Discover Farming Visits & Learning
Experience the beauty of North Northumberland at Kypie Farm. We offer fun, educational Farmer lead visits where children and young adults explore the wonders of the countryside and see exactly where their food journey begins.
About Our Farm
Welcome to Kypie Farm, a 372‑acre mixed arable and pedigree sheep farm in the rolling foothills of the Cheviots, just outside Northumberland National Park. As a family‑run working farm, we’re committed to sustainable, regenerative farming - working with nature to improve soil health, increase biodiversity and protect the birds and wildlife that share our land.
Family Farm
We truly are a family‑run farm. David and Marlyn Mair moved to Kypie Farm in 1991 when they were offered a farm tenancy on Ford and Etal Estate. Today, their daughter Anne and her sons Henry and Ewan lead the day‑to‑day running of the farm, with David, Marlyn and Anne’s husband Darren all helping out. Farming has been part of our family for many generations.
Land & Crops
The majority of our farm is down to permanent pasture (long‑established grass) for grazing our sheep. We also have some temporary grass and legumes (sown less than five years ago) which are used to produce silage and hay for feeding over the winter months. Our arable crops cover approximately 80 acres and include wheat, barley (both winter and spring sown) and occasionally some oats. We retain all of the straw for bedding and some barley for feeding, with the rest sold for animal feed.
Breeding
Our pedigree flocks are our pride and joy. This passion started with a small Suffolk flock around 25 years ago; in fact, we can still trace our flock today back to our original five. Since then, we have established a further four flocks: Texels, Blue Texels, Hebrideans and our newest additions, Swiss Valais Blacknose. All flocks are run “closed”, which means that we breed all of our own replacement ewes and only “buy in” our stock tups or rams from carefully selected bloodlines.
Our Educational Visits
At Kypie Farm, we've welcome schools and groups since 2019. Our Farmer lead school visits are free and can be tailored to cover various curriculum subjects, from Geography to Biology and everything in-between but most of all, a day spent on our working family farm is sure to be good fun for inquisitive young minds. For pupils aged 4 - 18 years old.
Lambing visits are everyone's favourite! Not quite "Springtime on the Farm" for our lambing though, as we start lambing at the beginning of February each year and that means our sheds are full of expectant ewes under our watchful eye. Learn about the lead-up to lambing time, the care and welfare requirements of our flock, nutrition pre and post lambing, why we lamb in February and so much more..... you may even get to feed a pet lamb or two! These visits are extremely popular so early enquiries are encouraged.
It's not just school visits we offer. If you are a group or club looking to organise a trip please feel free to get in touch. We can add some hands-on experiences such as Sheep Trekking and Wool Felting Workshops.
Meet the Sheep
Encounter our pedigree flocks, learning about different breeds of sheep and how we manage our flock.
Trailer Farm Tour
Experience a trailer ride farm tour around the upper part of the farm, taking in some of the best views in Northumberland.
Our Farm Classroom
A place to learn and lunch. Our indoor learning sessions can cover seasonal farming cycles, biodiversity, field to fork process and more.
Environment and Nature
Learn how we work hand in hand with nature and the benefits it brings.
