SUCCESS STORY

Strengthening farm resilience through soil, livestock and energy: Hemsworth Farm

Hemsworth Farm is a mixed organic farm in Dorset. They needed to improve profitability and reduce exposure to volatile input and energy costs on light, weather-sensitive soils.

Impact at a glance

• Reduced reliance on bought-in fertiliser by redesigning rotations around longer herbal leys supported by grazing livestock
• Built a profitable second income stream through a low-cost, grass-based dairy enterprise
• Reduced exposure to energy price volatility with a 98 kW on-site solar installation

The business

Today Hemsworth Farm is a 500-hectare (approximately 1,200-acre) farm mixing combinable crops with a grass-based dairy enterprise. The farm was formerly exclusively arable.

The farm has operated to organic standards since 2011, with additional land converted as the business has expanded its organic footprint.

Sector: Agriculture (mixed arable and dairy)

Region: South West

Size: 2-10 employees

Why they took action

The shift in system design was driven by profitability and risk management. The business was an exclusively arable enterprise operating on light soils in unpredictable weather and exposed to volatile input costs and attempting to use a rotation of herbal leys to increase soil fertility.

Without livestock integrated into the rotation, it was too costly to leave grass and legume leys in place long enough to deliver sustained improvements in soil structure and fertility.

At the same time, the arable enterprise’s grain handling and drying operations were energy intensive and exposed to fluctuations in electricity prices.

What they did

No cost to low cost actions

Integrated deep-rooting species, including lucerne and other herbs, within longer leys to drive carbon and biological activity deeper into the soil profile, below typical cultivation depth.

Medium cost actions

Placed measurement at the centre of decision-making through participation in Innovate UK monitoring programmes, using baseline surveys and continuous tools to quantify soil, biodiversity, and natural capital outcomes.

Significant capital investment

Installed a 98 kW rooftop solar array on a grain store to reduce exposure to electricity price volatility in grain handling and drying.

Established a low-overhead, grass-based dairy enterprise in spring 2020 using Viking Red cattle selected for health traits and management efficiency. The herd is managed as an extensively grazed, year-round outdoor system, avoiding housing infrastructure and reducing slurry storage requirements.

The new herd allowed the redesign of the arable rotation to include four to five years of herbal and legume leys followed by approximately two years of arable cropping. Grazing livestock convert forage into saleable milk while rebuilding soil condition and sequestering carbon between cropping phases.

What difference it made

The introduction of the dairy enterprise has made longer soil-restoring rotations financially viable. Milk income supports five-year herbal leys, allowing measurable improvements in soil structure, carbon sequestered, fertility, and field resilience rather than returning to cropping after short fertility-building phases.

Preliminary results from AgriCarbon testing suggest the farm now boasts an average carbon stock of 113t/ha, almost double the average expected on arable or grassland and extraordinary for a light chalk soil.

The grass-based dairy system operates with lower fixed costs, reducing capital tied up in buildings and slurry infrastructure while supporting herd health and longevity.

The 98 kW solar installation has reduced the arable business’s exposure to electricity price volatility associated with grain drying and handling.

Participation in Innovate UK monitoring has strengthened management decisions by converting soil health and biodiversity performance into quantifiable data. This has improved investment decisions, informed practical agronomic choices, and supported engagement with customers seeking verified environmental performance.

How were the changes funded?

The dairy enterprise and solar installation required significant capital investment, funded through the farm business. Rotational redesign and integration of deeper-rooting species were implemented within the existing organic system. Monitoring participation was supported through Innovate UK programmes.

Lessons for other farms

Hemsworth Farm demonstrates that for mixed and arable farms, improving soil function can reduce input reliance, strengthen resilience, and support margins, while delivering carbon and nature benefits. Integrating grazing livestock to extend herbal and legume leys can rebuild fertility while creating a dependable second income stream. Pairing rotational change with credible measurement and on-farm energy generation reduces exposure to volatile input and energy costs while improving long-term commercial resilience.

Find out more about Hemsworth Farm