Our family business has operated from Caplor Farm, Fownhope since 1923. It was first run by Gareth Williams’ grandfather; then by his father, mother and now by Gareth himself.
Caplor was initially a 100-acre mixed farm evolving into a dairy farm with some 50 and, later, 100 cows. But a dairy unit of this size did not remain a viable proposition; and so, in 1998, the herd was sold.
We developed a contracting business involving several activities around our own and neighbouring counties, resulting in close ties with a national forage company. We dealt with customers from Cornwall to north Scotland; we even carried out some international trade.
However, time and aspirations moved on and during the 90s we took on additional land. By the ‘noughties’, we were farming just over 2,000 acres of land in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire – mostly for arable cropping and beef production. This helped create a more sustainable, balanced enterprise and boosted our evolving farming business.
More recently, we have consolidated back to 800 acres, including 420 acres of combinable crops and 150-200 acres of potatoes annually. We carry out contract work for other farmers in the county, from grassland-associated activity to muck carting and general arable work. We are still one of the largest movers of hay and straw in the area, although the scale of this activity is greatly reduced from the heady Cotswold days.
Moreover, to maintain a link with our stock tradition, we are currently breeding a number of grass-fed pedigree Hereford cattle, from which we hope to supply others in the future.
Last year we won the West Midlands Business in the Community Award for cutting our carbon footprint. Indeed, we are working hard to increase the sustainability of our agricultural activities – such as through espousing minimal tillage, and incorporating waste materials into land. Click here for more information on our environmental activities.
Our background in dairy production, contracting and arable farming has led to a number of new enterprises and we currently farm approx. 420 acres of combinable crops: wheat, oilseed rape, oats and beans. In addition, we have 210 acres of grass for grazing and forage. Working in partnership with Higgins, we also grow 150-200 acres of potatoes annually. These are mostly processing potatoes grown destined for local markets. We have started to build a small stock of pedigree Hereford cattle, and this is an exciting development for us – we are looking forward to showing animals and developing the breed. We also expect that the herd’s expansion will create a more founded work profile for our staff, reducing seasonal variation and ensuring employment throughout the year. We are also significantly involved with a farming project in The Gambia.
We advocate pasture-based systems and grass-fed cattle, due to the improved meat nutritional value of grass-fed cattle (higher Omega 3 content), and the environmental benefits of feeding cattle grass rather than grain. Our business partner, board member and a member of the local community, Will Edwards is doing excellent work in investigating how the greenhouse gas emissions from cattle can be reduced, through using pasture-based systems and experimenting with his cattle’s diet. Will has been participating in a trial to feed garlic extract to his cattle, investigating its potential to reduce the methane emissions of his livestock. He was recently interviewed by CNN regarding this trial and you can watch this interview on the Grazing Livestock page of this site.
