LITTLE THORNES FARM, NORFOLK
CASE STUDY FOR AS / A2 LEVEL GEOGRAPHERS
| Ownership | Family partnership |
| Workforce | 2 owners, and 2 employees (was 9 at one stage) |
| Location | A47 Swaffham bypass and land at Great Cressingham |
| Size | 400 ha of Arable 150 ha of Malting barley, 60 ha of Sugar beet (brings in a third of the farm's income) 60 ha of Wheat 30 ha of Grassland 10 ha of Woodland |
| Machinery | 5 tractors - 7 different attachments
for different jobs 1 combine harvester |
| Main crops / produce | 180 ha Malting barley - sent to the
Isle of Islay for whisky production (and also brewing) 60 ha Sugar beet 20 ha Beans 40 ha Rye 60 ha Wheat - annual feed for pigs / poultry |
| Other resources | Marl pit on the farm |
| Outline of History of farm | Roman farm: 2000 years ago. Owned by the Rutterford family for the last 40 years. Was originally a mixed farm, with one third grass, one third cereal, and one third other crops (plus 70 dairy cattle, 200 cattle, sheep and pigs) - used to provide Swaffham with milk - now entirely arable, and also tends to provide raw materials rather than the finished article, for example the wheat is now used for modified starch |
| Farming Calendar (Basic) | Winter Barley and Wheat sown in
September and October - higher yields gained as grown for 10 months Spring Barley also sown: lower yields but suffer from drought damage Sugar beet sown in March - harvested from September to December Other crops harvested in July & August |
| Soil Types | Soil quality varies across the farm |