Fertiliser: because of the farm's organic status, the only fertiliser used is a small amount of basic slag (a by-product of the steel industry). This is a long-term and slowly soluble phosphate fertiliser approved by organic sector authorities. It is spread on a few fields identified by soil analysis as being excessively short of phosphate.

Grassland has farmyard manure or slurry spread on it after a silage cut or before a reseed, at a rate of about 25 tonnes per hectare. Dirty yard water is spread on the fields via the contractor's irrigator.

Pesticides: Supermarkets generally reject any deliveries on which aphids are found. Main strategies for control of pests and weeds include encouraging natural insect predators, crop rotation, careful choice of planting dates and cultivation of the growing crops (mechanical and hand weeding etc).

Stock feed: in the last year 200 tonnes of concentrate feed has been fed to the dairy cows and 24 tonnes to the dairy youngstock. In addition, 90 tonnes of home-grown cereals were used and 12 tonnes of hay. This is supplemented by some purchased "straights", including prairie meal (a high quality version of maize), molasses, and some minerals. The mineral blend is designed to correct imbalances determined by veterinary analysis of cows' blood samples. It has to be approved in advance by the Soil Association. The cows ate 2100 tonnes of silage and 250 tonnes of sugar beet shreds. The youngstock ate 700 tonnes of silage

Home grown feed will this year be 250 tonnes. 50 tonnes of winter beans and 200 tonnes of crimped rensiled wheat grain.

Fuel: in the last year the farm has used 36,400 litres of diesel fuel. The contractors bring their own.