No two days are the same on the Euston Estate, which extends to around 4,300 hectares in Suffolk, just south of the border from Thetford in Norfolk. At the centre is Euston Hall, home of the Dukes of Grafton for more than 300 years.

Now in their nineties, the eleventh Duke and Duchess of Grafton take an active interest in all that happens on the estate which, following the recent death of their son the Earl of Euston, is now overseen by their grandson Viscount Ipswich.

Farm and estate manager Jim Broatch, whose history at Euston goes back to his student days in the 1970s, says:

“The family nurture a traditional farming ownership and they are passionate about running the estate. This enthusiasm motivates all of us who work here. Each day moves from helping with family matters and farming to property management and shooting. It’s electric and exciting. It’s what makes me want to get up in the morning.”

Jim started his career as a farming student at Chadacre near Bury St Edmunds and spent two years’ work experience at Euston before returning to the college as a tutor. He then came back to Euston as assistant farm manager under John Farrow for seven years. After two years managing a farm in North Norfolk, he ran a large estate in Newbury for ten years and was then tempted back to Euston by the late Lord Euston eight years ago.

Of the 4,300 hectares at Euston, 2,500 are in hand, 600 hectares are woodland and the rest is tenanted.

The estate’s own cropping includes wheat, barley, oilseed rape, beans, sugar beet and rye. Notably, milling wheat goes to Camgrain and feed wheat goes to ABM in Bury St Edmunds. Red salad beans go to a food processor in Cambridge and rye is grown for Ryvita.

On the livestock side tenants rear pigs for Waitrose as well as chicken and sheep. The poultry enterprise is the only UK site for Tesco organic corn fed chicken.

The estate takes great pride in its pedigree 80-strong herd of Red Poll cattle. Added to which 2009 has been a great year for the nine Suffolk Punches with a filly foal born in March and stallion Rocky being supreme champion at both the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Shows.

There is a great emphasis on conservation with six metre headlands, minimum use of insecticides and several areas of wild flower meadow and strips planted under the Entry Level Scheme. In addition, more than 400 hectares falls within the boundaries of the Brecklands Environmentally Sensitive Area and all woodland is under a five-year management plan with the biggest wood, Fakenham Great Wood, being a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Given the extent of the woodland and the damage caused by the ever-increasing deer population, management has become essential. As a result, a full time deerstalker has been employed to control the deer and a mix of 350 roe, red deer and muntjac are culled each year. Beyond the private family shoot, pheasant and partridge shooting amount to 45 let days per season.

“We take great pride in serving our own beef and venison sausages on shoot days,” says Jim.

With the surge in domestic oil prices, firewood is big business at Euston too and now accounts for around £60,000 of the annual turnover.

But what really excites Jim is the latest venture - a vegetable enterprise which has trebled in as many years.

“Despite all our blowing sand, we were able to dig a 100 million gallon reservoir in a small area of blue clay just by our ancient woodland and now we – or rather Albert Bartlett & Son – are growing 400 hectares of potatoes, carrots, parsnips and onions.

“We provide the fieldwork – spraying, labour and machinery - so it’s a contracting business within the estate. Bartletts provide the seed, expertise and marketing. The Rooster Potatoes campaign has been very successful.

“It’s a great business and they’re good to work with. Obviously, the cropping rotates around the estate and we have installed about 20 kilometres of underground mains which we hope to extend to 32 kilometres as this will enable us to irrigate all the in-hand land.

Adding to diversity on the estate, other activities include farm walks, school visits, village trips, 120 tenant properties and the public open days at the hall with extensive gardens, a tearoom, shop, watermill and church to run. Then there are the events such as the sizeable annual Rural Pastimes show, carriage driving, long distance endurance horse riding, the heavy horse spectacular, pony club activities and open-air concerts.

As with any business, profit margins are crucial and Jim says membership of Anglia Farmers has made a significant difference:

“Our membership is a roaring success. It’s transformed what we do. We buy everything we possibly can through the group. The time and money we save is considerable. Even on things like electricity which, given the amount we need to run the reservoir, for example, is a real bonus.”