Graig Farm - Who We Are > Where Does Graig Farm Meat Come From > Nigel Elgar

Nigel Elgar

Joint Producer of the Year 2001/2

Cannon Farm

Entrance to Cannon farm
Entrance to Cannon farm
Nigel Elgar with lambs

The 450 hectares (c.1111 acres) of Cannon Farm are spread over the wild and remote uplands of the old county of Montgomeryshire, in mid Wales, at an altitude of between 240m (787ft) to 450m (1476ft). The farm consists of 340 ha (842 acres) of grazing and 110ha (269 acres) of woodland. The grazing is divided into natural hill grazing (moorland), improved pasture and semi-improved hay meadows. A comprehensive programme of hedge planting, shelter belt establishment, dry stone walling and the maintenance of traditional farm buildings has been undertaken to improve the wildlife habitat and conserve a traditional hill farming landscape.

A further 133 hectares (330 acres) of land is rented, some in the local village and more about 20 miles from Cannon.

Cannon Farm is a partnership managed by Nigel Elgar who has lived and worked here since 1986.

Cannon Farm was one of the early pioneers of modern day organic farming, achieving full organic status in 1993. Put simply, organic food combines a minimum use of chemicals with the highest standards of animal welfare and environmental protection. Organic food is legally defined, and each stage of the process from farm gate to your dinner plate is vigorously inspected (for further information on organic farming contact the Soil Association).

The farm participates in various schemes and has won a number of prestigious awards:

  • Demonstration Farm as part of the Organic Demonstration Farm Network for Wales

  • Entered Tir Gofal (all Wales agri-environmental scheme) in August 2000

  • Winner of the National Sheep Association/Farmers Weekly Sheep Farming And Conservation Award 1997
    Producer of the winning entry in the fresh meat category of the 1997 Organic Food Awards and the Organic Food Product of the Year;

    • Runner up in the Montgomeryshire Agricultural Association 'Farm Based Competition' for conservation (2000 & 2004)
    • Joint winner of the Soil Association/You Magazine 'Organic Food Awards Producer of the Year 2001'

The stock on the farm consists of 1000 breeding Welsh Hill Speckled Face ewes 30 Welsh Black cows and 20 Highland cattle.

Nigel lives at Cannon with his wife, Karen, and their two children Max and Ellie


Cannon farm house

For More information about Cannon Farm, how it operates and its work with conservation, Click here

HRH The Prince of Wales with Nigel Elgar at Cannon Farm
HRH The Prince of Wales with Nigel Elgar on a visit to Cannon Farm in July 1998

Welsh Black on the up

The Welsh Black cattle breed is enjoying something of a revival at the moment. Perceived in the past to be a dual-purpose breed (milk and beef), it is now making a comeback as a well-flavoured British beef breed. The animals are well suited to Cannon Farm - particularly with their good milk supply, top beef quality and hardiness - which enables them to survive the harsh weather, with little shelter. The cows at Cannon Farm calve in the spring and autumn, and produce pure-bred Welsh Black calves. These are then finished at between 20 and 30 months of age.

Sheep are sheep are sheep!?

Possibly, to people passing through upland areas, the land is simply inhabited by sheep - and surely sheep are sheep are sheep?! Not at all ! There is a quite complicated system of upland sheep farming, which, by careful use of breeds tries to make the best use of each type of environment.

Cannon Farm is divided into two main horizontal levels - the high natural hill grazing area, and the lower improved pasture.

The breed of ewes on which the whole system at Cannon Farm is based, is the Welsh Hill Speckled Face - a native to the hills of mid-Wales. The Speckles (as they are known) are superbly suited to the relatively harsh environment - they are very hardy and excellent mothers. However, they are relatively small animals, producing, in butchers terms, a small carcass, and are in farming terms, relatively unproductive.

Nevertheless, Speckles are vital to the system, as only the pure-bred Speckles are able to survive on the top hill land. On the lower lands, the Speckles can be crossed with a less-hardy, larger, more productive breed.

Lambs are produced for one of two reasons. Either as replacement breeding stock, or for meat.

Different breeds of ram are chosen for different purposes. To replace breeding stock, Nigel Elgar will use Speckle rams on Speckle ewes, all individually recorded, with the resulting female lambs kept on the farm for breeding along with a select few rams. At Cannon Farm, every year some 700 ewes are put to the Speckle rams, for this purpose.

The remaining ewes are crossed with Meatline rams. This produces prime butchers lambs, as well as the superb Welsh Mountain lamb - in fact, this is the source of the lamb you may buy from Graig Farm !

Buy Some Cannon Farm Lamb

Cannon Farm butchered lamb
You can order a traditional organic Welsh Mountain lamb from Cannon Farm, fully butchered and packed by clicking here. (Supplies are seasonal).