Family farm with strong Suffolk roots

PROFILE: Potatoes and vegetables are key enterprises at Capel St Andrew Farms

A Suffolk coastal farm has profitable and sustainable food production at its heart – while taking its environmental responsibilities equally seriously.

Based at Boyton, near Woodbridge, Capel St Andrew Farms is a family run business on the east coast producing high quality arable and root crops, while caring for and enhancing the surrounding marsh and countryside.

The Greenwell family has been farming in Suffolk since the 1930s. Today, it grows some 2000ha of vegetable and arable crops, explains third generation farmer Andrew Greenwell, who studied agriculture at Newcastle before returning home.

The business is structured such that Capel St Andrew Farms owns the land and grows the crops, while Capel Farming employs the staff, hires and owns machinery and undertakes contracting for Capel St Andrew Farms and other customers.

Farming philosophy

“Our overall aim is to be a sustainable and profitable farming business,” explains Mr Greenwell.

“We want to be here for the long term – and we employ 20 staff who want us to be here for the long term too. That means we need to generate a profit – not just for ourselves but for our contract farming customers as well.”

Long periods of wet and dry weather can be a challenge. To increase resilience, the business continues to invest in irrigation – including more reservoirs. “We want to do the right thing for all the right reasons, but the planning process can be long and drawn out,” says Mr Greenwell.

To keep a lid on costs, most inputs are purchased through Fram Farmers. Agronomy tends to be treatment-based, rather than routine or prophylactic. And with fertiliser prices still high despite easing, nitrogen is under particular scrutiny.

Machinery tends to be hired in rather than purchased.

Crops include fieldscale vegetables and combinable crops. The mainstay is potatoes, encompassing some 460ha including about 35ha of seed crop. The main market is ware, with some pre-pack and service sector. All are sold via 3Ms.

Other root crops include about 200ha of onions – both main crop marketed via Suffolk Produce and some sets. Early carrots are grown across 90ha of light soil under plastic and harvested between early June and mid-July.

Local farmers working together in a marketing group benefit everyone involved, says Mr Greenwell. “It’s good for our customers and it is good for us too – it helps us ensure continuity of supply which is really important, especially for the export and service markets.”

Cereals include wheat, barley and some rye alongside oilseed rape. About 200ha of sugar beet is grown for British Sugar, with 6000 tonnes of maize grown across 150ha for the Agri-Gen anaerobic disgester at nearby Bentwaters Parks.

The farm also grows 100ha of vining peas, mainly on contract for Anglian Pea Growers, which covers a swathe of coastal land between Nacton on the outskirts of Ipswich and the Bacton gas terminal in north-east Norfolk.

In addition to the home farm and other owned land, some further land is rented on short term annual contracts for vegetable production, with some land let for pig production to Rattlerow Farms and Dingley Dell Pork.

Good relationship

“It’s important to have a good relationship with the people you work with – and that is what we strive to achieve,” says Mr Greenwell. “Good communication is vital so everyone knows what they are doing and what their responsibilities are.”

Quality is key – and so are the right people. Onions, for example, are a specialist crop and require high expertise. Agronomist James Klug, of Deben Agronomy, has “fantastic local knowledge and completely understands what we are striving toi achieve”.

When it comes to potatoes, the focus is on early salad varieties and first early bakers. It’s a competitive market, targeted by an increasing number of growers looking to sell in August rather than going into cold store.

“It’s a time of year that has been squeezed,” says Andrew. “But neither is our sandy soil conducive to long term storage.”

Farm manager and Capel Farming director James Reeves was at Newcastle with Mr  Greenwell. It’s been a wet spring, he says, with almost half the farm’s annual rainfall falling before the end of April.

The workload is shared with assistant manager Archie Hamilton-Russell, who joined the business two years ago. Also a Newcastle graduate, he is now in his third season, having completed his BASIS qualification.

“It’s been a challenging spring in some ways – but overall, we are positive,” says Mr Reeves. “The veg has gone in despite the wet weather although regionally and nationally the area planted will be down on last year.

“This means contracts won’t be where we want them but they are still at a sustainable level. That said, it means there is little margin for error – growing potatoes is a much higher stakes poker game than it was three years ago. We hope we get the yields and the quality.”

Environment

The business takes its environmental responsibilities seriously. Some land is under Countryside Stewardship – mainly AB15 options But it is not part of the Sustainable Farming Incentive due to its focus on spring cropping.

“It doesn’t stack up for us,” says Mr Reeves. “Rather than cover crops, over-wintered stubbles are more appropriate for many early crops. But we are interested in conservation and have good barn owl numbers and wildlife on the marsh.”

Plans for the next three years include remaining focused on quality crop production. “To remain profitable, we have to be on top of our game,” add Mr Reeves. “We have to do the job well – for everyone, not just ourselves. That’s exactly what we intend to keep doing.”

Andrew runs Sahara desert for charity

Suffolk farmer Andrew Greenwell is running one of the world’s toughest races – raising thousands of pounds for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices.

The Marathon Des Sables is a six day running race that takes place in the Sahara desert. Covering 156 miles in southern Morocco, competitors have to carry their own food for the duration of the race – as well as spare clothes and sleeping equipment.

In addition various items of compulsory kit – including a venom pump against scorpion stings and a survival kit – must also be carried. Water is rationed and is supplied by the organisers along the route and at the camp each evening.

“East Anglia’s Children’s Hospices is an amazing charity,” says Andrew. “It has three hospices and almost all their funding is raised through charitable donations. They are here to help children and families through what can only be the worst and most difficult circumstances.

“Any donation will be gratefully received and will go to a fantastic cause. It will also help to spur me on during what could be a tough few days in the sun.”

To sponsor Andrew, visit

www.justgiving.com/fundraising/andrew-greenwell-runs-mds