LAUND FARM

CHIPPING, PRESTON

THE FARM

ENVIRONMENTAL FEATURES

VISITORS

Simon and John Stott are beef and sheep farmers, specializing in sheep dairying.

All sheep milk produced on the farm is sold to the Sheep Milk UK Co-operative (owned by Laund Farm). This co-operative purchases up to 600,000 litres of sheep milk a day, and delivers this into 11 dairies across the North of England.

The commercial sheep are Swaledales and Laund Farm sells mule lambs to lowland farms. A % of male lambs go into a Garstang butcher which is owned by Simon's brother-in-law.

There are pedigree blue-faced Leicesters; the lambs are used to produce mules; these are then sold on.

There is a suckler cow herd of Simmentals and Limousin X's which produce beef cattle sold locally or into Simon's brother in law's butchers shop.

Simon, John and Christine farm full-time with the help of three part-time workers.

HISTORY

Simon and John Stott are the 3rd generation of the family farming ; they have been at Laund Farm since the 1930's.

There is an 1871 date on the barn opposite the farm and 'John Weld' is named with this.

The farm land used to be a deer park and part of the Leagram Estate.

TERRAIN

There is a mixture of intensive grassland, rush pasture and semi-upland; 250 acres is ploughable.

SIZE OF THE FARM

468 acres.

LIVESTOCK & NUMBERS

400 milk sheep
50 suckler cows and 50 followers
1000 commercial sheep; mixture of Swaledales and Bluefaced Leicesters
100 milk sheep replacements (hoggs)

In 2006 Laund Farm won the RSPB's National Lapwing Champion Award.

In 2003 Simon had 4 pairs of Lapwings. Now thanks to the work he has carried out funded by Natural England with guidance from the RSPB Bowland Wader Project, that figure rose to approximately 20 pairs in 2005.

Also in 2006, Simon was the winner of the Farmers Guardian Young Farmer Producer Award (Sheep Milk UK) a competition sponsored by Waitrose; he received this at the Royal Agricultural Show.

GRAZING & CONSERVATION

Laund Farm has been in Stewardship Schemes for 20 years and has just entered into the Higher Level Stewardship Scheme for another 10 years. Simon has also undertaken habitat creation work for other farmers on neighbouring farms and hosted farm events to demonstrate habitat creation and management for wading birds.

'I love these schemes; it gives you a new interest in farming; it makes you think. I actually like to see the oyster catchers and lapwings, and for me, putting in ponds and creating wildlife habitats is almost a hobby, I enjoy it that much! The bonus is that we get paid for it'.