Will and Meg Edmonds

1 March 2010

Will and Meg Edmonds took over Upper Wick Farm in 2000.

They spent two years converting the 190 acres to organic, planting clover and grass to restore the soil.

At the same time they opened a farm shop in the nearby village.

What's on the farm?
250 laying hens
1000 sasso meat chickens
50-60 beef cattle
40 sheep

Chickens

Will and Meg produce and sell 50 chickens a week (they even do the plucking themselves) and sell them at the farm shop and local farmers' market for between £10 and £12.

They buy organic chicken feed that contains some soy (around 20%) rather than the more common fully soy-based feed, but they haven't been able to find a complete replacement.

We'd love to see more protein crops grown in the UK as it would be nice to be able to replace the soy in the chicken feed with something more local

Will and Meg Edmonds

The feed tends to get 'watered down' by being mixed with cereals, mainly wheat, from their own farm.

Cattle

The farm has a Herefordshire cross breed of cattle, after Will and Meg found that the Charolet and Limousin breeds' voracious appetites make them very difficult to produce organically.

For nine months of the year the cattle graze outdoors. But for three months in the winter they're bedded on farm-produced straw and fed home-grown cereals.

Their feed is supplemented with grass and clover. All the feeds are home-grown or grazing and there's no soy in their feed.

Sheep

Just like the cows, the sheep also never eat any soy-based foods. They're fed home-grown cereals in winter, and in spring the breeding ewes have their grass supplemented with an organic wheat feed.

Part of the local community

Will has found that some produce, such as lamb, doesn't actually cost any more to produce organically.

This means their produce is reasonably priced and appealing to everyone. Some regulars even use the farm for their main weekly shop.

Will and Meg have recently taken over a second farm in Ledbury and have two shops - one in Cheltenham that has 30 local farmers supplying the shop, and one in Ludlow.

This is a testament both to their success and people's increasing interest in locally produced sustainable meat.

With seven employees recruited from the surrounding area, the farm's success is also providing a welcome boost to the local economy.