Taylors Farm in Lancashire has transformed itself from a traditional beef and arable farm into a regional hub for grain processing services.

Over the past five years, the Webster family have focused on adding value  – a move that has reshaped the farm’s future and is helping local farmers find new routes to market.

Grain now leaves the farm as high-grade animal feed, while beef leaves the farm in carrier bags, sold through the family’s on-site shop.

See also: How 14 family business partners run a 1,600ha mixed farm

How it began

On the grain side of the business, the farm offers drying, optical sorting, sieve cleaning, bagging, and – most recently – de-hulling.

The next big project is establishing a pyrolysis unit using crop hulls to generate electricity and produce biochar.

The spark for grain diversification came in 2020 when a livestock nutrition firm approached the family about mixing grain on-site to create a high-protein feed.

“We saw a niche in the market,” explains Andrew Webster.

“There were not many facilities locally for storing, handling and treating grain.

“We’ve got good outlets, with a range of nearby livestock farms and feed mills. Liverpool, Manchester, Preston and Blackpool are all within half an hour’s drive, plus we have Liverpool docks on our doorstep.”

Diversifying into grain processing opened up an entirely new business venture, serving local growers, feed mills, and even pet food suppliers.

The enterprise has expanded rapidly and now has:

• Sieve Cleaner (2016): Particularly effective for separating weeds and admixture from crops such as wheat
• Grain Dryer (2017): Enables efficient handling of high-moisture grain
• Optical Sorter (2019): Advanced technology that removes contaminants like ergot
• Bagging Station (2023): Fully robotic 25kg bagging line for producing custom ruminant feeds
• De-hulling Plant (2025): Newly commissioned system for processing beans, oats, and other pulses into high-value, low-fibre feed products.

The optical sorter has processed 4,000t of grain in the past year alone, handling rejected milling wheat from Liverpool and Manchester, mainly with ergot contamination.

The sieve cleaner plays a key role in separating weed seeds and admixtures, while the bagging plant enables custom mixes of home-grown and bought-in grains for retail and wholesale.

De-hulling facility

The de-hulling facility, commissioned early this year, is the latest project.

One key driver behind its set up was the growing demand for alternative protein sources in livestock feeds and the need for additional break crops on arable farms.

“With oilseed rape in decline and beans gaining traction as an alternative break crop, we identified an opportunity to meet supply chain needs and support other farmers,” says Andrew.

Hulled beans © MAG/Emma Gillbard

Recognising this, Taylors Farm invested in a de-hulling plant, with support from a Rural Payments Agency (RPA) value-adding grant.

The plant separates kernels from hulls, removing anti-nutritional factors such as condensed tannins from grains and pulses to improve nutritional value.

The de-hulled grains and pulses then go into livestock, pet, and bird feed markets, creating a local marketplace for arable farmers to sell crops.

“Our animal feed business has expanded rapidly and the demand for de-hulled combinable crops was clear, particularly pulses as an alternative to soybean meal in animal feed rations.”

Andrew Webster and John McArthur © MAG/Emma Gillbard

“For beans, it’s a matter of getting them into a usable form and helping farmers find a route to market,” says Andrew.

The plant developed by grain system integrator McArthur BDC is capable of processing 6-7t of beans and 4-4.5t of oats per hour.

The de-hulling plant firstly splits grain by size and takes out large and fine admixture.

“Grain passes over three different sized sieves in the JCM 10133 VibroMAX sieve cleaner, cleaning and grading the grains,” explains managing director of the firm John McArthur.

“From there, cereals or oilseed crops enter an impact dehuller. Here, a rotor accelerates the grain into an impact disc with an abrasive surface which separates the hull from the kernel,” continues John.

For pulses such as beans, the kernels are more tightly bound and so require a different type of process.

The beans bypass the impact dehuller and are transported to a horizontal peeler.

“This device has a set of central rotors which push the beans towards a peeling stone to separate the kernels and hulls,” he says.

Once the crop has passed through either the dehuller or peeler, it passes over two different sized sieves of the JCM 10123 VibroMAX sieve cleaner, which separates un-dehulled grains, the kernels and the hulls.

“By the end of the process you are left with a grain with greater nutritional value.

“For example, McArthur’s BDC’s research as part of the Nitrogen Climate Smart NCS project shows that de-hulled beans crude protein increases by 10% on a dry matter basis, neutral detergent fibre is reduced by 44% and condensed tannins down by 32%, making it a better substitute for soya bean meal in poultry rations,” explains John.

Next steps

Looking ahead, the next step in Andrew’s development is a thermal treatment system for grains and pulses, designed to enhance feed for both monogastric and ruminant animals.

This heat treatment process offers several nutritional benefits, including the reduction of anti-nutritional factors such as trypsin inhibitors and vicine/convicine, as well as lowering the degradability of protein and starch in the rumen.

Perhaps the most innovative project is the planned pyrolysis unit, which uses hulls as fuel to generate electricity.

Hulls are heated in an oxygen-free chamber which also produces biochar – a high-carbon byproduct with potential use as a soil amendment.

Andrew is exploring markets where biochar can be blended with chicken manure to create a balanced, nutrient-rich fertiliser.

“It’s all about closing the loop,” he explains.

“Every byproduct becomes part of something else and every new development feeds into the next.

“That’s why we’re always thinking about how to use what we’ve got to generate more value.”

About Taylors Farm

© MAG/Emma Gillbard

While grain services have become a cornerstone of the business, Taylors Farm also has a prominent beef unit, fattening 500 head of cattle each year which are all butchered on-site and sold through the farm shop.

Managed by four family members – Roger and Bernie Webster, and sons Andrew and Joe, the farm covers 240ha with crops including wheat, barley, oats and beans.

Roger and Andrew oversee the arable and cattle operations, while Bernie and Joe run the busy farm shop, which has been open for 22 years.

Limousin-cross and British Blue cattle are brought in at 400-550kg and finished on farm to 600-650kg over 100 days.

“Cattle are fed a total mixed ration made of Alkalage and Alkagrain30.

“These are both made using cereals grown on the farm mixed with Home N Dry pellets which give a feed with high levels of starch and is alkalised,” says Andrew.

The farm’s dual focus on high-quality livestock and grain processing has created a balanced operation. When one side of the business is quiet, the other tends to be busy.

“Diversification has made us more flexible,” says Andrew.

“That flexibility is what keeps everything moving forward. You need a plan. You need to know what’s in your area and be able to make the most of it and if you’ve got both, there’s real opportunity,” he says.