We know all our CG farmers and work closely with them. We think they are a special breed, willing to work harder for the benefit of nature. Here are just a few of them:

Click on image to see an interview with Robert Law

I farm 3,500 acres on the Herts/Cambs/Essex borders as well as managing a further 1200 acres in Nottinghamshire. I was one of Conservation Grade’s pilot farmers, having started in 1985 with 40 acres of oats. I have grown Conservation Grade crops every year since and now grow CG wheat, barley, oats and rye.
I’m a first generation farmer and the land was pretty sterile when I took it over. I’ve replanted miles of hedgerows and allocated areas for wild bird food, wild flowers, grasses and clover. Now it is an oasis for wildlife. You’ll often see buzzards, skylarks, grey partridges, owls and finches flitting about the place.
As the current Chair of the Conservation Grade Advisory Panel I play a big part in supporting and developing the Conservation Grade Standard. Rob Law was the Farmers Weekly Farmer of the Year in 2006.

Nick Rowsell – Hampshire

I have been a Conservation Grade grower since 2006, and am very proud to be one. We grow approx 800 tonnes of CG oats on two farms in North Hampshire.
We take our conservation work as seriously as our crop growing and won the Purdey Award for Game & Conservation in 2000. In 2006 we were the Southern Regional winners of Operation Lapwing. Growing for Conservation Grade makes up a very important part of our business and dovetails with our own conservation policies extremely well.
I would like to think that being at the vanguard of conservation focussed production can get us, as growers, closer to our customers, and help to get the importance of farming to us all across to the consumer. Nick was a finalist in the 2009 Farmers Weekly Farmer of the Year Awards.

Rob Allen – Warwickshire/Oxon border

I’ve been the farm manager of 2000 acre Upton Farm since 2000. The farm is the venue for the Upton Estate Experiment 2006-2009. The introduction of Conservation Grade at Upton has resulted in a huge increase in wildlife. We have had barn owls nesting, a wide variety of butterfly species and many varieties of bumblebees.
Upton is a mixed farm, with its 2000 acres divided into 1200 acres for arable crops, 400 acres of grazing for sheep and the remainder a mixture of park and woodland. We grow oats, wheat and barley to Conservation Grade standards. Conservation Grade is an ongoing management commitment, you can’t just plant wildflowers and leave them, they have to be managed as any other crop would. That takes a lot of time and effort and you have to be totally committed to the overall aim, which is to increase wildlife on your farm. Rob was a finalist in the Farmers Weekly Farmer of the Year Award in 2007

Phil Jarvis – Loddington, Leicestershire

Having run the GWCT Allerton Project farm for 16 years I have first hand experience of the compromises that are made between commercial farming and the environment, and have worked with Conservation Grade since the project started. Set up in 1992, the aim of the Allerton Project is to research the effects of farming on wildlife and the environment, and to disseminate the results through educational activities.
The farm is a mixed livestock and arable business covering 333 hectares. Among other crops, we grow Conservation Grade wheat and oats.

Stephen & Robert Honeywood – Suffolk

We farm a mixed arable unit in mid Suffolk. Honeywood Brothers currently supply 1000t of Conservation Grade oats. In addition to growing Conservation Grade oats, Honeywood Brothers also have a company manufacturing CG licensed horse feed, supplying predominantly to wholesalers and manufacturers throughout the UK and Ireland. Now in our fourth year of Conservation Grade, the farm has seen a massive increase in biodiversity as a result of changes in habitat management. These changes have taken place alongside growth in both elements of our business.