麻豆社

Andy Gray describes himself and his team as being "hyperactive in our approach to life". He can't see a problem without wanting to solve it, or an opportunity to broaden his business without giving it a go.

On his 150 acre farm in Devon, Andy employs more than 60 people. He has a catering butchers which supplies local meat to restaurants and hotels as well as producing meat boxes sold direct to consumers. He has a game plant which processes 6,000 wild-shot deer every year. Any meat that isn't sold for humans is turned into raw dog food, which Andy sells direct to consumers online. He has just opened a quarry which supplies a very rare stone used to repair heritage buildings.

In the fields themselves Andy has transitioned away from an intensive arable system, which he says was damaging his soils, to grazing cattle and deer on herbal leys. To see whether this change is making a difference to his soils, he is working with several different scientists to gather data and run trials on the farm.

He's been picked as a finalist in the "Farming for the Future" category of this year's 麻豆社 Food and Farming Awards. It's being judged by Farming Today presenter, Charlotte Smith, and actor, Lucy Speed - who plays Stella in The Archers. In this programme, they make their "judges' visit" to Andy's farm, and try to see as many of his different enterprises as possible.

Presenter by Charlotte Smith and Lucy Speed
Produced for 麻豆社 Audio in Bristol by Heather Simons