Regenerative Farming
The conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming
Regenerative agriculture focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration, increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of farm soil.
What's Special About Farming at West Town Farm?
​Over 30 years ago, in 1990, we stopped putting chemicals and artificial fertiliser into our land's soil and started looking at the bigger picture. The damage caused to the environment and biodiversity by chemical farming has already had devastating effects, and whilst it has allowed the temporary production of the cheap food we see in supermarkets today, these practises are simply unsustainable.
Healthy soils are critical for life.
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They produce 95 per cent of our food. They store more carbon than the world's forests, mitigate climate change, recycle nutrients and waste, and clean our water. Yet, they are vulnerable to industrial pollution, unsustainable exploitation and erosion.
“Is it reasonable to suppose that we can apply a broad-spectrum insecticide to kill the burrowing, larval stages of a crop-destroying insect … without also killing the ‘good’ insects whose function may be the essential one of breaking down organic matter and maintaining healthy soil?”
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Rachel Carson, The Silent Spring 1962
Mob Grazing
Here at West Town Farm, we use mob grazing which mimicks nature’s way of creating and maintaining species rich grasslands, one of the most important habitats for biodiversity on the planet. Think the great plains of 1800’s USA or the savannah regions of Africa.
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The process involves a group of cattle (a mob) being moved regularly to fresh pasture, reproducing the habits of wild grazers who are on the move. This system allows the land to recover quickly which helps build humus levels in the soil and prevents over-fertilising the soil (which can leach into waterways, causing pollution and algal blooms downstream)
The soil at West Town is becoming more resilient to extreme weather. The fields lock in water in dry periods, meaning the pasture is greener, for longer. And prevents flooding and soil erosion in wet periods.
Pasture and Herbal Leys
Pasture doesn’t just mean grass, there are other plants in the sward: legumes including Clover, Sainfoin, Trefoil, deep rooted perennials including Docks, Charlock and Thistles which bring minerals up from deep in the ground and herbs such as Plantains, Chicory, Yarrow and Burnet. Cows are natural browsers, they also like to eat foliage from our thick hedgerows.
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What they don't eat, they flatten. This is then returned to the soil by the action of worms and insects, contributing to the soil's health. Healthy soil supports a multitude of microorganisms and mycelial networks which in turn produce stronger, more nutritious plants and ultimately, contented healthy animals.
Healthy Ecosystems
Grazing cattle this way on pasture is helping to restore ecosystems. Wildlife numbers increase year on year at the farm, birds and butterflies thrive. Because the cows have a light footprint there is time for ground-nesting birds and small mammals to breed and, most importantly, it allows for nutrients to be cycled through the soil.
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Healthy soil absorbs an incredible amount of carbon, vital for combating CO2 levels. Regenerative agriculture, such as the kind we practice here is being recognised by many as a crucial part of the way we need to go forward if we are to tackle climate change.
A Mosaic of Habitats
Diverse Hedgerows
Traditional hedgerows not only provide protection and shade for our livestock, they're a rich source of medicinal plants. Our livestock self-medicate seeking out various minerals and nutrients. They consume tree and shrub leaves, berries and bark for dietary protein, trace elements like zinc and copper, and tannins which can help hugely with animal pain relief, tooth and gut health and protection from parasites.
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Hedges also support a diverse population of flora and fauna. They make a great refuge, and their flowers, berries and nuts are a vital food source for invertebrates, birds and mammals.
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Hedges - small but mighty - clean our air, provide wildlife corridors, capture carbon and reduce flooding.
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Trees and Woodlands
The farm also has 12+ acres of established woodland, including Chillies Copse and the Old Quarry and new areas of tree planting, including Jenny's Wood, The Paddock and Wilderness Three.
They provide lots of practical benefits including: protecting livestock from weather extremes, habitat for flora and fauna, reducing flooding, enhancing the soil and acting as riparian buffers, protecting our waterways.
The Old Railway Line
The old railway line forms part of the farm trail and is a jungly mass of ferns, shade loving plants and a diverse array of mushrooms and fungi. At dusk, it comes to life with bats; darting over your head and under the bridge.
Wild Meadows
We leave some areas on the farm, fallow, where no livestock graze. These are rich in birdlife, flora and insects and more recently, Hares!
Traditional Orchards
We have X acres of orchards that consist of a diverse mix of apple, pear and plum. They not only supply wildlife with a rich food source, especially for Winter migrating birds, but also provide shade for our sheep in Spring, before shearing season.
A Shaggy Dock Story by Andy
When I came out of Agricultural College in 1978, farming was all about taking over nature, taking back control. This would mean killing ‘weeds’ with herbicides and applying large amounts of industrial nitrogen to the fields. I remember going on a farm walk on a dairy farm near Totnes, Devon with a group of farmers. It was an organic farm so no herbicides and fertilisers were used.The group was walking through a field and there were quite a few docks in the pasture.
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‘There are a lot of docks in this field, it looks a bit of a mess; are you not worried that they are taking over and decreasing the production of your grass?' asked one of us.
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The organic farmer replies: 'Not at all, in fact I love docks. I think docks provide diversity to the diet of my cows. Early in the spring the shoots are young and the cows love to eat them. The leaves are especially nutritious. Docks are also very deep rooting and they can stay green in dry times when other grasses have stopped growing. Their roots bring up a diverse range of minerals and vitamins from the deeper regions of the soil'
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It made sense to me. Now I don't use any chemical fertilisers or herbicides and I know an awful lot more about docks: the seed heads are an important source of food for wildlife in winter, such as birds, rodents and deer. Curled Dock, for example, contains more vitamin C than oranges and more vitamin A than carrots. It also contains vitamins B1 and B2, and iron!
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This was the beginning of my organic journey.
