Environmental work at Shaw Farm

At Shaw Farm we carry out a number of measures to reduce energy use and protect the environment.

Wildlife and the environment

In 2011 we entered Shaw Farm into an environmental scheme called the Higher Level Scheme run by Natural England. This is a 10 year scheme which ensures the land is farmed in an environmentally responsible way.

As part of this scheme we have set aside a number of fields which we carefully manage to encourage rare birds to nest such as lapwing and snipe. We have also agreed to protect and encourage a number of flower rich areas on the farm and have started a programme of stone wall restoration. We maintain all our existing drystone walls (repairing them when the cows have an over-enthusiastic scratching session!)

Over the years we have planted many trees on the farm and fenced off woodlands and streams to restrict cattle access and protect water quality allowing wildlife to flourish and the woodlands to develop undisturbed. This has resulted in many more songbirds and we provide bird tables in the garden of each caravan which are used regularly.

Reducing Fertiliser use

The production of artificial fertiliser's is one of the largest users of energy in agriculture. We are not an organic farm, however we do use organic farming principles in order to reduce the amounts of artificial fertiliser's we need to apply by:

• Soil sampling to make the most efficient use of fertiliser's applied to the fields
• Spreading cow manure on the fields in the spring as it is packed full of nutrients and greatly reduces our use of artificial fertiliser.
• Encouraging white clover growing on the farm. This is a plant which contains a special type of bacteria in its roots which takes nutrients from the air and release it into the soil. These nutrients then increase grass growth around the plant. In a good year a field with lots of clover in does not need any artificial fertiliser. An added bonus is that cows love the taste of clover as its very high in protein.

All the milk we produce is farm assured and sold to milk co-op First Milk

Reducing Water use

As the farm is on a hill we are able to harvest rainfall in a gravity fed water supply which the cows drink and we use to wash down the cattle sheds. This completely self powered system greatly reduces our use of mains water on the farm.

We also use cold water to cool the milk produced by the cows. This is very efficient and saves a lot of electricity because in the dairy the refrigeration systems needs less power to keep the milk cool and fresh. After cooling the milk the water goes into a water trough which the cows can drink from and so is not wasted. The cows love drinking this warm water especially during the winter!

All waste water from cleaning the dairy and washing the sheds is collected and spread on the fields so the nutrients in it can be recycled by the grass which reduces our use of artificial fertiliser's

Reducing Electricity use

Using water to cool the milk is the largest electricity saving device we use on the farm but we also use low energy light bulbs in the cattle sheds and only turn them on when needed.

Mrs Nicky Burgess, Shaw Farm, New Mills, High Peak, SK22 4QE
 +44 (0)161 427 1841

nicky.burgess@shawfarmholidays.co.uk