Elveden Estate Visit

Today we had a visit to the Elveden Estate for a tour of the farm, its crops and facilities.

This was the invite from Joyce.

"Friday May 29th an afternoon trip to Elveden Estate to tour their onion grading machine/equipment. The visit takes 2 hours and departs from The Elveden Inn, Brandon Road, Elveden Estate, IP24 3TP at 2pm. This is open to all so invite anyone that may be interested. You don’t have to walk beforehand and you can have lunch here too if you wish. As the weather looks hot, no doubt Nick and I will stay at the Elveden Inn after the tour for drinks." 

Our host was Nick Scantlebury, Senior Farms Manager. He was a mine of information about the operations which are impressive in their scale. Here is a summary from the Elveden Estate website.

"Elveden is a 22,500 acre country estate, of which over 10,000 acres is farmland. This makes us the largest ring-fenced arable farm in lowland Britain.  The land at Elveden was transformed for agricultural use in 1927 by Rupert Guinness, great great grandson of Arthur Guinness (founder of the Guinness brewery.)  The field layout he implemented is still virtually identical today, with large fields of up to 100 acres in size that are well-suited to today’s powerful machinery, and pays testament to his forward-thinking attitude. We are passionate about environmentally-responsible farming and work hard to ensure that biodiversity at Elveden thrives alongside our farming practices."

Here are a few of my photos.

We were met by Nick in the overflow car park for the Elveden Inn. I didn't try to count, but Joyce says there were 35 of us in all.

We were transported around the estate in a trailer pulled by a tractor.

After a short stretch parallel to the A11, Nick pulled off onto a track by an onion field a little way from the road so we could all hear him as he told us about the arable crops.

Again here's an extract from the estate website...

"Our farm specialises in the production of vegetables especially potatoes, onions, carrots and parsnips which dominate our farming.  Around 6% of the UK’s onions are grown at Elveden!  We also grow cereals such as rye, barley and wheat to balance the rotation, ensuring our soils remain fertile and productive for generations to come.  More rye is grown at Elveden than on any other farm in the UK and we are major suppliers to the nation’s crisp-bread bakers."

6% of the country's onions! Wow. They grow about 80% brown and 20% white onions. They supply McCains with potatoes for their products who, in turn, supply McDonalds in the UK. They also have their own "Garden Of Elveden" brand. Unfortunately the shop would be closed by the time we finished out tour - we must stop off to get some of their potatoes the next time we are passing.

Nick told us how they are trialling monitoring of both moisture and nitrogen levels in the soil and generally seek to take advantage of new technology where it is appropriate and cost-beneficial.

Back along the road parallel to the A11 we passed the monument - a notable land mark on our walks in the area, such as when visiting Berner's Heath (see here for our most recent walk there).

"Elveden war memorial, next to the busy A11, is a major land mark for holiday makers to let them know they are in Suffolk. Commissioned by the Earl of Iveagh to commemorate the 48 men from Elveden, Icklingham and Eriswell who died in the First World War. It is situated at the point where the three parishes meet. It stands 113 feet high with a staircase inside with 148 steps and is the tallest war memorial in Suffolk and one of the tallest such memorials in Great Britain."

We stopped at one of the reservoirs to learn about water supply for the estate and its irrigation and conservation work that is done.

"The Elveden Estate comprises a mosaic of habitats of which arable land, forestry, shelterbelts and Breckland heathland are the major components.  The twelve heathlands cover around 3600 acres; the largest being the 1500 acres of Lakenheath Warren.

​Each heath is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), principally due to their floristic composition, having a number of exceptional and specialist plants that have adapted to the dry, frost-prone Brecks climate and nutrient-poor sandy soils.  Speciality flora includes Breckland thyme and speedwell, Spanish catchfly and Perennial knawel.

The heaths also support a number of rare and specially-protected birds including Woodlark, Nightjar and Stone Curlew. The latter species also readily nests on the arable fields so, in order to best protect the eggs and chicks from potential harm, the conservation team works very closely with the farms department and, under a special license, helps safeguard this iconic bird.

In addition to the SSSI management, the Estate has its own conservation group which helps monitor and advise us on many conservation matters such as the management of our 14 County Wildlife Sites, rare plant sites and targeted field margins.  Surveys are also carried out for farmland birds, reptiles, bats and barn owls with appropriate boxes being sited around the estate for the last two on the list."

They now have 3 reservoirs - read here about the one that has just been completed. It is filled from using licensed winter water abstraction from the River Lark. It brings the estate's total capacity to 1.2m cubic metres across three reservoirs, with the other two filled from groundwater boreholes on the other side of the estate. As quoted in the article... "This is a vital strategic resource to ensure continuity of supply. It is not just about our future, it is about ensuring the future food supplies for this country."

As we drove on we passed some potatoes being irrigated.

We visited the onion grading facility, but couldn't see it in action as the onions aren't being harvested yet.

We came to the potato storage facility and got off the trailer again.

The stacks of containers  are impressive.

We went into one of the warehouses where some of last year's potatoes are being stored. As we entered we noted a smell of mint...

The temperature in there is kept at 2.5deg C and we were soon shivering. Nick explained that as well keeping a cool temperature they also used ethylene gas and mint oil to stop the potatoes sprouting. Aha! That explained the smell.

Some fertiliser was being stored here. If I remember correctly, Nick said it was about £300,000 worth!

We went to visit the tractors and workshop facilities.

I think Nick said they had 45 of them, all supplied by Fendt. As their dealer charges £120 and hour for work on maintaining them, the estate has established their own in-house team and workshop for maintenance of the tractors and other equipment. Nick said dealing with cost and tax increases is a significant problem. For instance, their latest purchase of red diesel was at £1.01 per litre - previously they were paying 65p.

On our way back to the Inn now... A reminder we are in Breckland and that only part of the estate is farmed.

We noticed that the tractor we were being pulled buy was a 2026 number plate.

Recrossing the A11 we got a view over some fields of potatoes.

Back at the start.

Many thanks Nick for the most informative and interesting tour. We all went away impressed.

Some of us stayed for a drink. Dawn and I had some Guinness (hers the Guinness 0.0 as she was driving us home).

While some stayed to eat, we didn't as we had some salmon to cook for our evening meal.

Thanks Joyce for organising the trip and thanks, once again, to Nick for taking the time out to show us around.