SUSTAINABILITY
Responsible farming for a brighter future
We love the beautiful Wye Valley countryside and are committed to preserving it so that future generations can enjoy living and working here for many years to come.
We are therefore taking steps across our entire operation to ensure our farming activities serve to protect and enhance our surrounding landscapes and ecosystems.
Our associations
We are proud members of LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming), an organisation that encourages responsible farming practices and measures our performance against key sustainability criteria.
We also regularly use the services of FWAG (Farming and Wildlife Action Group) to assist us when shaping our sustainability strategies.
What we do
WASTE
We avoid creating waste at every stage of production and aim to ensure none is sent to landfill. Any waste that is created is recycled wherever possible.
Pesticides
We continue to reduce the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides in all our arable cropping in favour of natural alternatives and are working closely with our partners to trial methods of reducing our use of phosphates and nitrogen.
FUEL
A large proportion of our poultry farms are heated by biomass boilers which enables us to produce poultry in a better environment, reduces our use of fossil fuels and gives us an alternative income stream thanks to the renewable heat incentive.
TRANSPORT
Wherever possible, our crops are grown within a 15-mile radius of our main farm centre.
We load crops into lorries using a field loader and dispatch them direct from the field, cutting down on costs and carbon emissions.
SOIL
We utilise all nutritional inputs responsibly to ensure our products meet consumers’ exacting quality requirements.
Our soil analysis programmes monitor pH levels and ensure that our crop regime does not damage the terrain.
Continuous investment in state-of-the-art machinery such as our latest four-row, self-propelled harvester is also allowing us to grow our crops with minimal soil disturbance.
CARBON
Our cereal crops are now established with minimum tillage and strip drill establishment, allowing us to reduce our carbon emissions and costs.
All our harvested land is now also planted with a cover crop to help further reduce carbon emissions and nutrient loss, improve soil health and reduce the risk of soil erosion.
WATER
We are consistently reducing our water consumption.
By measuring water deficit within our crops using neutron pros we can schedule water only as and when it’s needed, thereby reducing our usage.
We are also reducing the use of rain guns where possible in favour of mini sprinklers and drip tape, which allow us to target the water in areas where it is needed.
WILDLIFE
Our Integrated Farm Management Action Plan aims to manage habitats so they fulfil their wildlife potential, within the constraints of the business.
As well as creating a wildlife register of flora and fauna present on the farm, we are currently increasing the over-wintering habitat for beneficial predatory insects and spiders and establishing a pollen and nectar habitat area.
