Other than this, he ran much of his family's estates, served on government committees and he co-founded the surveyors and land agents Strutt & Parker.
[3] Two years later, at the age of 22, he began the management of the family's estates in Essex, but initially most of the land was let out, requiring little work.
However, from 1878 upon bad harvests and a price drop in wheat, he took more direct control, switching to a system of arable and dairy farming.
His improvements to the latter included the growing of lucerne (alfalfa) and other grasses as feed, increased hygiene measures, and testing for tuberculin to remove sickly cattle.
He served on many government committees: on post-war agriculture policy, the Royal Commission on Oxford and Cambridge universities (1920–22) and that on tariffs (import and export taxes) (1923).