Sustainable Farming at Manor Farm, Kelfield

24th April 2015

‘Profiting from Sustainability’

Richard Bramley

Farm facts • 500 acres or more depending on licenses • 2015 -Milling wheat, malting barley (winter and spring),

potatoes (Walkers contract), Sugar beet, OSR, Industrial Hemp, Dry Peas

• Previous years: Spring beans, linseed and fibre flax • Mainly grade 1 warp and grade 2 loams • Wide adoption of cover cropping • ELS (ends Aug 2015) + extensive voluntary stewardship • Yorkshire natural fibre production- Queens Award winning

Harrison Spinks Beds • Eco-holiday let diversification ‘The Dovecote Barns’ 5 star,

multi-award winning non-fossil fuel business • Flooding an increasing issue

Bringing farming to the world of upholstery – improving the sustainability of the product and

altering customer perception

Key benefits of Cover Crops in a rotation

• Bio-diversity boost (supports CFE)- food/ cover/ insects

• Traps nutrients between crops (N&P especially)

• Reduces pollution as a result

• Increases organic matter – soil resilience to extremes/ cation exchange sites/ microbes and earthworms/ erosion

• Soil structure/ workability

• Some offer biocidal activity

• Weed suppression (possible activity against blackgrass)

• EFA’s

• Progress to more sustainable soil management

• No paperwork!

Summary- cover crops

• Many benefits to grower and environment

• Cost effective

• Doesn’t affect productive output of the farm negatively –in fact should improve output

• Currently unvalued and EFA rules poorly thought out (changes for 2016?)

• Every farm different – explore what fits your business

• Some negatives -experiment

Improved sustainability -

• Farms form the bedrock of food and the environment in the UK – must properly value their outputs (not just products)

• Need to address waste • Need to reduce paperwork! • A thriving farm economy and sensible regulation benefit

sustainability in the food chain • Committed growers value a long term approach and can

enjoy working up the chain • Need to have sensible policy that does not hinder progress

–simple, effective, joined up • Get farmer involvement further up the chain- change public

perception of products - the farmers is an asset