Welfare pig farmer wins top Devon diversification award
12th May 2008The winner of the county’s most important annual farm diversification award will receive the honour next week on land his family used to own before it became the site of the Devon County Show at Westpoint near Exeter.
Andrew Freemantle from Kenniford Farm, Clyst St Mary near Exeter, has won this year’s closely fought Devon Diversification Award, established in memory of local land agent John Neason.
Andrew runs the 70-acre holding in partnership with his father, Alan, and with the help of his mother, Linda. They have 2,000 RSPCA Freedom Food approved pigs and 45 acres of arable land.
“I am proud to farm in a way which ensures my animals are treated humanely. British consumers expect high standards of the country’s farmers and we must rise to that challenge by offering them the quality products they want,” said Andrew, a fourth generation farmer.
Although farm gate pork prices are in crisis, with many pig producers losing more than £20 per animal, Andrew’s strategy is keeping the farm pork business healthy. He added: “In recent months supermarkets have increased the price of pork to the consumer by 60 pence a kilo but only paid farmers an extra eight pence. By selling so much of our meat direct to consumers we are able to pass on the extra costs of our animals’ feed but not by anymore. That way both farmer and consumer win by selling direct.”
Andrew’s diversification stems back to a simple business aim - to make the highest gross margin on every pig sold. The first pigs were purchased in 1994 and by 1998 Kenniford Farm had a herd of 240 sows and a pig finishing unit.
The decision was taken in November 1999 to set up a farm shop at Kenniford Farm, which opened on May Day 2000. The next milestone was Andrew Freemantle’s wedding and inspired by the hog roast at his reception, he went on to buy his own machine and catered for 16 events in the first year. This has grown to about 250 hog roasts during last summer.
The next business innovation was the development of catering trailers, which are now found stationed at Mole Valley Farmers’ car parks at South Molton, Cullompton and Newton Abbot. These catering trailers also do the rounds of summer shows.
The result of this diversification initiative has been that about 25 per cent of the Kenniford Farm produce is sold with “value added” either through the farm shop, catering trailers, hog roast or direct to other catering and retail businesses.
The judges of the Devon Diversification Award said they were particularly impressed with Andrew’s business sense and the clear vision and commitment he had to making Kenniford Farm a success. They were also interested in Andrew’s comment that it was the product plus marketing which yielded the best results, rather than substantial investment in a swish farm shop.
Runners up in the competition are East Cornworthy Farm is owned by Richard Fry and consists of 350 acres of mixed arable and beef. The farm has approximately 150 head of cattle of which 80 are suckler cows, the rest being home raised young calves. A further 270 acres is also rented and farmed as part of the main farm enterprise.
The farm was a dairy and arable unit until 1997 when the dairy herd was sold. The farm is located on the River Dart valley and runs to about a mile of river frontage including Blackness Point, which juts into the tidal part of the River Dart upriver of Gittisham.
The Frys embarked on a project involving re-use of the agricultural buildings for boat storage and the construction and provision of boat launching facilities and a hard track linking the two.
In 2005 the Frys set about obtaining planning consent and engaged a team of specialist consultants, which they managed themselves. The business is now up and running and provides employment for the Frys’ son David and his partner Becky with the assistance of their nephew Robert Gurney.
Mr Fry says he owes a lot to his father who, at the age of 57, moved to Higher East Cornworthy Farm from the south east because he loved boats.
The judges were particularly impressed with the way the Frys had managed the project themselves and had successfully taken on the South Hams Planning Authority, the Environment Agency, the Duchy Estate and other interest organisations.
The project was a departure from normal farm building conversions and appeared to be run with efficiency and a clear vision for the future. The practical skills of the family were evident in the way that the boats were managed, stored and launched and in the clever home-made designs for equipment.
Others farmers short listed were:
· John and Anne Worden at Wrexham Cross Farm, Broadwoodwidger, Lifton who have converted redundant dairy buildings to offices and storage
· Ian Shears at Highfield Farm, Clyst Road, Topsham who had designed and was operating a mobile baker’s oven in order to demonstrate the baking process to school parties. Ian is a keen organic farmer and this was an underlying theme through his presentation
· The Escot Estate, which had a range of diversified enterprises including occupation of the parkland by the “Beautiful Days” Pop Festival during August. Alongside the commercial diversifications is a high quality aqua/environmental programme including creation / recreation of traditional water meadows and habitats for otters, bats and water voles.
The Devon Diversification Award was set up in memory of John Neason FRICS FAAV (1935-1996) who worked as Devon County Land Agent for 15 years before becoming a partner with Colvilles, a firm of Chartered Surveyors from Exeter and Honorary Land Agent to the Devon County Agricultural Association (DCAA) for many years.
The Award, now in its 12th year, is sponsored by the Mrs Barbara Neason, the Devon County Council Farms Estate Service, the Western Counties Agricultural Valuers Association and. Devon County Agricultural Association,
The award has recently been refocused on diversification schemes which generate additional income rather than traditional agricultural. The competition looks for schemes involving a range of innovative ideas. Farmers may have converted redundant buildings, added value to a primary product, diversified into food processing, developed farm tourism and although entrants should still be operating a farm business the judges look for innovative ideas or a combination of schemes.
The judges are:
Mark Neason: Son of the late John Neason and Partner with Carver Knowles.
Dan Meek: Devon County Council Farms Estate Service.
Michael Townsend: Director of Savills’ Exeter Office
Maurice Retallick: Devon County Agricultural Association
The Diversification Award will be presented in the Sainsbury’s ring of the Show at 2pm on Friday, May 16.
Ends
For further information contact:
Ollie Allen, Show Secretary tel: 01392 353702
Mark Neason tel: 01823 350000 or 07776 228336
Anne Ashford, Press Relations tel: 01823 490965
Andrew Freemantle, Kenniford Farm tel: 01395 875938/ 07974 652460.
