Sustainable Farming – JM Stratton

Sustainable Farming

Arable combinable crops are the core of our farming business. We have a rotation of wheat, barley, oats, peas, and oilseed rape. In 2012 our managing partner had a “moment of clarity” that put the business on a path of improving soil health and concentrating on farming sustainably.

In the 2000's we started contract farming for two of our neighbours, these agreements have worked well for us and the land owners. We work hard to maintain the same level of attention to detail across all of the land which we farm.

Direct Drilling & zero till

Any disturbance to the soil risks damaging its structure. Working the soil also burns diesel and uses time. To mitigate this and look after our soils we utilise an approach known as zero till, this means direct drilling into the stubble of the previous crop. When conditions require it, we do some cultivations, but never go deep and only use it as a last resort. We also make significant use of cover crops, which means there is continuous ground cover over winter. This greatly benefits soil health and reduces erosion when ground would usually be left bare. This is particularly important as alongside sequestering carbon, many of the cover crops have the ability to fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, which can then be utilised by the following crop.

Sustainable Farming

Controlled Traffic

Heavy farm machinery can damage soil structure and causes compaction. To minimise this, we have permanent tramlines and limit traffic in the field to these tramlines where possible. This has meant we have an area travelled in the region of 14%, other systems can be several times this figure.

Sustainable Farming

Digestate

We utilise the PAS110 digestate fertiliser which is a biproduct of the anaerobic digestion process. Digestate provides nitrogen, phosphate, potash, sulphur and trace elements for our crops, as well as organic matter, which improves the soil. We test the product daily when we are spreading in order to apply the right quantities to our crops. Digestate has replaced most of the synthetic fertilisers we would otherwise have used. We have now been spreading across all of our crops for 9 growing seasons, and we have seen considerable benefits to yields, soils and costs. Most of the product is spread through an umbilical system, thereby minimising field and road damage (see gallery) though we are now using a self-propelled tanker to reach more inaccessible fields. If you are local to our Codford base and interested in using our digestate on your farm please get in touch via the contact us page

Sustainable Farming

Yarnbury Castle Development FARM

We have set up a 300 acre trials site at Ballington, one of our farms at Wylye. The project, has been established together with Farmacy, an arable advisory group to achieve a variety of goals, focused around farming sustainably. Alongside our trials elsewhere, we will be using a combination of technology and intensive field walking to achieve successful research and improve our agricultural practices. We will be working with local forward thinking farms to undertake trials which are both relevant, and that haven't been done before.

Sustainable Farming

Sustainable farming incentive pilot

We joined DEFRA’s sustainable farming incentive (SFI) pilot on part of the farm in 2021 and have now joined the full scheme on the rest of our land. This allows us to have input on the shape of the future agriculture support schemes but also to learn and develop our own sustainable farming methods. If you would like to talk to us about our experience of the SFI pilot please contact us.

Sustainable Farming

Our Produce

All our crops are grown for specific markets, with most of our wheat going to local mills for both human consumption and animal feed. The rapeseed goes to ADM in Erith, and our malting barley either goes to Molson Coors in Burton on Trent or for export through Southampton to northern Europe. Our oats go to Morning Foods in Crewe, Europe’s premier oat miller.
All cereals are sold through Salisbury Cereals, a small locally based co-op which trades around 35,000t of grain each year.

www.salisburycereals.co.uk

Sustainable Farming

Straw Chopping

Chopping and spreading straw rather than baling and selling it allows us to add the carbon, organic matter, and nutrients back into the soil. The straw is broken down by worms and soil bacteria.

Sustainable Farming

JM Stratton & Co

We run a farming estate in Wiltshire made up of a diverse mix of arable farming, renewable energy, and property. We strive to be innovative and forward looking and manage our estate with a focus on sustainability and circularity.

In 1914, Jack Stratton, younger son of a prominent Wiltshire farming family, came to East Farm in Codford as a tenant. By 1930 Jack had bought East Farm, neighbouring Clump Farm and had started to lease Manor Farm Stockton. Today J M Stratton & Co, lead by the 3rd generation at Codford, still farm East Farm as well as Manor Farm Stockton, bought in the 1950s, and Ballington Manor Farm bought in 2017.

We have a holistic approach to business and enjoy farming sustainably and working with our tenants and contract farming clients to ensure a vibrant and resilient future.

Instagram Gallery

jmstratton.co

Great to have @wylyevalleyfarmers featured in the

@reclaimeddesignuk are based at St Mary’s Barn i

Nice to have the @naturalengland leadership team v

This stunning Yellow Wagtail was spotted by our fa

Our cluster group @wylyevalleyfarmers have been ou

Nature in action on the farm today. @plueeeeeee to

Love this photo taken by Justine Hadfield of a har

Dog agility show in Stockton Park today. Packed o

Small population of Dingy Skipper butterflies foun

Ploughing for game cover maize. The old John Deere

Winter barley awns just popping out. This is Craf

Here is a fine example of a 24 spot ladybird. One

@a_and_r_fraser pushing on with the last of the di

Direct drilled Laureate spring barley, established

110 hectares of Ambassador and Amarone oilseed rap

The last of our seasons digestate going on game co

Great @wylyevalleyfarmers meeting yesterday with S

Winter barley flag leaf just emerged. This is Cra

71 bird species seen on the farm in the past few m

Final dose of nitrogen last week being applied in

Load More… Follow on Instagram

Contact Us

Here you’ll find all the details you need to get in touch with us. Please contact us on 01985 850230, or on one of the emails below

Company Contacts

Name	Position	Email
Josh Stratton	Managing Partner	Josh@jmstratton.co.uk
Hazel Mayer	Office Manager	Hazel@jmstratton.co.uk
Carolyn Collis	Property Manager	Carolyn@jmstratton.co.uk
Kate Shean	Management Accountant	Kate@jmstratton.co.uk
Tom Frampton	Operations Manager	Tomf@jmstratton.co.uk
Ed Shuldham	Business Development Manager	Ed@jmstratton.co.uk
Chester House	Trainee Arable Manager	Chester@jmstratton.co.uk
Robin Leech	Farm Ecologist	Robin@jmstratton.co.uk

JM Stratton & Co Ltd

East Farm, Codford, Warminster BA12 0PG
01985 850 230
www.jmstratton.co.uk

Registered Company No 11809189