Lodge farm in Leicestershire has been farmed for three generations since 1933 and has a herd of 280 cattle, consisting of 100 dairy cows, 30 heifers, 50 fatteners and around 100 young stock. Located in the Edge Area, the non-intensive farm is around 580 acres and includes arable ground, used to grow wheat and barley. The majority of this is used for feed and where he can, the farmer tries to sell the surplus.
Historically a closed herd has always been preferred but due to being low on cow numbers, a small neighbouring finishing herd was bought in 2013, as well as 10 Dutch-imported milking heifers. In terms of nose-to-nose contact, Lodge farm is not surrounded by any other large farms. This coupled with the dairy cattle being housed from around October to April, means that the chance of contact with other cattle is relatively small. Nevertheless, there is woodland directly adjacent to the farm which is currently inhabited by badgers. Originally this area used to be permanent meadows and woodland with badger setts, however the setts were over 1,000 metres away from the farm. In 2013, several housing estates were built within close proximity to the farm and both the increased investment in housing and human activity may have been a possible reason for the badgers being displaced closer to the farm.