Ben Cooper

PEWSEY, WILTSHIRE

Arable & beef

ARABLE & BEEF, WILTSHIRE: Ben farms alongside his brother and father in the heart of the Pewsey Vale, in Wiltshire. Their 800-acre (324-hectare) mixed farm, located around the small village of Easton Royal, is mainly arable and beef but recently Ben has helped the farm diversify into PYO pumpkins (at Halloween) and Christmas trees, which customers collect. An eighth of the land is contract farmed organically.

Ben was brought up on Easton Farm and is the sixth generation of the Cooper family to live there. Previously the farm was part of the Ailesbury Estate. The traditional farm buildings, mainly still in use, date back to the 18th century and have been largely untouched. The whole farm is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and contains many historical monuments including bomb craters, a Roman road, long barrows and even the remains of a medieval/Tudor priory and mansion owned by the Seymour family.

Easton farm combines growing barley, wheat, oats and canary seed with producing beef cattle. It also produces hay and straw (mainly sold to livery yards) and hosts a working game shoot. A further income stream is provided by renting out cottages in and around the village. Ben also works off the farm. He carries out agricultural market research for clients across the agricultural industry and works for a company called Kynetec. He is also a Teaching Fellow and Sessional Lecturer at the University of Reading.

Much of Easton Farm’s permanent grassland consists of water meadows - both natural and improved - all of which are involved in the Government’s Countryside Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme. The farm also has small areas of woodland, the most significant being the clump on Easton Hill which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Combining efficient productivity with protecting the farm’s landscape and environment is vitally important to Ben.

Ben says farming is in his blood. “I love the countryside and couldn’t imagine a world without it. I love that farming is about working with nature and producing a primary product… food.”

He is also passionate about communicating what farming is really about to the public. “I believe telling the story of British farming is key to its success in the future. We need to champion our own story and provide unbiased and truthful insights into agriculture.”

Contact Ben

Ben enjoys amateur motorsports, skiing, shooting and walking. He also has a strong interest in politics and history, having studied politics (along with agriculture) at university

Talking Point

Meat consumption. “Farmers are getting a bad press for the carbon footprint of beef,” says Ben. “However, we are using an extensive grazing system, producing our animal feed on farm, buying young stock primarily from local farms and selling some of our finished beef directly to the local community. We are not producing beef intensively and we are using our beef cattle to maintain our precious SSSI. I’d like to encourage the public to eat high quality British produce and choose local.”

Declared interests

Member National Farmers Union

Happy to talk about

adding value agricultural machinery agricultural policy agritech agrochemicals animal feed animal health animal rights activism animal welfare arable production barley beef beef production biodiversity Bovine TB Brexit CAP carbon emissions carbon footprint carbon neutral carbon reduction Cereal production Cereals changing consumer tastes cheap food chemical use climate change clover Common Agricultural Policy conservation agriculture cover crops crop growing crops depression direct sales diversity drought education environmental stewardship extensive agriculture family farming farm assurance farm diversification farm education farm safety farm succession farm to fork fertiliser flooding flower rich meadows food safety food waste fungicides glyphosate grassland management growing a business hare coursing harvest hay healthy eating herbal leys herbicides intensive farming irrigation labour shortages loss of small abattoirs low inputs manure management market garden min till mixed farming national electricity grid National Grid nature friendly farming next generation Nitrate Vulnerable Zones (NVZ) nitrates oilseed rape organic organic cereal production pesticides planning permission policy development Red Tractor reducing inputs regenerative agriculture renewable energy rise of veganism rural crime rural planning policy rural tourism seasonal food second income self sufficiency small scale farming soil health soil management solar panels specialist crops straw subsidies supermarkets supply chains traceability tractors vegan activism veganism vertical farming water quality wheat wildlife wildlife crime work/life balance working off farm zero till