Salisbury Monitor Farm

Name:

Ben Jeans

Location:

Wiltshire

Farm sectors:

Cereals & Oilseeds

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About Salisbury Monitor Farm

Chalk Pyt Farm joined the Monitor Farm network in 2020
Total farm area 830 ha. Including 530ha of arable farmland producing wheat, spring barley, winter barley, oilseed rape and maize
The farm also has a dairy enterprise consisting of 180 Holstein cattle plus youngstock, 350 ewes for gimmering and both residential and commercial property for lease
Predominantly grade 2 and 3 chalk soils with 80 ha of grade 1 heavy clay soil and 50 ha of greensand for the dairy grazing platform and grass silage

Having returned to Wiltshire in 2014 after nine years as a shipbroker in London, Ben now runs the family’s mixed 830 ha Chalk Pyt Farm near Salisbury alongside his father Andrew. The farm, which is in a higher tier Countryside Stewardship Scheme, has soil types ranging from chalk to heavy clay and his 530 ha arable enterprise produces wheat, spring barley, winter barley, oilseed rape and maize across two rotations. Ben mainly operates a min-till system but increases the amount of direct drilling when the conditions suit.

In addition to the arable business, the farm also has a dairy enterprise consisting of 180 Holstein cattle plus youngstock, 350 ewes for gimmering and both residential and commercial property for lease. The farm employs three full time members of staff and one part time staff member who work alongside Ben and Andrew.

During the course of the three-year Monitor Farm programme Ben hopes to critically analyse the business in order to improve areas that are not achieving their potential while also focusing on soils and dealing with a decreasing chemical armoury. Other items on the agenda include maintaining employee engagement and motivation, personal development and diversification of the business. Ben is also looking forward to having the opportunity to discuss challenges and share expertise on topics that are of interest to the group.

Salisbury Monitor Farm will run from 2020–2024.

For information about past meetings and events, click '+ See more'.

Past meetings and updates

Successful succession planning – 2 February 2023

In the final meeting of the 2022/23 winter season, Becky Miles (Family Succession Planning Facilitator at Real Success) discussed the critical business area of succession planning.

Better grain marketing – 12 January 2023

Antony Speight (AHDB Senior Arable Markets Analyst) reviewed different grain marketing strategies. The group then modelled their own strategies and outcomes for the Monitor Farm's projected 2023 harvest.

Keep up to date the latest cereals and oilseeds market news, including daily updates.

Analysis of the last 5 years Farmbench results – 1 Decemeber 2022

Mark Topliff (AHDB Farm economics) reported on past, present and future Farmbench results.

Farmbench winter wheat margins could increase by 80% in 2022 but then fall by two thirds in 2023 for middle 50% performers
Relationship between net margin and yield is stronger than between price per tonne achieved
Cost increases are coming more from variable than fixed costs
A combination of yield performance and overhead cost control provides the greatest correlation with net margin performance

The Environmental Farmers Group – 3 November 2022

In the first meeting of the season, Rob Sheppard from The Environmental Farmers Group briefed attendees on the co-operative and some of the advantages it brings:

Cooperation is key
Provides negotiating power
Achieves coordination from multiple funding sources
Gives reassurance of professional guidance
Potential to replace BPS

To register your interest in getting involved, visit: The Environmental Farmers Group.

OSR workshop – 24 February 2022

Steve Ellis (BASF) and Sarah Kendall (ADAS) joined Ben at Chalk Pyt to discuss the latest research and management strategies to reduce the agronomic risks, and increase profitability in growing OSR.

You can find AHDB OSR growth guide, here.

Farming environmentally and profitably – 18 January 2022

Harold Makant (Natural England) gave update on Environmental Land Management and Countryside Stewardship Schemes and advised how Ben could capitalise on them.

Phosphate management in UK agriculture – 15 December 2021

Dr Shane Rothwell (Lancaster University) gave introduction to the RePhoKUs project he is involved in which aims to re-focus phosphorus use in the UK food system in order to achieve sustainable phosphorus use and deliver valued ecosystem services such as clean water and biodiversity.

Labour and machinery review – 16 Novemeber 2021

During the winter season, a Labour & Machinery review was conducted at Chalk Pyt Farm.

The results were then discussed with Harry Henderson (AHDB Techinal Knowledge Exchange Manager), who compared the findings to other Monitor Farms in the programme.

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