THE farmhouse has been here since the 17th Century . Ian ’ s family came to the farm in 1908 . Initially it was to be a temporary solution as they had had to vacate their previous tenanted farm in Marsh in rather a hurry . His great grandparents arrived with their three sons and one daughter . The farm had 48 hectares ( ha ) with cattle and some arable land . The farmhouse , although substantial , was in a poor state of repair with rats running everywhere and riddled with fleas .

However , his great grandfather being the industrious type , the farm was quickly brought back into shape and the family have been there ever since , Ian being born in the farmhouse . The farm now stands at some 150ha after more land being acquired and some brought back in hand over the years .

Ian is an engineer by trade , his affinity for engineering was encouraged , both at home and at school , and after leaving school he studied Agricultural Engineering for 4 years before returning to the farm to take up a partnership in 1976 . His interest in engineering probably came from his grandfather , someone who he rarely saw as he managed an oil rig in Borneo . In addition to being invaluable on the farm it remains a major source of interest and intrigue . He is always ready to modify or completely design and make a piece of machinery for a particular task if what is needed is not available on the market .

Ian ’ s father was a skilled and progressive farmer of his day even though his Agricultural studies were cut short as he was to return to run the farm and grow food for the nation during WW2 .

Ian ’ s son Daniel also has a natural passion and aptitude for engineering . He studied at Durham University , specialising in Electronics . After achieving

his Masters degree , he worked for a R & D company to deliver innovative solutions for the fresh produce industry . Daniel then returned to the farm , his particular passion in engineering is for automated vehicles which he is looking to utilise on the farm , but more of that later . Daniel ’ s sister Kathryn , who is a talented musician , is studying at Huddersfield University , but helps out on the farm during holidays , together with wife and mum , Jane , making it a whole family business .

The land type is mixed and not easy to work . Indeed , in the war part of the land was so poor it wasn ’ t ploughed up for food production . Quite early on the family went into poultry . Ian ’ s father said “ if you put a roof over the land , we can compete with others ”. Poultry manure was used as fertilizer for the grass for the cattle , and cattle manure used for growing cereals for the poultry . At its peak the

farm had 30,000 laying hens and in the early years was a profitable operation . Very shrewdly the partnership invested some of the profits elsewhere in order to secure funds for development as well as for any other eventualities that may have arisen . This strategy has served the business well .

Eventually the egg market became much tougher to generate revenue from . This was due primarily to the big packers putting their excess into the wholesale market which meant many of the outlets could buy cheaper than the cost of production . So , in the mid 90 ’ s the decision was taken to decommission the poultry units , this was in fact quite good timing as the equipment was in need of replacement and upgrading . Also , most of the staff were approaching retirement therefore it was a good opportunity to reassess the business .

Further changes were afoot on the arable side , the market was changing , there was pressure to provide cereals at lower prices and farmers now had to promote their own produce sales . It was time to look for a profitable alternative enterprise to sustain the future of the farm .

In 1998 Ian came across the Arbre project . This was a project looking to develop the extraction of gas from wood billets to run turbines which in turn generated electricity . The project needed farmers to establish willow coppice and they would fund planting . It would take four years from planting to the first harvest so to aid cash flow the proposal was to pay a third each year on the projected value at harvest .

Once established , willow grows very rapidly , usually over 25mms a day in favourable conditions , reaching 7.5 metres at harvest .

The first harvest was a challenge as it was late in the season on heavy ground causing deep ruts and sinking trailers . However , it was eventually completed . Ian was aware that a lot of wildlife had moved into the willow field whilst it was growing , so by adding a further ten hectares which was harvested at a different point in the three-year cycle it was possible to maintain habitat .

Unfortunately , the process of extracting gas from wood billets was not commercially viable causing the project to flounder , however after the demise of the Arbre scheme . What followed was a series of other initiatives which encountered problems of their own but there was still an obvious desire by governments to encourage renewable energy so whilst these setbacks were frustrating , Ian was undeterred and was as keen as ever to pursue sustainable uses for his