Inspiration through practice: How to start a regenerative farm
Digging ditches and planting trees across the middle of your fields? Most farmers would think you’re mad. But Nigel Griffiths is a man on a mission and not afraid to challenge farming orthodoxy. A year ago he moved to the 30-acre Landews Meadow Farm on the North Kent Downs and started by investing in a wind turbine – the first step in his vision of a sustainable self-reliant farm.
Nigel and his family began farming with no previous experience. They were inspired by what they heard on a permaculture course and by examples from Mark Shepard of New Forest Farm and Joel Salatin of Polyface farms. A year on, they are producing high quality free-range eggs, woodland-raised rare breed pork, pasture-raised chicken and duck, and honey. More products are lined up for the future. This type of ‘regenerative’ agriculture aims to increase and sustain productivity by restoring and enhancing ecosystem processes – in contrast to most modern farming systems, which rely on external inputs. Within the context of organic farming, regenerative agriculture is designed specifically to build soil health and to regenerate depleted soils. With increasing awareness of widespread land degradation, more farmers are realising that the health and productivity of their farms rely on soil fertility and they are seeking methods to address this.
To hear more about Landews Meadow and the example it sets, I went on the Regenerative Agriculture Start-up – Systems, Processes, Sales and Marketing workshop and farm tour organised by RegenAg UK. The organisation was set up in 2011 to connect experts in regenerative practices from around the world as well as around Britain with farmers and smallholders across the country. It runs a range of courses and events about soil health and farming methods, which are accessible for the expert and novice alike.
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