Joanna Morris visits Piercebridge Farm, home to the Hodgson family and one of the region’s most diverse organic farming operations
AN HONESTY box on a farmhouse porch marked the humble beginnings of what is now a thriving organic business in the heart of Piercebridge.
The Hodgson family, who have lived at Piercebridge Farm since 1964, began selling home-produced eggs and chicken to their fellow villagers from a table set up on their front porch.
Their 300-acre farm now offers one of the region’s most diverse selections of locally-grown organic produce and is home to a range of livestock including a herd of pedigree Longhorn cattle, more than 3,000 hens and a host of rare Hebridean sheep.
Harry Hodgson, 27, works alongside his parents – Chris and Liz – to manage the award-winning farm, putting in long hours to ensure the site is at its best.
He said: “The farm is 100 per cent organic and our main product is meat. We rear pigs, lamb and cattle here, as well as turkeys and chickens, and we have a butchery on site.
“We have an egg business too and won an award through the Soil Association for producing the best organic eggs in the UK last year.”
He added: “I started the egg business when I was about six, just selling a few on the porch. Now, we have more than 3,000 egg-layers, all completely free range.”
“Everything we do is completely free range and outdoors, with the highest possible animal welfare, nothing intensive.
“We are very proud of producing to such a high standard.
Nobody produces at a higher standard than us.
We do everything we can on site and it is hugely important to us to know our animals and look after their welfare.”
The family decided to convert to become completely organic in 1999. It took two years for them to complete the conversion but now, everything on the farm is done naturally and no chemicals are used in their farming.
Recently presented with the Silver Lapwing Award – which rewards those farming profitably but in sympathy with wildlife – the team behind Piercebridge is justifably proud of its commitment to the environment.
Harry said: “We do our best with wildlife management.
We have planted a lot of hedges and have a lot of grassland and natural meadows, meaning we have a lot more birds and animals coming back to the area, like curlews and skylarks.
“We also keep our Hebridean sheep to help to keep the grass down. Without them we would have to use a tractor, so we keep our carbon footprint down.”
Harry Hodgson, right, with dad Chris Hodgson
Incorporating a busy shop, cafe and post office, the farm also acts as a lively hub in the centre of the picturesque village.
The Hodgson family values its local connections highly, working alongside other producers in the area to offer a wide range of purely organic produce in their shop and cafe.
Harry said: “We sell milk from local dairies and they in turn sell our eggs. We all help each other. Everything we sell in the cafe is made either on site or locally.
“Operating completely organically means that the farm costs more to run because it takes more management and we have lower stocking.
“It is less profitable but it is infinitely better for our livestock and better for our farm as we have so much more wildlife.
“We do so many things here, we don’t do a lot of anything but maybe we do a bit of everything and that is fairly unique.
“We are going from strength to strength and as demand for organic produce is growing, we are growing.”
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