Luke Smith
2023
Luke Smith farms 2,000 acres around Dorking, Surrey and works with landlords like the National Trust on conservation agreements. He has a herd of 70 native breed, primarily Galloway, suckler cows and 700 breeding ewes having started with two sheep in his local village when turning 18. Luke is also the owner of Downland Traditional Meats, an abattoir and cutting plant in Henfield, West Sussex. He has recently upgraded capacity at DTM to respond to the closure of Tottingworth abattoir in Kent and has been working hard with local farmer networks to ensure consistency of availability. Luke started his career in the farming industry, at both Agricultural Central Trading and then ABP.
My Sessions
Small Abattoirs: How Can Farmers Safeguard Access to These Critical Pieces of Infrastructure
Jimmy Woodrow
Andy Gray
Marisa Heath
Luke Smith
The critical state of the small abattoir sector is well documented and there’s a real risk that if the sector goes under then so will small-scale agroecological livestock farming. The government and regulatory agencies are dragging their feet on doing anything about it so how can farmers get involved and help safeguard their access to […]