Field Farm Interview: “Trust, reliability, advice & technical expertise is what we look for in a supplier.”

Darren Gourley runs Field Farm, a third generation, family run Lincolnshire farm business, and has used rugby coaching, welfare values and a fine sense of generational pride to help shape and diversify his business in these current challenging times…

How long have you been established for?

Henry Gourley (my Grandpa) moved from Goulceby in Lincolnshire to Field Farm North Scarle in 1945. T H Gourley & Son (trading name of current business Field Farm) was then set up in 1996.

What’s the history of you and the business?

T H Gourley & Son set up as a 600acre traditional arable family farm renting in arable land and taking calves from local dairy farms to fatten intensively on a cereal fed finishing system to try and spread costs. Having then tried arable contracting as a way to diversify and spread costs further this proved financially challenging and compromised our work life balance.

In 2006 we decided to give up rented land and put our core 300 acre farm into Higher Level Stewardship options (which is where we started with native breed Lincoln Reds) which also coincided with a change of career for me joining the RFU in 2006. The Lincoln Red herd expanded to a 25 cow suckler herd.

Now I’m back on the farm taking leave from RFU to support growth of the fencing business and look to expand Pasture for Life meat sales.

On leaving Shuttleworth agricultural college in 1991 I worked on the Farm with my father Hugh until joining the RFU in 2006. Jack returned to the farm in 2017. Having left Moulton College, he worked on various livestock farms and also for fencing contractors. Once established at home, my son Jack introduced a flock of 250 Texel breeding ewes and set up the fencing element of Field Farm.

What products and services do you offer?

We offer high quality Equestrian, Agricultural and domestic fencing. We produce and sell Pasture for Life certified Lincoln Red Beef and Texel Lamb direct from the farm or we can courier to your door in our environmentally friendly Woolcool insulated boxes. Grazing animals on a 100% pasture diet brings positive impacts for biodiversity and carbon, human health and wellbeing, and animal health and welfare. Pasture for Life works on the ground, every day, to restore ecosystems, implement positive change in our food and farming systems, and demonstrate the benefits of 100% pasture fed.

Pasture for Life is the only certified body assuring animals are raised on a 100% pasture based diet. www.pastureforlife.org

Pasture-fed meat and milk has:

• Lower total fat levels than meat and dairy from grain-fed animals and is also lower in saturated fat content.
• It has higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids and a lower, more balanced (and healthier) ratio of omega-6:omega-3 fatty acids.
• Significantly higher levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) than meat and dairy from grain-fed animals and higher levels of vaccenic acid, which can be turned into CLA.
• Higher vitamin and mineral levels than meat and dairy from grain-fed animals. Particularly rich in vitamins A and E, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Pasture-fed livestock:

• Are free to express their normal behaviours
• Feed on a natural diet of pasture and forage
• Are healthier with reduced incidence of diseases and use of antibiotics

Pasture-fed benefits our environment with:

• A lower carbon footprint than farms where cereal crops are grown for animal feed
• The use of legumes to enhance production without the use of chemical-based fertilisers
• Prohibited use of soya whose production is often associated with land use change and environmental damage

Pasture for Life:

• Produces the highest quality meat and milk
• Is better for the animals
• Is good for the environment

How many employees do you have and who are your customers?

Currently we have our Riseholme College Livestock apprentice, Brad Kyme, my son Jack and myself.

On the Fencing side we work predominantly with private customers and farmers throughout Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Leicestershire. Almost all our work is acquired through recommendation. We are an approved contractor for MOD through Landmarc, and we have just completed work on an exciting project with the Doddington Hall Estate to install stock fencing for their new rewilding project.

On the Meat sales, many of our customers are repeat customers either local to Field Farm looking to support local family run businesses or from further afield who are looking for 100% Pasture Fed meat, recognising the health benefits to themselves and the additional benefits to the animals and our environment.

How And Why Did You Start Field Farm Meat and Fencing?

Field Farm has changed significantly over the last 16 years, driven mainly by the need to diversify to survive financially but also influenced through conversations in the rugby development world around benefits of 100% Pasture Fed meat, leading to us joining the Pasture for Life Community and embarking on two study tours with them to look at and discuss the work of other members and how their work benefits animal welfare and the environment.

The introduction of the Fencing business by Jack was following a long conversation he and I had about the survival of our traditional family farm requiring and being dependent on an effort to bring in more “none traditional farming” income.

What Is Your Company Ethos?

Never walk away from a job unless you would be proud to have it at your home! Provide excellence, happy customers are your best form of advertising!

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Livestock always motivate you to get out of bed in a morning, they are always happy to see you as they know you are going to feed them…especially in the cold winter!

If you could do it all again, what would you do differently?

I wouldn’t go down the renting arable land and agricultural contracting route! I feel like I lost a few years of life with my family and would look to have joined environmental schemes and diversification opportunities much sooner.

How has the last year or so impacted your business?

The diversity in our income streams has certainly helped us remain financially stable. Our choice to remain in Higher Level Stewardship, continue with our Pasture for Life livestock approach and push the fencing side has been key to this. Our low input systems supported through Higher Level Stewardship and our solely Pasture Fed livestock feed costs have really benefited us with the recent huge increase in input costs felt by all agricultural businesses.

What are your biggest challenges at the moment?

Fluctuating material costs on the fencing are a real challenge currently. On the meat side main challenge is meeting customer demand for the high quality cuts.

Who is your inspiration in business?

My inspirations for business are not from any one individual. I have learnt from many on my journey through the farming and rugby development worlds and continue to look for opportunities to learn from anyone I come across. For work ethic it would have to be my dad!

What has been your proudest moment?

Seeing and supporting Jack to develop and grow the none traditional agricultural income side of the business.

What are your plans for the business in the future?

Continue to be flexible and look at remaining open minded to change within the business. We will build on our current position and explore other potential business diversification opportunities from none traditional agricultural income.

When and how did you begin working with Witham Group?

Our family has worked with Witham for as long as I can remember! We use Witham lubricants for all vehicles and machinery and Estate paint for building maintenance and property refurbishments.

Trust, reliability, advice and technical expertise is what we look for in a supplier and Witham has all these plus the availability of products, which is something that we rely on. We also like being able to support another successful local family run business. Having used, the Witham products listed above for many years as a family and a business we highly recommend their products and value their ongoing support.