The Farmers Guardian Podcast: Exeter young farmer starts new calf rearing venture on family farm

Elle Slade has been encouraged to follow her own path on the family farm and has set up her own successful calf rearing business, while working part time at a nearby fattening unit

Rachael Brown
clock • 1 min read
The Farmers Guardian Podcast: Exeter young farmer starts new calf rearing venture on family farm

For 24-year-old Elle Slade, a sixth-generation farmer from Exeter, a career in farming was ‘non-negotiable'. It was, she says, quite obvious from a very young age that farming was her passion.

LISTEN NOW:

 

But a turning point for Elle was when her dad told her and her brother that if they wanted to come back to the family farm one day, they must bring ‘something else to the party'. He also encouraged them to both find additional work elsewhere off the farm.

Elle says: "It sounds quite brutal, but it was the best thing he said to me and my brother."

She did exactly that and has recently started her own calf rearing venture at the family farm, as well as working at a nearby 1,700 head fattening unit.

"My part of bringing something back to the family business was calf rearing. Land in the area, when it does come up for sale, can be extremely expensive – to the point farming would not pay it back. "So it made sense to go into calf rearing, because acreage is very low." Rearing calves is something Elle has done since she was 13, recalling the little portable wooden hutches that would hold about eight calves.

READ NOW: Mixed dairy systems work well for low-input family business in Cornwall

As a youngster, she would mix her own milk replacer up in churns and ‘lug it up to the calf shed'. Now in her 20s, Elle is at the very start of her new venture. She says rearing calves has always been a job she has found very rewarding, especially when it is going well.

More on Podcasts

The Farmers Guardian Podcast: Graham's Family Dairy - proud Scottish roots, family values and advice for future generations with Dr Robert Graham

The Farmers Guardian Podcast: Graham's Family Dairy - proud Scottish roots, family values and advice for future generations with Dr Robert Graham

Join us for a fascinating conversation with Dr Robert Graham of Graham’s Family Dairy, a proudly homegrown Scottish dairy business deeply rooted in family values

clock 04 July 2025 • 1 min read
Crop It Like It's Hot RE-LAUNCH: Live from Cereals

Crop It Like It's Hot RE-LAUNCH: Live from Cereals

Join Ash Ellwood as we chat to four speakers about funding, plant breeding and new varieties, live from The Cereals Event

clock 20 June 2025 • 1 min read
The Farmers Guardian Podcast: Future farming leaders - NFU vice-president Rachel Hallos on engaging the next generation to lead the industry

The Farmers Guardian Podcast: Future farming leaders - NFU vice-president Rachel Hallos on engaging the next generation to lead the industry

In this episode of The Farmers Guardian Podcast, Alex Black speaks to Rachel Hallos on why it is important to inspire the next generation to lead the industry

Alex Black
clock 13 June 2025 • 1 min read