With a finite amount of land available to us in the world, we believe that it is vital that the right food is produced on the right land.
Not all land is suitable for growing crops. Our river meadows, for example, cannot be ploughed up and used for arable farming – they must remain under permanent grass or the soil will wash into the river and cause problems. Alternatively, if land is simply rewilded, it may not produce any food at all, leading to food being brought in from abroad or leading to more intensive food production somewhere else.
Feeding livestock purely on grass and plants (i.e. pasture-fed) is a great way to produce nutritious, protein-rich food from land without needing to plough and cultivate it with tractors. In addition, leaving soil undisturbed under long term plantings like grass is a good way to help the soil regain its organic matter and act as a carbon sink, helping to combat climate change. Our fields of herbal leys will be drawing carbon down from the atmosphere each year and recharging the organic matter in the soil, boosting its life and fertility.