Well-known farmer John Charles-Jones to quit farming

Well-known Nottinghamshire arable farmer John Charles-Jones has announced he is retiring from farming, and the farm is up for sale.

Woodborough Park, which has been home to John and Cathy Charles-Jones since 2004, stretches to over 244ha and is situated just two miles north of the Nottingham urban fringe.

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The family-run farm predominantly grows arable crops such as wheat, beans and oats.

Announcing that the farm was now on the market, he described the day as “bitter-sweet” on social media platform X.

“For anyone that has worked their way up the farming ladder, proving some of the many naysayers wrong along the way, they will know what it means to finally put the white flag up.”

He added: “It will be with very mixed feelings that we ultimately move on”.

“As we all know, farming is all-consuming. Work, life, lifestyle and everything in between. Many people (politicians included) will never ever understand that.”

Pastures new

The reasons for selling, he told Farmers Weekly, were multiple.

But with the current farming situation as it is and his children having chosen other career paths, now seemed a sensible time to move to pastures new.

“I don’t know what we’re doing next and I’m not saying I won’t be involved in farming going forward in one way or another, as I’ve spent my entire career in the industry,” said Mr Charles-Jones, who is also a delegate on the NFU legal board.

Environmental stewardship

Since moving to the farm, the family embraced the environmental stewardship schemes and have put great effort into planting new hedges, gapping up old ones, and planting more than 10,000 trees.

In 2014 they entered a 10-year Higher Level Stewardship scheme which provided funding for conservation-led projects, including the preservation of Fox Wood, with its Iron Age earthworks.

In the autumn of 2023, the farm became a knowledge exchange hub for farmers within the East Midlands in relation to the new Sustainable Farming Incentive. 

Mr and Mrs Charles-Jones have also been proactive in building natural flood management features on their land to help mitigate the risk to the local village.

They have invested in renewable energy, including roof and ground-mounted solar panels and a medium-sized wind turbine.