At Southview we are passionate about farming sustainably and reducing our carbon footprint. Here are some of the ways we are doing this:

• We have solar panels on our barn roof with a 30kw capability which provides 100% of our electricity for 9 months of the year. This means we can run our chicken houses and packaging station where we grade all the eggs from the solar and also our cattle barn!
• We have two electric vans which are charged using electricity produced by the solar. We use these vans for all our egg deliveries and all the daily running around.
• We ensure all the ingredients that formulate the feed ration for our hens are responsibly sourced.
• Our cattle are reared and finished on grass/forage. They are slaughtered and butchered within 7 miles of the farm to ensure optimal animal welfare.
• We spread our poultry manure on our pastures for the cattle. This replaces the use of artificial fertiliser.
• We promote agro forestry and have planted cricket bat willow trees for the chicken to range in as they are naturally  woodland birds and enjoy the shade on warm days. The trees also take up the nitrogen that the birds leave behind when they are outside. This reduces our carbon footprint. When the trees reach about 15 years old they are felled to make cricket bats and then replanted again. Only English cricket bat willow is suitable for professional bat making; it produces a bat which is suitably light, but also fibrous enough to withstand use against a cricket ball.

We have now fully installed batteries to store the excess solar energy we produce so that we can use it at other times! This increases our percentage of self-sufficiency in renewable electricity!