Livestock farm
The livestock enterprise is comprised of 3,000 breeding ewes and 300 suckler cows on 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) of land surrounding Chatsworth House, including parkland, moorland and improved grassland. Breeding stock of all classes are sold across the country and the livestock enterprises supply the Chatsworth Estate Farm Shop and café and other local supply chains with beef and lamb.
All land is entered into Environmental Stewardship Schemes ensuring the farming practices and livestock are managed in harmony with the environment. The livestock are used as management tools to help manage the grassland to promote diversity and a wide range of different habitats for the various plant and wildlife found across the farmed area. Inputs across the farm are kept to a minimum and modern techniques are used to use these sensitively when needed.
Arable farm
The arable farm is situated in north east Derbyshire, is currently 2,700 acres (1,100 ha) growing mainly winter wheat, winter oilseed rape, winter barley, spring barley, spring oats and spring beans. Wheat is sold for either milling for making bread, bio-ethanol production for fuel or animal feed, barley is either sold to a brewery for alcohol production or for animal feed, oil seed rape is crushed, the extracted oil is used or human consumption, the by-product is then used in animal feed, spring oats will be used for breakfast cereal while the beans are also used for human consumption.
The farm is embracing regenerative practices that involve the direct drilling of crops and the establishment of over-wintered cover crops which will help to improve soil health and increase carbon capture.
As part of the mid-tier Countryside Stewardship Scheme, the farm benefits local wildlife. The scheme includes: beetle banks, grass margins around all the fields as well as some margins and field corners in wildflower mixes. These provide habitats for bees, beneficial insects and a food source for birds over the winter. The grass margins also provide wildlife corridors around the farm.
