After the Second World War much of the land was passed on to the next generation of farming families. Between the wars there were over 3,000 tenants on the Estate. This number has now been reduced to around 350 as farms have been amalgamated in to bigger more viable units. Most of the Estate is let to tenant farmers. Crops grown are wheat, barley, potatoes, sugar beet, oilseed rape, linseed, beans and peas.
Some farmers have livestock, but usually as a secondary enterprise using arable by-products.
There are several specialist farms growing vegetables, fruit, flowers, shrubs and trees. Many of the farms are in remote areas and provide employment opportunities as well as playing an important role in maintaining rural communities. The Estate is also an important environmental resource. We have 4 sites of Special Scientific Interest and 19 farms are zoned especially to protect wildlife. Some of the best known sites are the Beechwood at Shelford, the Devil's Dyke at Burwell, Mare Fen at Swavesey, Giants Hill at Rampton and the Car Dyke at Waterbeach.