Is it possible to be both an environmentalist and a super-rich petrolhead?
The two worlds would seem to be mutually exclusive, but go to Laverstoke Park in Hampshire, southern England, owned by the South African-born 1979 Formula One world champion racing driver Jody Scheckter, and the answer is far from simple.
The man who won four grand prix races in the 1970s and who came second or third 33 times is still in love with speed and power. Scheckter, now in his mid-50s, has a collection of racing cars, regularly flies to the United States to watch his son Tomas racing, drives 4x4s and is a tax exile in Monaco, commuting to and from the Riviera.
But Scheckter also runs what he calls the ”biggest smallholding in the world”, and is a leading bio-dynamic farmer determined to rear animals and grow crops to produce what he describes as the best-tasting and healthiest food in the world.
His passions for the two worlds are indulged by a fortune made from virtual weapons. When he retired from Ferrari in 1980, he set up a company in the US that used computer simulators to train police and armed forces how best to use guns. When he sold it, the reward was £100-million and in 1996 Scheckter bought Laverstoke. It is run in partnership with another Monaco resident whose company represents international sportsmen.
Initially, Scheckter wanted to farm organically for himself and his family, but production could not be restricted to small amounts and he decided to sell to the public. In 2002, the neighbouring farms were added and Laverstoke Park is now a 1 012ha rural paradise.
By any account it is impressive. Not one artificial chemical has been used on the land since he bought it 10 years ago. A herd of rare black Angus cattle grazes leys replanted with more than 30 different native grasses, herbs and clovers. Other leys and paddocks contain Hebridean, Hereford and Jersey cattle, a herd of water buffalo, wild and domestic rare breed pigs, five breeds of sheep, and poultry. There are vineyards, hop fields and orchards. A vegetable garden adjoins a Palladian house that looks down over the river Test, one of the finest trout rivers in the country.
That he made money when he sold his business is on the record, he says, and he knows that for some in the green movement, such a background makes him automatically suspect. But this, he believes, is their problem. Instead, he asks people to stand back and consider. If he can farm a large area in an ecologically and financially sustainable way, then he believes that Laverstoke should be a model for farming throughout Britain.
”This used to be a big, conventional, arable farm, two or three different crops, fields like prairies, constantly sprayed and spread with tonnes of chemicals, with maybe eight employees at most,” he says. ”We came in and did it as nature intended: no chemicals, just natural composts; different types of plant to enhance the soil; careful rotation. We’ve planted 19km of hedging and tens of thousands of native trees and shrubs, and all with one objective: to produce the best tasting and healthiest food. The conservation, the benefits to wildlife and the local environment and economy — there are now more than 40 people working here — and even the quality of life has come as part of that.”
Biodynamic farming aims to be self-sufficient in compost, manures and animal feeds, and implies a spiritual understanding of nature. Scheckter is passionate about it and is determined that Laverstoke will have an educational as well as practical role. The farm has established links with a local agricultural college and he supports biodynamic movements in the UK and in South Africa.
He acknowledges the contradictions. ”Am I a hypocrite because I use aeroplanes, or don’t use a bicycle to get around, or think that in the greater scale of things banning formula one would be ridiculous? Maybe I am. I did look into producing energy here on site, including bio-diesel for the vehicles, but we couldn’t make it work on a big enough scale.
‘That made me pretty depressed for a while. If all my land and resources could produce relatively little energy — it isn’t even windy enough here for a turbine — the thought of what it takes to power all the cars on a motorway made me shake my head.
”In the end I reminded myself why I’d started this project, which was to produce superb healthy food, and told myself to concentrate on that. But I’m doing it like a true professional. Why do people expect to find us living in a caravan, using manual tools? We have a superbly equipped laboratory, analysing our soils, telling us which nutrients are deficient and which composts need to be applied.
”I’ve built a high-tech abattoir and meat processing facility at a cost of about £2,5-million, so that no Laverstoke animal has a long and stressful journey, and the meat tastes even better. We’ve bought the latest composting machines from Austria. We’re building a new dairy to make bigger quantities of our own cheeses, yoghurts and ice creams. Altogether, it’s cost me a fortune, millions of pounds.
”In two or three years, I intend every part of the farm to be self–supporting. And if I can make it financially viable on that scale, why can’t others get together and do the same?”
Scheckter is not prepared to apologise for growing expensive food. ”More and more consumers appreciate the link between the quality of the food, its taste and nutrients, and the cost of production, and will spend less elsewhere to enable them to feed themselves and their families properly. But it’s their choice.
”Many of my principles are ‘green’, but politically I’m probably Conservative; if I hire someone and they turn out mediocre, I want to be able to fire them quickly. My standards are high.” — Â