Our Farming System
Foggage, organic and free range
Our tenant farmer, Ben Hollins, operates a permaculture-based, organic system of outdoor grazing called 'Foggage Farming'. This means that Fordhall’s breeding cattle and sheep live outdoors throughout the year, making them completely pasture-fed.
Developed by the late organic pioneer Arthur Hollins, it was designed to move the farm away from a reliance upon costly chemical inputs after the Second World War. Arthur’s youngest son, Ben, continues to carry out this sustainable and regenerative way of rearing livestock.
Foggage Farming
This regenerative farming system relies on a vast diversity of grasses and herbs in our pastures - in fact over 70 different plant species have been recorded in our pastures!
This variety provides a healthy and medicinal diet for the livestock (keeping veterinary intervention very low) and the tight root structure of the permanent pasture means that livestock can be wintered outdoors without ruining (or poaching) the ground.
All livestock is 100% free-range. This system is sustainable, healthy for the livestock, low in embedded energy and works best when wildlife and biodiversity are also thriving - a system of reciprocal benefits.
Pasture-fed cows and sheep
Fordhall’s topography allows the livestock to live entirely off our organic pastures all year-round. Herd rotation around our water meadows and top-of-the-valley sandbanks keeps the animals healthy and pastures in good condition. All have access to spring-fed water, trees for shelter and plenty of diversity in their browse – also known as silvopasture.
Winter grazing is supplemented with organic haylage cut from fields managed by farmer Ben, some of which include SSSI wildflower meadows rented from Shropshire Wildlife Trust.
By working with our landscape and the rich diversity of nature, we support our tenant to create a farming system which is low in inputs, requires little veterinary intervention and is resilient and regenerative.
Free-range pigs
Our free-range Gloucester Old Spot pigs root and rummage through the undergrowth or shelter beneath the apple trees in their paddocks.
They are provided with doorless shelters, which they can enter and exit as they choose. Our sows farrow (give birth) without cages, providing them with the freedom to nurture their babies, generate bonds and follow their natural instincts.
Giving a happy life to our livestock is something that sits at the centre of Fordhall’s values. They are fed a GM-free feed, plus whatever falls from the trees or what they find within the soil.
Certification
The tenant holds organic certification for Fordhall’s pasture, cattle and sheep through the Soil Association. All cattle and sheep are also Pasture for Life certified.
The farm butchery is not certified organic and therefore, whilst the cattle and sheep are reared to organic standards and certified as such, they lose this certification at slaughter. This means they cannot be labelled as organic in the farm shop.
If you have any further questions on this or how the Fordhall livestock are reared or looked after, the farm shop team will be pleased to speak to you. Please feel free to contact James (farm shop manager) shop@fordhallfarm.com