In 1986, The Prince decided to convert the Duchy Home Farm to a completely organic system to demonstrate the environmental and commercial benefits.
Twenty years later, Home Farm is not only a successful and viable working farm, run by Farm Manager David Wilson, but is a flagship for the benefits of an organic, sustainable form of agriculture. Some of the features of Home Farm include:
Duchy's First Product
The first product in our range was the Oaten biscuit made with organic oats from Home Farm in 1992. Today we still source a number of key ingredients from Home Farm.
Rare Breeds
The Prince is Patron of the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and has worked for many years to help preserve the rare native breeds of the UK, which have been replaced over the years by foreign breeds and breeding programmes more suited to intensive farming methods. Animals such as Tamworth and Large Black pigs, Irish Moiled, Gloucester, Shetland and British White cattle, as well as Hebridean and Cotswold sheep feature at the farm, and are highly prized by The Prince for the quality of their produce and their natural affinity with the British farming landscape.
Education and Research
Home Farm has links with the Soil Association, the Henry Doubleday Association (HDRA), and is one of the Elm Farm Research Centre’s network of 12 Demonstration farms for those interested in converting to the organic system. Visits, literature and workshops are used to promote the links between food, farming, health and the environment.
