Meet one of our organic farmers

7th December 2017

Northumberland farmers Claire and Simon have farming organic beef and lamb for some time and when it came to introducing hens to the family farm they turned to us for support.

We have enjoyed helping them with their first flock, which they chose not to have beak tipped. This meant they had to work even harder than ever to make sure the hens had the best possible environment to keep them happy and healthy.

Under Freedom Food standards there is a certain level of enrichment that is required to avoid pecking issues. Claire and Simon went above and beyond to add three or four times the required level to keep their hens content and occupied.

Claire and Simon are also very keen on sustainable farming and have introduced lots of measures such as solar panels on the organic chicken shed, extra woodland and a wind turbine.

 

With our support they have had a very successful start to their organic egg venture and are now contributing significantly to our organic egg production. Organic egg production was a natural fit for their farm because they were already living the organic life, meeting all the necessary organic requirements.

 

This is only their first year of egg production and Claire and Simon now have 12,000 hens alongside their 1,500 ewes, 160 suckler cows and 1650 acres of land in the Northumberland uplands which is predominantly pasture and moorland.

You can read more about Claire and Simon’s story and the steps they have taken to make their organic egg venture a success on our Meet the Producer page.