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Other Milk Pool Farms
3. Marks Barn Farm
Nigel Vickery’s family have been farming in the Somerset/Dorset area for many generations.
Marks Barn Farm is situated not far from Crewkerne and is solely a dairy unit. Amongst the varied habitats there is a County Wildlife Site consisting of three lakes which flow one into the other and provide an environment teeming with insect and wildflower species, as well as the resident Kingfishers. In 2003 five acres of traditional British woodland was planted on a patch of rough land that wasn’t ideally suited to growing crops or grazing, alongside two areas of wetland.
Currently Nigel’s 250 cows are pedigree Holsteins but he’s trying some crossbreeding using Ayrshire and Montbeliarde bulls.
He says “Turning organic has created a new set of challenges for our farm team, the cows though will hopefully enjoy their organic diet and find life more relaxing.”
In a way life on Marks Barn has come full circle. When Nigel was studying farming he spent a year working on a traditional Devon farm, where the farmer raised cows and sheep, produced milk and even made his own farmhouse cheese.
“It was a great example of proper sustainability,” says Nigel, “and it is an exciting prospect that Marks Barn can now also be part of a future that has this value at its core.”
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