First new owners in 80 years bring fresh ideas to historic farming estate

The new owners of a historic Norfolk farming estate have implemented fresh ideas on soil health and environmental care - including growing mixed crops in the same field.

The Gawdy Hall Estate, in the Waveney Valley near Harleston, dates back to the 16th century and was once visited by Queen Elizabeth I.

It was recently sold for the first time in 80 years, with the Courteenhall estate in Northamptonshire buying 1,900 acres of land, of which around 1,500 acres is arable, 200 acres is woodland and 250 acres is grassland.

Estate manager Mark Mayhew arrived in September 2022 after the purchase was completed.

Since then, he has set the estate on a journey towards a "more regenerative way of farming" which fits the new owners' policy to "farm progressively, efficiently, environmentally and for future generations".

A Wildfarmed mixed crop of wheat and beans growing at the Gawdy Hall Estate near Harleston (Image: Denise Bradley)

That includes the introduction of a bi-crop of milling wheat and spring beans growing together in the same field.

It is a partnership with Wildfarmed, a regenerative farming enterprise co-founded by dance music legend Andy Cato of electronic duo Groove Armada.

Earlier this year, Mr Cato told the Norfolk Farming Conference how the firm works with growers embracing nature-friendly practices to improve biodiversity and soil health.

Andy Cato, founder of dance music duo Groove Armada and regenerative food initiative Wildfarmed (Image: Wildfarmed)

Mr Mayhew said it was crucial for farmers to open their minds to new ideas and try new things as the industry seeks to secure profitability while meeting its obligations to protect the environment.

"We are taking a journey away from conventional farming," he said. "We have changed our rotation to include pulses and a diversity of crops.

"We have a no insecticide policy. We have a no bare soils policy - there is always a cover crop before our spring cropping, to keep the soil alive, capture nutrients and all the other benefits of cover crops. So soil health is important to us.

"I had the remit and the scope to ask questions and try new things. Wildfarmed just ticked a lot of our boxes - cover cropping, livestock in the rotation, reducing artificial fertiliser use, no insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, it all sat well with us, our goals and our philosophy."

Although the Wildfarmed yields will be much lower than a conventional crop, Mr Mayhew believes that the premium price for milling wheat - allied with payments from new government environmental incentives and reduced costs by removing chemical sprays - could offer a comparable profit margin.

The focus is the milling wheat, with the beans being a co-product whose main benefit is fixing nitrogen in the soil as a nutrient for following crops.

Without the use of chemicals, there is some yellow rust disease in the wheat and flea beetle pests in the beans - but Mr Mayhew is hopeful the crop can reach its potential with the help of some summer sunshine.

"There is risk with every crop," he said. "With this, we have to hit the milling spec for the wheat.

"But until you try, you won't know. We need people to try these things. Some things will work, some things won't."

The bi-crop will be harvested as one, and sent to Wiltshire to be sorted and separated - although discussions are under way for Wildfarmed growers to "do something collectively" to process it more locally.

As well as the estate's new ownership offering a clean slate and a fresh perspective, Mr Mayhew said he was also free from family influences on his decision-making.

"My background is semi-agricultural," he said. "My grandfather and father were merchants, trading in grain and fertiliser, but we never had a farm.

"I am a qualified commercial chartered surveyor. Through various jobs, I morphed into rural and this is where my heart and my interest lies.

"So I can ask questions, because I have not had a father and grandfather who has always ploughed, or always done something else.

"I think people need to ask: Why are you farming unproductive areas? If it is unproductive, just look at something else."

Llanwenog sheep grazing at the Gawdy Hall Estate, in the Waveney valley near Harleston (Image: Denise Bradley)

Mr Mayhew has also taken the estate into a mid-tier Countryside Stewardship scheme, installing areas of nectar flower mix, winter bird food and "bumblebird" plots, as well as low-input grassland and legume and herb-rich swards - which, along with areas of cover crops, are grazed with rare-breed Llanwenog and Norfolk Horn sheep.

The land drainage has benefited from work to clear 17km of ditches, which Mr Mayhew described as a "Godsend" in the recent wet weather.

There is also a focus on precision farming and data analysis, a baseline carbon audit was carried out last spring, and there are ambitious diversification plans in the pipeline.