The Story Farms

We have been best friends since school, so it didn’t take us long to realise we shared the same vision: to work with nature to produce the highest quality produce.

Herons Green Farm, Compton Martin
Luke’s farm at Herons Green overlooks the beautiful Chew Valley Lake. His family have farmed in the area for over 100 years. In fact they used to farm two other farms Denny Farm and Spring Farm that are now underneath the lake! Luke’s Mother and Father, Sandra and Martin farmed at Herons Green for 30 years before Martin died in 2003 and Sandra in 2007. Luke took over the farm and switched to full organic beef production with a strong herd of North and South Devon

Luke on Heron’s Green:
“There is a lot to see here, we grow all our own silage and are completely self sufficient for the cattle to enjoy enough food in the winter. This is important because we know exactly where it comes from and we are reducing pollution in transport. We have planted 40 acres of native broadleaf trees creating a stunning forest overlooking Chew Valley Lake which encourages new wildlife spotting barn owls and many deers.”

All the farms are under Higher Level Stewardship which means at the heart of what we do is to manage the land to enhance habitats and achieve significant environmental benefits. By rearing healthy, contented animals on a natural pasture based diet we are able to build organic matter in our soil, improving the soil health and sequester carbon back into the ground.

Court Farm, Winford

Court Farm was the first Organic registered farm in Somerset. Jim’s father John farmed biodynamically from day one, I guess you could say he was a bit of a pioneer. That means for almost four decades there have been no artificial fertilisers, herbicides or other chemical sprays applied to the land. At Court Farm you can expect to see a huge range of wildlife and plants because of the rich diversity that farming in this way brings. We have spotted breeding hares, owls, badgers, partridges and rare bats, we have a bee hives, beetles and bugs. We know we are providing havens and hunting grounds in many forms and have recently added a small woodland to the holding. The hedgerows have been replanted and are another critical habitat for wildlife, preforming many functions and providing many benefits.

Court farm is our home for all the weaned calves, they spend a year or more here where they thrive on their native diet of pasture and hay, to help produce the most delicious tender meat.

Leigh Woods Conservation Grazing
Leigh woods was historic wood-pasture with some open grassland and old pollards present. The introduction of cattle has been a massive success in returning Leigh woods to a woodpasture habitat and also to help the presentation of Stokeleigh camp hillfort, where the National Trust are clearing trees from the hill fort and returning it to its former glory. We have introduced our native North Devon cattle to the area and they are doing a great job grazing to keep open glades, rides and the views across Bristol’s famous suspension bridge. Greater horseshoe bats are also present in the Avon Gorge and they benefit from the cattle dung.