Welcome to the farm

A E Nesbitt Farms Ltd owns the the 405 hectare North Standen Estate which lies on the West Berkshire/Wiltshire border and falls within the North Wessex Downs area of outstanding natural beauty.

The farmland has registered organic status under Soil Association Licence Number G2436. The main farming activities focussed on are beef cattle and organic crops.

The farm runs two herds of native British cattle under the herd pre-fix “Cleland”, being polled Herefords and British Whites, as well as a flock of Wiltshire Horn sheep. All the animals are pure pedigree examples of their breed.

Arable activities at the farm generally consist of barley, oats and beans grown in rotation and destined for organic brewing, porridge and animal feed customers.

Our policy is to farm in an environmentally friendly way. We try to encourage the proliferation of wildlife and biodiversity alongside our farming activities, as much as we can.

We support the aims of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and keep small numbers of rare or minority breeds such as Hebridean Sheep, Berkshire pigs, Sebastopol geese and Buff Orpington chickens – as well as our British White cattle and Wiltshire Horn sheep.

Hereford Cattle

Herefords are the quintessential british beef animal. In any situation where an image of cattle in the British landscape is required, more often than not, the cattle are Herefords.

The farm’s objective is to sell breeding stock whenever possible – other animals go into the food chain as organic beef, mostly to major high street supermarkets.

The Hereford breed is renowned for its ability to thrive on grass, ease-of-calving and mild temperament, as well as producing the finest quality traditional beef.

British White Cattle

The British Whites were amongst the earliest recorded domestic cattle breeds in Britain about a thousand years ago.

Until comparatively recently, they were classified as a rare or minority breed – now numbers have recovered sufficiently to indicate that they should be able to survive as a traditional native British breed.

Originally bred as a dual purpose breed (both beef and dairy) they are now considered principally a beef breed. This hardy native breed can be long lived – the oldest animal in our herd is a 22 yr old female.

Other friends

As members of the Rare breeds Survival Trust the farm takes a keen interest in native British species of all kinds.

Nesbitt farm particularly like to support breeds that have a local connection and for this reason, for many years, have kept pedigree Berkshire pigs and a flock of Wiltshire Horn sheep.

The farm has an assortment of geese and are looking to add pedigree West of England geese to the flock.

Farmyard cats complete the list of Other Friends, along with Ivy, the Bernese Mountain dog, who is everyones friend.

Welcome to the farm

Hereford Cattle

British White Cattle

Other friends

Woodland and wildlife