The ORC and The Land Gardeners have teamed up to bring together a cohort of farmers and growers trailblazing soil health practices in the sector. A range of trials are set to start in the coming months but in the meantime get to know a few of our case study farmers:
FARM NAME: Lockerley Estate (twinned with Preston farms), Hampshire
FARM SIZE: 2,000 ha
DESCRIPTION: Lockerley Farm and Estate has a mission to be a regenerative and successful farming business, championing a style of agriculture where biodiversity, the soil, and community wellbeing are at the heart of all they do.
FARM NAME: Rose Dale’s Organic Farm, Buckinghamshire
FARM SIZE: 90 ha
DESCRIPTION: Rose Dale’s Organic Farm sits on land farmed by her family for over 60 years. When Rose took over the farm in 2019, she was determined to produce healthy, nutritious food in a way that was nature-friendly, regenerative, and looks after soil, water, and air for future generations. She has since built a business committed to these values.
FARM NAME: Mindrum Estate, Northumberland
FARM SIZE: 465ha
DESCRIPTION: Mindrum is a mixed farm on the Scottish border, led by Tom Fairfax, a conventional-turned-organic farmer sick of watching his profits shrink year on year. Now in the midst of a regenerative transition, Tom draws on a foundation course by the Soil Food Web, to practice a holistic understanding of soil health and plant-animal biology.
FARM NAME: Village Farm, Oxfordshire
FARM SIZE: 150 ha
DESCRIPTION: Village Farm is a mixed farm with 90 ha grazing beef cattle and 60 ha variety of arable crops including wheat, beans, oats, and barley. The farm has been in the family for over 100 years, and from starting life as a dairy, it now wild farms on about 2/3rds of its arable land, with linseed, wheat and bean, and oat and bean bi-crops.
FARM NAME: Neidpath Farms, Scottish Borders
FARM SIZE: 1,012 ha
DESCRIPTION: Neidpath is a large, upland collective of four farms in Peebles that takes pride in livestock farming with nature.
