Farmers Weekly Awards 2023: Beef Farmer of the Year

Ian Farrant of Underley Farm, Herefordshire, is Farmers Weekly‘s 2023 Beef Farmer of Year.

A recent analysis commissioned by beef farmer Ian Farrant on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to his business describes the enterprise as “innovative and forward-thinking”. 

That Swot evaluation is spot on, as Ian has created a profitable beef enterprise fit for the future, with a focus on healthy soils and reducing the use of fertiliser and imported feed.

See also: The 2023 Farmers Weekly Awards shortlist

Beef production at Underley is part of a larger family partnership that includes dairy and arable units.

Ian has responsibility for the beef side of the business, rearing and finishing 650 dairy-cross calves on a forage-based system.

The majority of these animals are sourced from the family’s dairy herd.

Drive for sustainability

Sustainability informs his decision-making, whether it is growing cattle on multispecies leys or producing his own concentrates.

Figures from Ian’s own trials show it to be a system that is not only good for soil and cattle health, but also for the health of his business.

In a 2022 trial, a group of 100 seven- and eight-month-old Aberdeen Angus-cross cattle grew at 1.12kg/day on multispecies leys.

ln comparison, animals at the same stage of production, but grazing conventional grass, achieved a 0.9kg daily liveweight gain.

Ian has captured gains at housing, too, by switching the ration from an 18% protein rearer nut and chopped straw to a total mixed ration incorporating home-grown feed. 

This has yielded a cost saving of £0.34 per kilogam of weight gain.

With further cost savings in his sights, Ian is now growing peas and barley.

“There is at least another £0.19/kg saving to be gained on top of the £0.34,” he calculates.

This is all helping to reduce the carbon footprint of the business, which now totals 9.2kg carbon equivalent per kilogram of deadweight, compared with 11.67kg in 2021.

Use of inorganic fertiliser on grassland has been reduced by one-third in three years, and inputs now average 119kgN/ha.

Spreading the risk

With one eye on the future Ian is also spreading business risk, growing 11 different hazelnut tree varieties on 6ha of difficult-to-farm, steep land.

When the trees are in full production in 2030, they should yield about 1t/acre to sell into a market where conventional hazelnuts are currently trading at £4/kg, or £8-£12/kg if he goes ahead with plans to convert the field to organic.

Ian wrings opportunity from every square inch of his land, grazing chickens and turkeys between the trees and selling their meat into a premium market.

In 2024, to further improve the sustainability credentials of the birds, they will be processed on the farm.

Two of Ian’s personal goals for Underley are to become a model for sustainable meat production and to provide a great work-life balance for its staff and his family.

Ian and partner Jenny have two young daughters, five-year-old Sophie and Rosie, who is two.

It is evident that he is already achieving his aims. But for a man who continually has one eye on trying to find new solutions to beef farming’s sustainability challenges, there is no question that there is much more to come.