Young Farmer Focus: Matt Styles - 'It feels so rewarding to build something out of nothing'

Getting started

Getting started was not easy.

Despite being a fourth-generation farmer’s son and growing up on a 300-acre arable farm there was just not enough land or work for me to stay at home and be involved in the family farm alongside my brother and father.

But quite a few jobs later, having worked myself up the ladder from ’the boy’, I am thankful for leaving home and making that leap, gaining new experiences and meeting people along the way.

I can happily say my experience is bolstered with a whole host of knowledge learnt from meeting farmers from all across the country and from all backgrounds.

Challenge

To date, we now have a flock of 70 comprising, 40 breeding ewes, mostly Lleyn and Herdwicks as well as some commercials, along with two tups, one teaser and our first crop of lambs.

It is small fry still but a lot of growth in just one year.

As 2020 has really been our first full year farming in our own right I do not think it could have been more of a challenge.

But despite all that has been thrown at us we continue to grow and all our stock are healthy and in good condition.

Lambs are destined for our home delivered meat box service which is a major focus for us to bring the consumer into the whole process from field to fork.