Bernard Matthews has paid a hefty price for the outbreak of HN51 avian flu on one of his turkey units, according to the 2007 Sunday Times Rich List.
The list puts the cost of the bird flu outbreak at £70m which takes the value of the Bernard Matthews business down from £220m to £148m and forces him from 191 in the rankings to 414=.
But with £25m of other assets, including property, the turkey mogul’s fortune is still estimated at £173m (compared to £302m in 2006.).
The list also features some of Britain’s largest landowners and a number of people who have made their money in industry but have now moved into farming.
There are also a number of farmer’s sons and daughters who have made a big enough fortune - at least £70m - to feature on the 2007 list.
Here is a selection:
Duke of Westminster (bulk of fortune in London property but has land in Lancs, Cheshire, Scotland and Canada)
Ranking: 3 Fortune: £7000m
Sir Anthony Bamford and family (owner of Staffs-based company JCB)
Ranking: 46= Fortune: £1300m
Tim Landon (made his money in oil but now owns the Hampshire farming business Faccombe Esates)
Ranking: 151= Fortune: £500m
Duke of Devonshire (lives at Chatsworth house, Derbyshire and owns 75,000 acres, but bulk of fortune in art)
Ranking: 151= Fortune: £500m
Charlotte Townshend (inherited 15,000 acres in Dorset and 3000 in Notts which have been sold for a reputed £9m)
Ranking: 195= Fortune: £400m
Duke of Northumberland (bulk of fortune in art collection but owns 120,000 acres in Alwnick and Scottish estate)
Ranking: 238= Fortune: £300m
Harry Dobson (farmer's son who made his money in mining and sold his Manchester United shares for £31m.)
Ranking: 288= Fortune £250m
Duke of Sutherland (most of fortune tied up in art, but owns 12,000 acres in Scottish borders and East Anglia)
Ranking: 313= Fortune: £230m
Barry Haigh (sold a pharmaceutical consultancy in 1996 and is now a dairy farmer at Red Kite Farms, Oxon)
Ranking: 394 Fortune: £183m
Alan Wiseman and family (the family behind Robert Wiseman Dairies)
Ranking: 397= Fortune: £180m
Bernard Matthews (founder of Norfolk-based poultry company)
Ranking: 414= Fortune: £173m
Kevin Linfoot (made his money in property, but was raised on a pig farm just outside York.)
Ranking: 490= Fortune: £145m
Sir Richard Sutton and family (owns the Settled Estates farming-to-property company.)
Ranking: 569= Fortune: £122m
Robin Clark and family (part of the Taylor Clark group which is a property, farming, hotel and investment group.)
Ranking: 625= Fortune: £111m
Terry Adams (made his money in mining, but now farming in Devon)
Ranking: 896= Fortune: £75m
Peter Kindersley (former publisher who runs a 2250 acre organic farm in Berkshire)
Ranking: 834= Fortune: £80m
Jody Scheckter (former Formula One driver who now runs a organic farm in Hampshire)
Ranking: 834= Fortune: £80m
Are you surprised by some of the names (and numbers!) on the list. Do you farm near any of them? Share your thought on our forums.