Meon Valley MP Flick Drummond met up with one of Hampshire's best known farmers when she visited as part of British Food Fortnight.

Mrs Drummond toured the 800-hectare Matterley Farm outside Winchester and on the edge of the South Downs with its owner Peveril Bruce and head dairyman Steve Tiley. 

The MP was told that 40 per cent of the milk from the farm’s 230 head of cattle goes to make Jude’s ice cream with the remaining 60 per cent is sold to supply local corner shops. 

Alongside the dairy herd, the farm also grows wheat, barley, maise and oats. Oat based drinks and plant-based foods are a rapidly growing market and the farm can provide winter wheat and winter oat, Mrs Drummond was told. It is also home to the annual Boomtown festival.

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Local sheep farmers also graze their sheep on site as this crops the grass well and allows for a reinvigorated grass growth for the cows.

Mrs Drummond, who will be the Conservative candidate for Winchester at the next General Election, said: “It was a pleasure to meet up with Peveril and Steve to learn about how this farm is producing milk and crops to feed us here in Hampshire and beyond.

“It was particularly good to visit during British Food Fortnight - the biggest national celebration of British food on the nation’s calendar that is taking place until October 1.

“We must support our farmers and producers and acknowledge the wonderful work they do to feed us and to look after the environment. 

“Peveril told me about his carbon management plan that is working to achieve benefits for the landscape, habitat and biodiversity. 

“The farm has suffered from ash dieback but lost trees are being replaced. This is responsible management of our natural world for the good of us all now and in the future.”

Peveril is the third generation of the Bruce family to run the farm, having been purchased by his grandparents in 1946.