‘Diversification’ is an important word for many of today’s growers, an important means of spreading risk in a cutthroat marketplace, and avoiding over-specialisation.

For one north west grower, ‘diversification’ has become his specialty. Alan Abbot, along with his wife Edwina, once farmed an assortment of fruit, veg and cereals on their 97 acre site outside St Helens. Nowadays, much of that has been swept away by their slew of eco-initiatives: a woodland planted under the auspices of Defra, a willow plantation used for carving by a local artist, an apiary sub-let to the local beekeeping fraternity, an organic farm sub-let to a local box scheme, an orchard, a strawberry patch, a small herd of cattle, a spring cereal patch plus a ten acre wild flower meadow curated under the Farm Stewardship Scheme, and now a new farm shop and restaurant opened late last year.

“I suppose you could say it was some sort of ‘grand design’”, says Alan Abbot. “We didn’t know what shape it would take, but I’ve always been interested in environmental issues, and given the size of the farm, it was no longer economical to undertake the sort of intensive growing projects that supply the major supermarkets.”

The farm shop stocks produce sourced locally, via North West Fine Foods. They also sell their own strawberries. Where locally alternatives aren’t available, they source organic or Fairtrade products.

All of their cereals are supplied to a neighbouring cattle farm for feed, and left fallow over winter to aid with natural regeneration.

“We got an Objective One grant for 40% of the cost of building the farmstall and restaurant complex, under ‘rural redevelopment’,” he continues. “I’ve always been interested in planting trees. We went to a lot of forestry meetings in the late 90s. When it became apparent that there would be funding for the scheme, we signed up. We planted the first wave in 1998, and the second in 2002.”

The plantation has several public walkways, and is adorned with chainsaw-fashioned wood sculptures. It’s a business model that has become increasingly dependent on direct interaction with the public, with a strong marketing focus. Part of the concept is to attract visitors to the revenue end of the farm by emphasising the immediately available diversity.

“We’re in a very good location,” Alan Abbot agrees. “15 Miles from Liverpool, 25 miles from Manchester, 10 miles from Wigan. We’ve done a lot of advertising lately, so we’ve got a large catchment area.”

“You have to be a people person. It’s a great business for us, but you have to be quite extroverted,” Edwina Abbot recommends. “Basically, it’s only for those mad enough to do it!”

Topics