The farm is one of the core enterprises on the Estate. The farm currently consists of over 2,700 acres of arable land of our own and land farmed under a contract farming agreement and stubble to stubble contracting on neighbouring land. Rougham Estate has a range of soil types ranging from blowing sands to the north on the edge of the breckland series of soils to heavier clays to the south.

Because of the range of soil types cropping rotations vary across the Estate. To the north the cropping rotation is dominated by Rye, Sugar Beet and Spring Barley. In the middle of the Estate the cropping rotation is made of a mixture of Wheat, Malting Barley, Oilseed Rape and Sugar Beet. To the south of the Estate the cropping rotation is more dominated by Wheat, Oilseed Rape and some Sugar Beet. Where irrigation is available from neighbours some land is rented out for potatoes and onions. Some land to the north of the Estate is also rented out for pigs.

Where possible crops are grown on contracts to try and secure prices and premiums and to create better links between us the growers and the end users, for example;

• All of our Rye is grown on contract for Ryvita. As an interesting fact, one in every 20 Ryvita crisp bread the main raw ingredient (Rye) is grown on Rougham Estate
• Our Milling Wheat is grown for Warburtons bread
• Our Sugar Beet is all grown for British Sugar to produce Silver Spoon Sugar
• Our Maris Otter winter Malting Barley goes on to make craft beer
• Our Spring Barley is grown to produce Adnams Beer

For the past 10 years we have worked hard to improve the health of our soils across the Estate by reducing cultivations, applying muck and organic matter back onto the land and introduced cover cropping into our rotation. With all of these measures we have seen a huge increase in the water retention of our soils, our soils are easier to cultivate (meaning that we use less fuel) and our soils have greater resilience and fertility, meaning that we create the perfect conditions for our crops to thrive.

Rougham Estate is a member of LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) and is Red Tractor Assured.

We have an extremely dedicated team here at Rougham Estate to produce good quality produce. 

We are always looking for dedicated people to join our harvest team for temporary positions between June and September, please contact the Estate office for further information.