Our secondary goal is to enhance the farmland, to make it better. One way we do this is through the use of cover crops during the winter months, making sure our soil is not left bare and exposed to the elements. Our cover crops, a blends of oats, vetch, mustard and rape, absorb remaining nutrients in the soil, stopping them from being leached into our waterways.
When we plough down our cover crops in the springtime, their structure adds to the organic matter in our soils. We also ensure that no fertiliser is used anywhere on the farm between October and February, again prevent it being washed or leached into our waterways.
Other practices which take place include regular hedgerow planting and maintenance.
No hedgerows are cut from March until August as this is nesting season and we want to make sure that we do not damage these fragile habitats during this important time of the year.