Case study
Case study
Case study
Mixed farming
Mixed farming
Mixed farming
How a diverse Welsh farming business built resilience
How a diverse Welsh farming business built resilience
How a diverse Welsh farming business built resilience
About
G & A Orrells
Gary Orrells farms 1,177 acres with his family across three sites in mid-Wales and into Shropshire. A large share of it is hill and upland ground, with more productive and more intensive lowland alongside. The business runs 1,200 breeding ewes and 150 suckler cows against an arable rotation that keeps it around 80% self-sufficient in the grain it feeds, and the finished lamb is sold to Waitrose through Pilgrims. The spread of enterprises is deliberate, rebuilt after a foot and mouth outbreak that threatened the business, so that it is not dependent on any one of them. In Gary’s eyes, commercial and farming diversity build resilience, and the same judgement that has held the business together has been applied to the ground underneath it.
About
G & A Orrells
Gary Orrells farms 1,177 acres with his family across three sites in mid-Wales and into Shropshire. A large share of it is hill and upland ground, with more productive and more intensive lowland alongside. The business runs 1,200 breeding ewes and 150 suckler cows against an arable rotation that keeps it around 80% self-sufficient in the grain it feeds, and the finished lamb is sold to Waitrose through Pilgrims. The spread of enterprises is deliberate, rebuilt after a foot and mouth outbreak that threatened the business, so that it is not dependent on any one of them. In Gary’s eyes, commercial and farming diversity build resilience, and the same judgement that has held the business together has been applied to the ground underneath it.
About
G & A Orrells
Gary Orrells farms 1,177 acres with his family across three sites in mid-Wales and into Shropshire. A large share of it is hill and upland ground, with more productive and more intensive lowland alongside. The business runs 1,200 breeding ewes and 150 suckler cows against an arable rotation that keeps it around 80% self-sufficient in the grain it feeds, and the finished lamb is sold to Waitrose through Pilgrims. The spread of enterprises is deliberate, rebuilt after a foot and mouth outbreak that threatened the business, so that it is not dependent on any one of them. In Gary’s eyes, commercial and farming diversity build resilience, and the same judgement that has held the business together has been applied to the ground underneath it.
United Kingdom
location
United Kingdom
location
United Kingdom
location
401
hectares
401
hectares
401
hectares
3
Sites
3
Sites
3
Sites
8
Years of analysis
8
Years of analysis
8
Years of analysis
challenges
Three sites that cannot be compared to each other
The upland rises to 1,400 feet and carries native grass species that stay green into a dry summer, the lowland moves in and out of crop, and the arable ground sits across the border. Through eight years of dry summers, falling subsidies and rising disease risk, a soil sample taken on one site could not be compared to another.
challenges
Three sites that cannot be compared to each other
The upland rises to 1,400 feet and carries native grass species that stay green into a dry summer, the lowland moves in and out of crop, and the arable ground sits across the border. Through eight years of dry summers, falling subsidies and rising disease risk, a soil sample taken on one site could not be compared to another.
challenges
Three sites that cannot be compared to each other
The upland rises to 1,400 feet and carries native grass species that stay green into a dry summer, the lowland moves in and out of crop, and the arable ground sits across the border. Through eight years of dry summers, falling subsidies and rising disease risk, a soil sample taken on one site could not be compared to another.
challenge 1
No common measure across the business
Results from one site could not be read against another, which left a business built on comparing its enterprises unable to compare the ground beneath them.
challenge 1
No common measure across the business
Results from one site could not be read against another, which left a business built on comparing its enterprises unable to compare the ground beneath them.
challenge 1
No common measure across the business
Results from one site could not be read against another, which left a business built on comparing its enterprises unable to compare the ground beneath them.
challenge 2
Sampling that never measures the whole farm
Sustainable Farming Scheme requirements cover a fifth of the farm each year, so it takes five years to see the whole business once, with no history or comparability sitting behind any of it.
challenge 2
Sampling that never measures the whole farm
Sustainable Farming Scheme requirements cover a fifth of the farm each year, so it takes five years to see the whole business once, with no history or comparability sitting behind any of it.
challenge 2
Sampling that never measures the whole farm
Sustainable Farming Scheme requirements cover a fifth of the farm each year, so it takes five years to see the whole business once, with no history or comparability sitting behind any of it.
challenge 3
One glaring data gap
Gary measures almost everything on his farm, from blood testing until Johne’s was cleared out of the herd to weighing lambs weekly and buying rams on estimated breeding values, but soil was the only asset without an equivalent.
challenge 3
One glaring data gap
Gary measures almost everything on his farm, from blood testing until Johne’s was cleared out of the herd to weighing lambs weekly and buying rams on estimated breeding values, but soil was the only asset without an equivalent.
challenge 3
One glaring data gap
Gary measures almost everything on his farm, from blood testing until Johne’s was cleared out of the herd to weighing lambs weekly and buying rams on estimated breeding values, but soil was the only asset without an equivalent.
Our response
A consistent method across every site
We measured all three sites at ten metre resolution back to 2018, working from farm boundaries and a data fusion approach that combines earth observation with ground data, and classified the land so that the peaty upland, the lowland and the arable ground could be compared on the same terms. The record reaches back eight years from the first report, so the changes the family had already made were visible in it straight away, rather than starting a baseline and waiting years to find out whether those decisions had made any difference.
Our response
A consistent method across every site
We measured all three sites at ten metre resolution back to 2018, working from farm boundaries and a data fusion approach that combines earth observation with ground data, and classified the land so that the peaty upland, the lowland and the arable ground could be compared on the same terms. The record reaches back eight years from the first report, so the changes the family had already made were visible in it straight away, rather than starting a baseline and waiting years to find out whether those decisions had made any difference.
Our response
A consistent method across every site
We measured all three sites at ten metre resolution back to 2018, working from farm boundaries and a data fusion approach that combines earth observation with ground data, and classified the land so that the peaty upland, the lowland and the arable ground could be compared on the same terms. The record reaches back eight years from the first report, so the changes the family had already made were visible in it straight away, rather than starting a baseline and waiting years to find out whether those decisions had made any difference.
response 1
Comparable across soil types
The same method applied to peaty upland, mixed lowland and lowland arable, so the business can compare sites that have little else in common besides the people working them.
response 1
Comparable across soil types
The same method applied to peaty upland, mixed lowland and lowland arable, so the business can compare sites that have little else in common besides the people working them.
response 1
Comparable across soil types
The same method applied to peaty upland, mixed lowland and lowland arable, so the business can compare sites that have little else in common besides the people working them.
response 2
Soil carbon and soil health together
Alongside soil carbon, the analysis covers soil health and resilience. This creates an understanding of exposure to drought, so the family can see both what the ground holds and how it behaves when risk becomes real.
response 2
Soil carbon and soil health together
Alongside soil carbon, the analysis covers soil health and resilience. This creates an understanding of exposure to drought, so the family can see both what the ground holds and how it behaves when risk becomes real.
response 2
Soil carbon and soil health together
Alongside soil carbon, the analysis covers soil health and resilience. This creates an understanding of exposure to drought, so the family can see both what the ground holds and how it behaves when risk becomes real.
response 3
No extra work for the farm
Our analysis works from field boundaries and satellite data, so there were no visits to host and none of the sampling logistics that traditional soil testing asks of a farm. And it was available through the family’s existing Oxbury Bank facility at no additional cost.
response 3
No extra work for the farm
Our analysis works from field boundaries and satellite data, so there were no visits to host and none of the sampling logistics that traditional soil testing asks of a farm. And it was available through the family’s existing Oxbury Bank facility at no additional cost.
response 3
No extra work for the farm
Our analysis works from field boundaries and satellite data, so there were no visits to host and none of the sampling logistics that traditional soil testing asks of a farm. And it was available through the family’s existing Oxbury Bank facility at no additional cost.
Key findings
Evidence at work
Key findings
Evidence at work
Key findings
Evidence at work
01
The land remained resilient
The assessment period took in dry summers, falling subsidies, rising disease risk and an arable rotation working the lowland ground hard. Soil organic carbon across 401 hectares has moved by less than a quarter of a percent. The business has grown commercially through the same period. Steady ground and a healthy business, held together at once, is what resilience looks like in practice.
01
The land remained resilient
The assessment period took in dry summers, falling subsidies, rising disease risk and an arable rotation working the lowland ground hard. Soil organic carbon across 401 hectares has moved by less than a quarter of a percent. The business has grown commercially through the same period. Steady ground and a healthy business, held together at once, is what resilience looks like in practice.
01
The land remained resilient
The assessment period took in dry summers, falling subsidies, rising disease risk and an arable rotation working the lowland ground hard. Soil organic carbon across 401 hectares has moved by less than a quarter of a percent. The business has grown commercially through the same period. Steady ground and a healthy business, held together at once, is what resilience looks like in practice.
02
All three farms in one place
Every site now sits in the same record, on the same measure, and the family can use it themselves, field by field and year by year, in a form that is interactive and quick to read rather than three separate and incomparable sets of results.
02
All three farms in one place
Every site now sits in the same record, on the same measure, and the family can use it themselves, field by field and year by year, in a form that is interactive and quick to read rather than three separate and incomparable sets of results.
02
All three farms in one place
Every site now sits in the same record, on the same measure, and the family can use it themselves, field by field and year by year, in a form that is interactive and quick to read rather than three separate and incomparable sets of results.
03
The hardest ground, managed well
The peaty upland is the least conventionally productive land in the business and it is farmed with zero inputs, yet it holds 85% of the soil carbon across 73% of the area measured, and it is the most stable ground on the farm. The family have worked out what that land does well and farmed it accordingly.
03
The hardest ground, managed well
The peaty upland is the least conventionally productive land in the business and it is farmed with zero inputs, yet it holds 85% of the soil carbon across 73% of the area measured, and it is the most stable ground on the farm. The family have worked out what that land does well and farmed it accordingly.
03
The hardest ground, managed well
The peaty upland is the least conventionally productive land in the business and it is farmed with zero inputs, yet it holds 85% of the soil carbon across 73% of the area measured, and it is the most stable ground on the farm. The family have worked out what that land does well and farmed it accordingly.
04
Targeted action on water
Dry summers are arriving more often, and this year the business is already buffer feeding and buying in forage. The analysis shows soil moisture and drought exposure field by field across all three sites, alongside soil carbon. With water storage under consideration this winter, the family can see which ground holds least and put capital where it counts.
04
Targeted action on water
Dry summers are arriving more often, and this year the business is already buffer feeding and buying in forage. The analysis shows soil moisture and drought exposure field by field across all three sites, alongside soil carbon. With water storage under consideration this winter, the family can see which ground holds least and put capital where it counts.
04
Targeted action on water
Dry summers are arriving more often, and this year the business is already buffer feeding and buying in forage. The analysis shows soil moisture and drought exposure field by field across all three sites, alongside soil carbon. With water storage under consideration this winter, the family can see which ground holds least and put capital where it counts.
05
Field accuracy for farming practice
Two neighbouring fields moved in opposite directions over eight years, one losing soil carbon while the other gained. The difference comes down to how each was managed, which is exactly what Gary would expect to see, and it is what makes the data usable for decisions on individual fields.
05
Field accuracy for farming practice
Two neighbouring fields moved in opposite directions over eight years, one losing soil carbon while the other gained. The difference comes down to how each was managed, which is exactly what Gary would expect to see, and it is what makes the data usable for decisions on individual fields.
05
Field accuracy for farming practice
Two neighbouring fields moved in opposite directions over eight years, one losing soil carbon while the other gained. The difference comes down to how each was managed, which is exactly what Gary would expect to see, and it is what makes the data usable for decisions on individual fields.
customer perspective
When we first received our Downforce results, we spent hours poring through each field on our farms and looking back in time saying ‘yeah, that makes total sense for that field’ and moving through the years to see the changes across each of our farms. It really supported the work we were doing by validating our approach.
Gary Orrells
Director, G & A Orrells
customer perspective
When we first received our Downforce results, we spent hours poring through each field on our farms and looking back in time saying ‘yeah, that makes total sense for that field’ and moving through the years to see the changes across each of our farms. It really supported the work we were doing by validating our approach.
Gary Orrells
Director, G & A Orrells
customer perspective
When we first received our Downforce results, we spent hours poring through each field on our farms and looking back in time saying ‘yeah, that makes total sense for that field’ and moving through the years to see the changes across each of our farms. It really supported the work we were doing by validating our approach.
Gary Orrells
Director, G & A Orrells
On-farm outcome
Gary has represented Welsh farming at home and abroad, and brings people onto his land to show them what it takes to produce food. He uses the soil data in those conversations as evidence of the work the family has done and the progress they have made, with Oxbury, Pilgrims and Waitrose behind the business.
On-farm outcome
Gary has represented Welsh farming at home and abroad, and brings people onto his land to show them what it takes to produce food. He uses the soil data in those conversations as evidence of the work the family has done and the progress they have made, with Oxbury, Pilgrims and Waitrose behind the business.
On-farm outcome
Gary has represented Welsh farming at home and abroad, and brings people onto his land to show them what it takes to produce food. He uses the soil data in those conversations as evidence of the work the family has done and the progress they have made, with Oxbury, Pilgrims and Waitrose behind the business.