WHO ARE WE?
Deben Farm Club is a Farm Discussion group based in East Suffolk. We were set up in the early 1950’s to promote the benefits of good agricultural practices principally to increase yields after the Second World War. Today we still have that ethos, together with focussing on bringing people based in the rural landscape together to share ideas and practices. The Club is open to anyone who has an interest in the countryside and enjoys meeting and socialising with like-minded people in a relaxed atmosphere.
The current Chairman is Tuddenham farmer Oli Pipe. Oli’s farm produces a typical range of crops across a range of soil types. Also contract farming land for neighbours. Oli is lucky to be custodian of some of the beautiful Fynn Valley with various stewardship options supporting nature and the environment. Away from farming Oli enjoys playing hockey and sailing.
The Club Secretary is Andrew Cooper. Andrew is director of Walnes Seeds at Earl Soham. Andrew has been involved in the local seed industry for over 30 years and enjoys both a professional and social relationship with many of the Club’s members.
WHAT DO WE DO?
The Club meets five times during the winter months and then in the summer-time for a farm walk and farm tour take place. The farm tour alternates between visits within the UK and abroad. Last year the Club was in Scotland, the previous tour was to Germany and this year the Club is visiting Co Tipperary in Ireland.
HOW TO JOIN
OUR HISTORY
Peter Flatman writes.”The first suggestion that a Farm Club should be formed in the Woodbridge area was made to me by John Cobbold of Stonham who asked if I would be Hon. Secretary if one was formed”. He was at that time a member of the Debenham Club. I agreed to act and a meeting was convened with the object of forming an Agricultural Discussion Society, at the Crown Hotel Woodbridge on Wednesday 6th February 1952 under the Chairmanship of A.B.Johnson.
It was agreed at this meeting that a Club should be formed and that it should be named ‘Deben Farm Club’. It was proposed that Sir Peter Greenwell be asked to accept the office of Chairman. P.G. Flatman and A.C.Garner were elected Joint Secretaries and J.M.Oldfield Treasurer. the Committee comprised;P. H.Youngman, G.M.Anderson, N.E.Simper, A.V.Adams, J.T.S.Hewitt, A..B.Johnson, P.A.Stearn, and M.J.Taylor.”
What follows are some extracts from the History of the Club written by John Leaman in February 1996 and updated in February 2001
The first Meetings were held at The Assembly Rooms in the Crown Hotel, Woodbridge, before moving to Melton Grange in the autumn of 1963. and on to Seckford Hall in October 1992.
The first subscription rate was set at 10 shillings for Farmers and 5 shillings for Farm Workers. By 1981 this had reached £5.00 and as of January 2011 the rate became £25.00 per anum.
The pattern of indoor Club Meetings in the winter with a Farm Walk in the summer was soon established with the one of the early meetings being held on the subject of “Open Air Pig Keeping.”
In 1952 the first Farm Walk was to the Sir Frederick Hiam Estate.
By 1955 the membership had risen to 147.
In 1956 despite the forth coming petrol rationing the committee decided that the Club’s activities should continue as planned.
In December 1960 there was a discussion at a committee meeting blaming the fall in attendance due to television!
In 1966 the first Club Tour was instigated by Dick Hollins to the West Country, these tours have continued with the first trip abroad being to Holland in 1992 and recent trips to Eire(1999) Latvia(2004), Spain(2008) and Ukraine (2009).
At a committee meeting in 1981 the idea of a Club Logo was aired and 21 months later the first Club Ties with the design were created. The motif was designed by Club Member Jack Turner (A G J Turner) from Sudbourne.
Many of the early speakers addressed the Club on methods on how to increase production of both livestock and arable crops. in recent times marketing, food safety concerns and financial issues have been a larger part of the programme.
Game rearing and conservation has been a recurring theme throughout the Club’s history, in 1959 the Game Research Station first addressed the Club and Martin Tickler from the Game Conservancy Trust has addressed the Club on a number of occasions subsequently. Always ahead of the times “The Use and Effects of Genetic Manipulation” was the subject for discussion in October 1988, a subject which has been highlighted on a number of occasions since.
Diamond Jubilee Year – 1952-2012
February 2012 was a very significant date for the Club as it was sixty years earlier that the inaugural meeting of the DFC was held at the Crown Hotel in Woodbridge on 6th February under the Chairmanship of Sir Peter Greenwell – father of our current President Sir Edward.
At the end of February 14 members from the Club embarked on a two week Farm Study Tour to Brazil and Chile. A presentation of which was given by Doug Inglis and James Foskett at the Club’s AGM in March.