A brand new farm shop and cafe is planned for Ducklington by a well-known farming family.

Randal and Helen Strainge, of Ducklington Farm, are planning to offer high welfare butchery and deli counters at the shop and to sell craft drinks, fresh, frozen and pantry goods as well as weigh-your-own dry ingredients.

The Ducklington Farm Shop and Café will create up to 15 full-time jobs and provide an outlet for fellow farmers and food producers in the county.

Up to a third of its products will come from within a 30-mile radius and around 20% from the Strainges' own farm – including Ducklington Farm’s Easycare lamb, Oxford Sandy and Black pork and Boer goat.

The café, which will be easily accessible from a well-used network of footpaths, as well as the A40, will sell hot and cold drinks plus home-produced light meals and snacks.

Plans for the proposed new building, which is agricultural in style with sympathetic landscaping, were submitted to West Oxfordshire District Council last December.

They have attracted nearly 60 supportive comments online.

Mrs Strainge hopes the plans will be approved by spring when building will begin and the shop should open in 2022 at the latest.

The Strainges, who have three young daughters, also run a B&B at their farmhouse, which is currently closed due to Covid, a self-catering cottage and a busy caravan site.

Diversifying

They have been farming for over 150 years in the village and they and their wider family are very involved in the local community as members of the parish council, village hall committee, church warden, Neighbourhood Watch and Friends of Ducklington School.

Mrs Strainge said: “We have been diversifying over the years offering accommodation, adding Boer goats and Oxford and Sandy Black pigs, selling our farm reared produce.

"Farming is challenging in today’s agricultural climate, especially for small family run farms like ours.

"The time had come for us to decide on the future of the farm, for us to continue a farm shop and café was the next logical step.

“We are thrilled to be creating a network with local farmers and producers and showcasing their incredible produce alongside ours.

"We are also excited about the increase in tourism this will bring as well as being able to create and offer much needed employment in the area as we come out of the coronavirus pandemic."

She added: “We are passionate about food provenance, we believe knowing where food was raised, grown or produced creates a respect for food leading to less wastage.

"We plan to be accessible to local schools and clubs, to be a centre where not only you can purchase locally produced food but to help educate where it comes from, something that’s not always available to people in less rural settings.”

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.