New House Farm prioritises the production of great quality food for our own country using methods that are truly sustainable and good for the ground. The animals are raised solely on the farm’s own grass and hay and the farm uses straw from a nearby farm for bedding.  Andy the farm manager sensitively manages a rotational grazing system. Working with the cattle and the sheep as ecosystem engineers, alongside using the key regenerative tool of rest, they hope to build the soil fertility, organic matter and biodiversity.

Situated in rural North Oxfordshire, surrounded by gently rolling hills and valleys. In 2015, the farm replanted some of its arable fields with diverse herbal leys to provide the best fodder for its livestock. The farm’s grazing includes herbal grazing leys, species-rich parkland leys, and long-term hay leys. The farm have noticed that the cows are naturally spreading a range of species from herbal leys into the established pastures.

New House Farm specialises in traditional and native breeds and currently has 27 Beef Shorthorn cows and 2 bulls to maintain two breeding lines, as well as 47 Llanwenog ewes and a ram. The animals are raised entirely on the farm’s grass and hay, with no grains being fed at all. The cattle graze outdoors for about 8 months before coming inside when the ground gets too wet, while the sheep stay outside all year except during lambing time. New House Farm was awarded 1st prize for their ewe lambs in the Llanwenog Society competition in 2022 and 3rd prize for their flock in the small flock section. Joanna values these competitions, as they offer another key indicator that they are getting things right when it comes to the health and form of their livestock.

The Beef Shorthorn breed appealed to us as a native breed, and also for their reputation as natural foragers, easy calvers, a good temperament and generally being good at looking after themselves.

The farm has been in Joanna Clarke’s family for over a century, with Joanna taking responsibility for the farm in 1984. In 2015 following a discussion on farm succession with her son, the family decided to dramatically change how the farm functioned. They downsized from 600 to 170 acres, moving away from arable to livestock farming, so that they could ‘do something a little more special‘ – achieving more with less. Joanna now manages the farm with her son Nicholas and farm manager Andy, who is a qualified rugby coach and fan in his spare time. Andy has been with the farm since 1985. Joanna wants to produce great tasting, high quality meat for the UK and believes very strongly that we need British farmers to grow food to feed our own country.