Nearly 40 members joined staff on the second of our Midlands Younger Members Events and were taken on an eye-opening guided tour of the facilities.
Gathering at The Hive building at Nocton, the group met the company's head of research, Richard Meredith, who took them through the history of Dyson Farming before heading out on a tractor/ trailer to view the agronomy, crop storage, innovation and machinery side of the operation at Nocton Estate Yard.
The farming side
After learning about the regenerative ethic that drives Dyson Farming on its 14,000 hectares, members heard from the business's HR team and received an in-depth look at the approach to the arable side of the operation over lunch in Nocton.
They grow wheat, rye, maize, barley, peas and potatoes as well as rear a flock of breeding sheep and lambs and a herd of stabiliser breeding cattle and beef cattle.
“I particularly enjoyed seeing how Dyson Farming farms at scale and holistically."
Arable farmer Henry Dakin
The group then travelled to Carrington for the final leg of the visit.
Sweet success
They were taken up to dizzy heights at the top of the anaerobic digestion plant, which commands an amazing 360° view of the site and surrounding countryside.
The plant powers the vast adjacent glasshouse - nearly 800m long and covering 26 acres - with renewable electricity and surplus heat, which was the next feature of the visit.
With around 1,500 rows of strawberries brimming with more than 1.2 million plants producing 1,250 tonnes of fruit each year, the glasshouse extends the British growing season into early spring and late autumn when British strawberries were previously few and far between.
Trip organiser, Notts and Holland (Lincs) county adviser, Gabriella Gregory, said: "It was a hugely successful and eye-opening visit which everyone enjoyed.
"Having the opportunity to tour these incredible facilities and getting an insight into how Dyson Farming farms at scale to such high environmentally-friendly and welfare levels was a true privilege and we would like to thank Richard and the Dyson Farming team for hosting us."
Lincolnshire arable and Christmas tree farmer Charlie Rose said: "It was really interesting to learn about what the market leaders are doing and how that incentivises the smaller-scale farmer to aspire to achieve results in their business.