Alex Green – Farm Manager
Habton Farms, North Yorkshire
Alex moved to Habton Farms in September 2019, aged 24. Relocating from Norfolk to take over the management of the mixed enterprise in the heart of Ryedale.
Having studied Agricultural Business at Newcastle, previous roles include working alongside his father on a large arable estate and overseeing contracting farming operations as an Agricultural Consultant based in Bury St Edmunds.
Arable rotations at Habton consist of soft biscuit wheat, malting barley, OSR, oats and vining peas, along with stewardship blocks and temporary grass leys for rotational breaks and weed control. Land types are predominantly grade 3 heavy clay soils, with some areas of lighter sandy loams.
The family run business is home to a successful racehorse training yard and stud. For which the agricultural enterprise provides oats, straw and both permanent & short term grass leys for grazing as well as producing quality hay & haylage. Around 1,000 head of fat lambs are also grazed on a mixture of grass and stubble turnips.
Crop establishment is based around non-inversion tillage but will include rotational ploughing dependant on weather conditions and compaction. All crop data and financial information is recorded through Gatekeeper to ensure traceability and aid forward planning. Prescription maps and yield data are also used for variable rate fertiliser spreading.
Going forward, Alex aims to look at reducing the cost of establishment across different soil types and build soil organic matter levels. The farm continues to be involved in environmental schemes such as Countryside Stewardship on more marginal land parcels with the aim to improve gross margins.
Alex says “working with Derwent Buyers Group saves a lot of time by shopping around (on behalf of members) for the best chemical/fuel/fertiliser/seed prices on the day. DBG are a friendly and enthusiastic team who are always at the end of the phone to help and process orders quickly for next day delivery”