Oliver White
Somerset
Beef, sheep & poultry
BEEF, SHEEP, CHICKENS, TURKEYS & GEESE, SOMERSET: Oliver has a 100% grass-fed beef and sheep enterprise, as well as pasture-reared chickens, turkeys and geese.
Ollie has a strong focus on the social, economic and environmental impacts of farming activities, and already adopts a holistic approach to management. The farm is certified organic and has recently been selected as a test pilot for a new accreditation programme to become one of the first UK “Certified Regenerative” farms. Everything produced on the farm is retailed through its online shop (farm2fork.co.uk) and self-service on-farm shop.
A combination of being outside, working with livestock and connecting with nature are Ollie’s favourite aspects of farming, as well as producing products that customers value. He also likes being in charge of his own destiny, with the success or failure of the business dependent on the decisions he makes.
Though Ollie grew up on a dairy farm, his father sold the cows in 1991 and slowly sold off the land until there were 22 acres (8.9 hectares) remaining. Ollie had spent many of his holidays working on farms, so when the opportunity arose to rent the remaining land from his father in 2010, he took it on alongside his then full-time job. In 2014 he was successful in securing a tenancy on a 125 acre (51 hectares) Somerset County Council farm, and that is where he is today.
Aside from caring for his stock and managing the land, Ollie enjoys time with his partner Charlotte, friends, family, and dogs, and fills his spare time motorbiking, shooting, playing football, doing yoga and travelling.
Talking Point
Oliver believes that proper management of livestock can be part of the solution to climate change. Though he feels that globally livestock production is having an impact on the climate, there is science that indicates ‘it’s not the cow, it’s the how’. He believes that the complexity of the message and supporting science means the facts are often drowned out by anti-meat groups, businesses and the media.
Declared interests
None
Media experience
Local, national and digital newspapers; food, farming and lifestyle magazines; local radio stations; local TV News; online blogs and social media; TV programmes/documentary films: Heston’s Great British Food Episode 2. Graham Harvey’s Pasture Promise TV - The Grass Diet. The Land Workers Alliance - In Our Hands. Book: Grass-Fed Nation by Graham Harvey.