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Nonington Farms Ltd
Nonington Farms is a 400 acre family owned arable farm set within the stunning landscape of the Garden of England, also specialising in whole farm contracting.
Owners and Directors: James and Emma Loder-Symonds
Address: c/o Hazelbank, The Street, Goodnestone, Canterbury, Kent, CT3 1PG
Website: www.noningtonfarms.co.uk
Twitter: @NoningtonFarms
Member since 2004 and LEAF Demonstration Farm since 2020
Certification: LEAF Marque
The Farm
Nonington Farms is a 400 acre family owned arable farm based in Kent also specialising in whole farm contracting, farming over 3,000 acres. A range of LEAF Marque certified combinable crops are grown and add value added markets. The core values on Nonington Farms are Learn, Grow, Protect, all of which are underpinned by the principles of Integrated Farm Management– examples such as companion cropping, renewable energy, benchmarking, precision technology and crop husbandry are all key to achieving this. Consistently high yields are achieved through use of ICM, precision farming and other technologies.
Activities
Sustainable land management is at the heart of the business, reducing carbon emissions, building healthier and more productive soil, delivering better air and water quality and enhancing biodiversity. Besides farming arable land, a lot of time is spent looking after the natural capital of the whole farm. This includes woodland management and the implementation of sustainable environmental measures through Countryside Stewardship Scheme options. At least 10% of the farmed area is in a conservation scheme, providing a range of environmental options that are site or species specific, such as wild bird and bee plots, fallow and unharvested plots, hedgerow planting and woodland management. These options all contribute to the increased biodiversity of the farm: 13 out of 16 bird species on the Red List visit the farm. Nonington Farms is also a successful member of Natural England’s East Kent Grey Partridge Recovery Scheme.
Nonington Farms has a strong commitment to educating and engaging people of all ages with farming and the natural world by using the farm as an outdoor classroom. These include Seedlings Farm Group, school visits and education programmes, LEAF’s Open Farm Sunday, local farmer discussion groups and local community and interest groups. In 2019, they were proud winners of the Bayer-LEAF Education Primary School Partnership Award in recognition of their work with local schools.
Particular interests/farming topics:
- Marketing side of crop health, rewards for sustainable practices
- Education; promoting farming to the general public
- Precision farming and use of technology in farming
- ICM/IPM
- Maximizing yields efficiently whilst maintaining and enhancing the environment
Visit this farm
Click here to arrange a visit to this LEAF Demonstration Farm.