A Norfolk cattle farm has been highlighted as a national showcase for how nature can be restored using pasture-fed livestock.

First-generation farmers David and Nicola Chapman run Carr Farm at Burgh St Peter, near Beccles.

It grows hay and haylage, and sells meat from Belted Galloway cattle and geese reared on 100 acres of permanent pasture.

In 2017, it became the first farm in Norfolk to be certified by the Pasture for Life scheme, which promotes livestock enterprises feeding animals on 100pc pasture, rather than cereals, concentrates or imported soya.

Since then, a long-term monitoring study has been conducted, revealing an increase in the number and species of plants, insects and birdlife - now published in a case study series by Pasture for Life.

Beccles & Bungay Journal: A barn owl hunting over grazing land at Carr Farm in Burgh St Peter - Picture: Carr FarmA barn owl hunting over grazing land at Carr Farm in Burgh St Peter - Picture: Carr Farm (Image: Carr Farm)

It says the health of the soil has improved, along with the economic benefits of cutting out synthetic fertilisers and pesticides.

The farm’s free-roaming animals produce high-quality meat using regenerative practices including mob grazing, which sequesters carbon in the pasture.

New hedges and woodlands have also been planted, and the animals graze nearby nature reserves managed by Norfolk Wildlife Trust to enhance habitats.

Wildflowers have been reintroduced and 40 acres of marshes have been developed with footdrains and sluices to hold water for over-wintering birds including pink-footed geese, lapwing, red shank, snipe and bittern.

Beccles & Bungay Journal: Geese and a bird of prey on grazing land at Carr Farm in Burgh St Peter - Picture: Carr FarmGeese and a bird of prey on grazing land at Carr Farm in Burgh St Peter - Picture: Carr Farm (Image: Carr Farm)

Mr Chapman said: "These changes have resulted in new species of plants appearing each year and more insect life, which leads to more and greater variety of birdlife, while the increase in organic matter has improved the soil's resilience to the almost-annual drought conditions we now suffer in the summer.

"The farm has fantastic biodiversity with wildlife ranging from reptiles and snakes on the higher sandy lands to hares and deer in the woodlands and marshes."

The farm also hosts nesting owls in the woodlands while herons, egrets and marsh harriers are common on the grazing marshes.