IN THE SPOTLIGHT

James Blyth told us that he chose to work with Sentry nearly 20 years ago to free up time for all the other commercial activities that he was entering into at that time. He had a conversation with a neighbour who was already using us as a contract farmer and realised that there would be benefits from the economy of scale.

His ancestors first owned Hill Farm in Langham about six miles north of Colchester that they acquired by being on the right side in the Civil War! After that period the village of Langham was largely owned by the Blyth and the Page families who conducted affairs by inter-marrying and thus cementing the land ownership in the area. As an aside, James mentioned that at the turn of the 18th century his ancestor Thomas Blyth had the responsibility for maintaining the banks of the road that is now currently the A12.

James Samuel Blyth lived at Langham until about 1900 and then moved to nearby Ardleigh to where his father lived at nearby Wick Farmhouse. He was the family member who pushed the business into the 20th

century as in the early years of that period he moved to Walton-on-the-Naze and purchased a farm there whilst retaining Wick Farm at Ardleigh. His sons Noel and David went into the farming business and in 1953 J S

Blyth & Sons Ltd was created and purchased Little Clacton Lodge to make up an overall farming business of some 1500 acres. James Blyth and his two cousins became managers of the three farms in this company in 1981.

James was involved in several other interests including construction of reservoirs and irrigation systems, and even a portable toilet business called “Party Poopers”. The catalyst of his father Noel Blyth dying in 1994 and the conversation

with another local farmer who had joined into contract farming with Hallsworth Ltd led James to contact us. (Hallsworth Ltd subsequently becoming an integral part of Sentry).

James had decided that his dairy and arable farm could not afford the scale of expensive equipment that his business required by then and the combination of using a contract farmer would assist him with the economy of scale and release his energies to other matters. The dairy ran for a further five years and then naturally ceased as indeed many other dairies did in Essex at the same time.

James was by then running

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JAMES BLYTH

James Blyth, Wick FarmRoger Connah, Consultant

James with 2 of the Rheas

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

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JAMES BLYTH

a substantial car boot sale business on grassland originally established for the dairy and was actively seeking other commercial interests as the contract farming managers took over the responsibility and management of the arable business.

In 2006 one of his cousins decided to retire and the family agreed to plan for the next generation. This led to the original group company being de-merged and James was able to acquire the freehold of Wick Farm in his own name. Thus he became the owner of over 500 acres and able to operate as an independent farmer. Since then he has concentrated on developing the commercial interests of the farm.

The original buildings used for the cattle and temporary grain storage are now business units with eight occupiers and he has a self-storage container business on the farm. The car boot sale is progressing from strength to strength and is now actively managed by his children, Robert and Roseanna, thus bringing yet another Blyth generation into the farm business which today has multiple sources of income rather than just the arable and dairy profits that were the original inheritance.

The farm now has three general-purpose buildings built in the last 10 years which provide crop storage and yet more opportunities for diversification. James

has recently gained planning permission for a new agricultural dwelling in which he lives himself. He has expanded with other ideas including wild boar, which occupy less productive land including small woodlands on the farm. A recent purchase is of four Rheas that could be an interesting opportunity in the production of eggs and meat, and also for sale as birds for breeding as more people consider having these rather pretty and appealing birds.

A major change on the farm in the last three years has been the commencement of gravel extraction in advance of the extension of the adjoining Ardleigh Reservoir. This is taking out a serious area of the farm and will result in an enlargement to the reservoir for the public water supply together with a new reservoir for the farm.

The release of cash from this enabled James to go and purchase another 400 acres at Brightlingsea, which is also being farmed by Sentry as part of the arable business. Nigel Britten of Sentry is based only 3 miles away and has responsibility to James and Robert Blyth for managing the crops from the start of preparing the annual budget to growing, maintaining and selling the produce. James is also pleased that he does not have to do his own book-keeping which is all done by Julie Garrod at the Willisham office which is only 20 minutes distant, although most transactions are dealt with

online, or over the phone.

The arable cropping is salad potatoes for a specific contract period and a substantial sugar beet contract as the main break crops, with wheat and barley to follow. The predicted changes for the reservoir development have prevented the farm from joining any of the environmental schemes which have a commitment for a minimum of 5 years, but going forward with a settled acreage this will become a possibility when Natural England announce the structures of the new schemes.

All of these diversions from farming have been encouraged by Sentry who have freed up James’ time in order to devote his energy to develop other opportunities which arise from the land ownership. Indeed this will continue with other ideas James is pursuing on the new land at Brightlingsea. This is a highly attractive location immediately next to the very pretty port and seaside resort of Brightlingsea, and indeed has a considerable length of sea wall owned on the farm.

James said he has found Sentry a very helpful business to work with in providing a flexible arrangement which has coped with the many changes on the farm and acted as a “sounding board” for many of the ideas which he has progressed. The intention is to continue expanding the farming area as the other commercial opportunities produce available cash.