The Barker Family have been farming at Great Berwick since 1949, when after a short career as an Officer in the Royal Horseguards, John Barker (Sam's Grandfather) was granted the tenancy on the Berwick Estate.  The son of a timber merchant and as a first-generation farmer he set out to breed pigs and milk Friesian cows.

Alongside his son, Stephen, they developed the dairy herd into one of the most successful and highest yielding in the country. When Sam, graduated from Seale Hayne Agricultural College he returned to the farm and around the same time Great Berwick converted to being organic.  The dairy cows produced organic milk up until 2004, but the attitudes of the supermarkets and the price they were prepared to pay played a big part in Stephen and Sam's decision to sell the Friesian herd. 

Having livestock on the farm was, however, a crucial element in the organic crop rotation (see below) and Sam made it his mission to establish a herd of suckler beef cows which would produce the very best beef in the UK.

He spoke to Butchers across the country and very quickly it was clear that the English Longhorn was the most sought after of all the breeds for meat quality, flavour and tenderness.  The decision was made! By sheer coincidence, Heston Blumenthal, in his 'Search for the Perfect Steak', chose Longhorn as the clear winner over all the other traditional beef breeds. It couldn't have been better timing!

We now have 80 cows in the main breeding herd and together with their mixed aged offspring, we currently have 265 head of cattle on the farm.

The Longhorns play a crucial role in our sustainable system of farming. The cows eat the clover rich grass and at the same time, the clover is working wonders under the surface by locking in the naturally occurring nitrogen which helps produce better grass growth. The manure produced by the cows adds essential organic matter and vital nutrients to the soil structure. As Organic Farmers (regulated the Soil Association) we don't use any chemicals or artificial fertilisers. Instead we work with and allow nature to do what it does best.

We're also in the Stewardship Scheme which has resulted in field margins full of flora and fauna, hedgerows bristling with wildlife and a whole farm habitat that Charles Darwin would have been proud of!

Our other green credentials are that all our day time electricity is produced by a 50kw solar panel array.  If weather conditions allow we're feed self-sufficient too, with the cattle eating homegrown grass, clover and lucerne either grazed on the hoof or conserved in the form of hay, silage or haylage.