Holkham has a total of 25 tenanted farms, made up of approximately 6,100
hectares, plus 1850 hectares that is farmed “in-hand” by the Holkham Farming
Company.
The in-hand land is generally farmed on a rotation based around sugar
beet and barley.
Wheat is grown on the better land along with break crops such as beans,
peas and potatoes. The livestock enterprises consist of a herd of 150
suckler cows and a flock of 1,000 ewe lambs. All progeny from the suckler
herd are fattened and butchered locally. The meat is then sold through
the Estate outlets such as The Victoria Hotel and Holkham Foods Ltd.
The Farming Company has a formal conservation policy, which is operated
over all their farms. As part of the Common Agricultural Policy agri-environmental
measures, the Estate is engaged on an enterprise to revert arable land
to grassland within the Deer Park.
There are 710 hectares of woodland on the Estate, which are managed for
amenity, shooting and commercial forestry, under the guiding principle
of sustainability. A team of five foresters carries out all maintenance,
planting, weeding and thinning.
