THE
FARM
Father and son Phil and Steve Hook farm Longleys Farm
organically. They have been in partnership together at
Longleys Farm Hailsham since 1991. Farming is in their
blood, the Hook family have been farming in East Sussex for
at least 250 years!
We farm 180 acres just north of Hailsham, and on the very
western edge of the Pevensey Levels Site of Special
Scientific Interest (S.S.S.I.) The organic methods of
farming that we use work in harmony with maintaining and
enhancing this important and wonderful local ecology. Our
farm is teeming with a wide variety of flora and fauna. A
recent RSPB species survey found 45 different species of
native birds, including eight species whose status is
category red (declined by more than 50% over the last 25
years), and nine species that have declined by 25-49% over
the same period (category amber).
The farm is an
all grass farm, most of which is permanent pasture on the
land on the Pevensey Levels. On the upper western side of
the farm, grass leys that are rich in red and white clover
are grown. The cows graze all these fields once the ground
is dry enough 'to turn them out' in the spring, until the
ground becomes too wet in the autumn. The cows are then
housed indoors for the winter. They are fed grass silage in
the winter that has been made from lush spring grass and
clover. An organic pea bean and wheat mix is also fed to
the cows to supplement their grass diet.
We have diversified
into growing cricket bat willow (salix alba) for Gray
Nicolls to help sustain our farming business. Since 2005 we
have also kept all the stock on the farm in order to start
selling our own organic veal and beef direct from the farm
in the spring of 2007. See 'Other products'
for more detail.