Dairyman who now loves free range
Up until two years ago the man who has just been named Producer of the Year by BFREPA was giving free range hens a very wide berth.
For when it came to agriculture, Terry Grandfield’s first love was always cows, which is why he has been managing a 300 cow organic dairy farm for the last 10 years. But the farm in question is also home to a large poultry operation, for its owner is Herbert Persey, one of three brothers farming in Devon who between them are amongst the biggest producers of organic eggs in the UK.
So when Terry got the chance to farm in his own right on 42 acres of land originally owned by his father, his thoughts turned to egg production.
“I used to hate the hens and would avoid them at all times and I guess if I’d had more land available then I’d have probably set up my own dairy farm,” says Terry, who has established an organic egg unit on the land.
“This has got to be a better way,” he adds, in something of an understatement considering the state the dairy sector now finds itself in. But not only has the poultry enterprise enabled Terry to establish a profitable business, he now admits to really enjoying working with hens.
“I absolutely love the job and in particular the challenge it presents,” says Terry, who juggles his time between managing the dairy herd and the poultry unit that has now doubled in size to 6,000 birds.
By the end of Terry’s first flock—restricted to 3,000 birds under EU organic rules—a second house was nearing completion so that the site could operate on an all-in, all-out basis. It’s a principle that Terry is keen to stick to, even with the addition of a third house which is on the cards.
“I know having the birds all the same age can make cash-flow difficult at times but I’m sure it’s the right thing to do from a disease point of view,” he says. “And as an added bonus it should mean I can at least get a break once a year without overly worrying about how things are at home.”
Terry has invested very heavily—he’s spent around £200,000 so far, a figure he accepts is somewhat frightening when viewed on a per bird basis.
“The initial spend has been large because this was a completely new farm and required a major investment on infrastructure. I’ve had to put in roadways, a power supply, back-up generator and a borehole. As I put up more houses the cost per bird will come down,” he says.
In fact at £75,000 Terry’s second shed worked out considerably less per bird than the first house. But that still carries a price tag of £25 for every hen housed. It is a cost that has not only been pushed up by the requirement that his hens cannot be stocked at more than six birds per square metre under organic rules, but the fact that the whole farm has been constructed to the very highest standard.
Driveways are bordered with post and rail fencing; there’s a generous concrete apron outside each shed; twin silos are a boon when it comes to feed management; and the egg rooms walls are lined to food hygiene standards with not a feather or piece of dust in sight.
But the farm doesn’t just look pretty, it performs as well. The first flock of Lohmann Browns had laid an incredible 322 eggs per hen housed by the time they left the farm at 72 weeks. They had achieved that on an average feed consumption of just 117 grams per bird per day and cumulative mortality was a shade under 1 per cent. Not surprisingly Terry has stuck with Lohmann and feed compounder Humphrey Feeds for subsequent flocks.
Eggs from the farm go to Deans Foods and, following a tree planting project, are now sold under the Woodland label in Sainsbury’s. In keeping with Terry’s whole approach of wanting the farm to look good, he’s chosen to plant apple trees around the houses, whilst further out on the range is a block of mixed hardwoods.
“I rather fancied the idea of having hens in an orchard,” says Terry.
As for picking up the title of Producer of the Year at this year’s free range conference, he was absolutely thrilled.
“What a surprise. It was the first time I had attended the free range conference—which I thoroughly enjoyed—and to come home with such a prestigious award was fantastic.”
On presenting the award at the conference BFREPA chairman Tom Vesey paid a glowing tribute to Terry.
“Terry represents all those qualities that we believe are necessary in the first rank of quality food producers,” said Tom. “To begin with he has not been afraid to invest heavily and he has brought to the industry exceptional levels of stockmanship and commitment. But he has also added something else… enthusiasm and innovation.”
It is that enthusiasm that is likely to see Terry fulfil his ambition of working fulltime on the land his father once farmed.
“The plan is to get the third shed built and I may even embark on rearing my own pullets,” he said, “for I’d like to be fulltime with the poultry at some stage.”
Indeed Terry is gradually easing back from looking after Herbert Persey’s cows as the poultry unit demands more of his time.
“Herbert has been very understanding and has arranged for other labour to fill-in on the dairy unit as I gradually drift away from the cows towards the hens.”
