After studying at Wye College, John worked at a farm manager in Suffolk and Lochaber. He subsequently returned to farm in a family partnership in Northumberland. Activities are mainly organic, and currently include combinable crops, sheep, suckler cattle and pigs with considerable Stewardship activity. He has worked as a consultant on large cropping agroholdings in Ukraine. He is a director of College Valley Estates and a Northumberland Wildlife Trust trustee.