from DEFRA.

The Farming in Protected Landscapes programme gives grants for projects in England’s special and unique Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs) and National Parks.

It supports projects that:

• recover nature
• tackle climate change
• provide opportunities for people to discover the landscape support sustainable farm businesses.