Rob Law
Thrift Farm, Royston, Hertfordshire
“I think people have to be given the chance to learn about farming and the countryside. After all, I didn’t know anything when I started, I just asked lots of questions.” Says Rob Law, one of the pioneer farmers behind the Conservation Grade system of farming established in the mid 80’s by Bill Jordan. Rob, unlike many farmers, is not from a farming background, his father was a solicitor but Rob always had a love of the countryside. As a teenager he did some work experience on a local farm and has never looked back.
After agricultural college Rob worked in Australia for a number of years before coming back to the UK where he started managing Thrift Farm. His reach has slowly extended and Rob now farms a total of 1200ha in Hertfordshire and manages a further 500ha in Nottinghamshire through a combination of share farming, partnerships, renting and ownership. But Thrift farm, where he began remains the base of his operation.
Farming has proved a challenge, but one that Rob has loved; “I found things hard at the beginning because I was not from a farming background. You have to be open minded, and be willing to take risks. Now I believe not having a farming background is an advantage because I have no preconceived ideas or ‘baggage’. I try things, sometimes they don’t work but you put this down to experience. You have to enjoy what you do, otherwise what is the point? “
Thrift farm is now an oasis for wildlife in an area which was intensively farmed during the seventies in a bid for ever increasing yields. “When I first started here the land was sterile.” says Rob, who has ploughed endless energy into replanting miles of hedgerows and trees as well as allocating areas of land for wild bird food, wild flowers, grasses and clover. His efforts have certainly paid off - a trip round Thrift farm rewards you with glimpses of buzzards, grey partridges, skylarks, owls and a whole host of little finches and other hedge-loving birds flitting about.
Rob’s Conservation Grade wheat, oats, barley and rye are held in storage at the farm until needed by the mill which is located a few miles away. “I like the fact that my grain doesn’t have to travel far and there is nothing better than opening a packet of cereal for your breakfast and thinking that the grains in your bowl might have been grown by yourself, it makes all the hard work worthwhile.”