Jordan Castle Farm derives its name from the 'motte and bailey' manor house that is now only visible as an earthwork. It dates from the 13th Century, the right to fortify the manor house having been granted by the king to Richard Foliat (father of Jordan) in 1263.

The farm belonged to one of the greatest estates in this area (Rufford) until 1939 when our family purchased it at the estate's demise. It now extends to 280 acres (113 hectares) and is divided almost equally into arable and pasture land. The latter carries our 75-cow herd of Poll Charolais cattle. About 55 of these are pedigree. We have been polling (i.e. breeding off the horns) for 24 years now.

Some bulls are reared for sale to other breeders, but the majority of the progeny are fattened using an 18-month to two year grazing and fattening period.
The arable part of our farm grows winter wheat, winter and spring barley. The barley is fed to the cattle but the other crops are sold.
 
 
 
 
Our entire farm is part of the Environmental Stewardship Scheme, which is a government scheme to encourage conservation and help the environment.
Over the past thirteen years we have renovated most of our hedges (only two have been removed in 65 years), pruned our 1860's orchard, cleaned four ponds, pollarded willow trees and in 2000 completely refitted our 1796 brick-built barn. This has been partially funded by government grants as part of the former Countryside Stewardship scheme.

We farm in a sensitive way to work with nature. This is not new here but now has a modern name. It's called 'integrated farm management.' We try to combine modern techniques with an age-old love of the countryside. We think the amount of wildlife you are likely to see proves this.

In 2001 we were very pleased to have our work rewarded by being judged overall winners of the 'Wilkinson Environment Award for Nottinghamshire' sponsored by Wilkinson Hardware Ltd. This award is given to the farmer or grower who, in the judges' opinion, has most successfully combined a commercial farming business with a whole-hearted approach to environmental practice and improvement.

In 2004 we were also very pleased to be awarded a Highly Commended Certificate of Merit in the nationally renowned Silver Lapwing Award.

In September 2005 the farm was entered into Entry Level Environmental Stewardship. In February 2006 we successfully bid for entry into the Higher Level Scheme which covers the entire farm. Under this scheme we are creating permissive access, replanting the orchard, establishing pollen/nectar mix planting and some new hedgerows. It has also enabled us to renovate the old stable as a meeting room for educational access visits.

Visit our blog at jordancastlefarm.blogspot.com for further insight into our farm!