About Regenerative Farming at Ruxstons

What is Regenerative Farming?

Creating Sustainable Farmland

Regenerative farming is working with wildlife and the land as opposed to farming against it. Regenerative farming involves reducing or stopping ploughing to avoid soil disturbance to lock carbon into the soil. Regenerative farms will not excessively trim hedgerows and allow grass to grow for longer periods of time to help lock carbon deep into the soil. Regenerative farms in an ideal sense should be grow a variety of animals, such as cows, sheep, pigs and ducks rather than just focussing on one animal, this enables all animals to offer a different use to the farm and better mimic nature. Regenerative farms have a lot more wildlife and insects on the farm due to a less interfering approach by the farmer. Ruxstons has narrowed down regenerative farming to four generalised key points listed below.

-Holistic management- such as leaving longer rest periods for grass to grow between grazing, This means more time for growth of the grass, this allows larger root systems to develop for more carbon matter stored in the soil. Grazing too often may lead to stunting grass growth, effectively making the plant too stressed before it continues to grow. A good way to see if a farm may be using regenerative practices is to look at the length of their grass, you may often notice fields or sections of fields left which much longer grass where the animals are prevented from going.

-Use of crop and livestock rotation- This can stop disease setting in where similar crops are planted year after year, a process called mono-cropping. Mono cropping ensures that as all plants will need certain minerals from the ground they will always take the same one, by growing different plants and crops this ensures one mineral is not excessively taken. In livestock terms a good example would be parasites that only affect sheep which can be rotated with cows not affected by the same parasite, the multi species element in this example would reduce the likelihood of this disease setting in in the first place.

-Increasing diversity - In the land to work with nature and farm livestock on a low input system. A variation of plants and more plants = healthier soil, more pollinators and a variety of food for different livestock allowing easier rotation. A lot of regenerative farms use herbal leys,  a mixture of plants such as clover dandelion, plantain and chicory offer livestock a wider nutritional diet creating healthier and tastier beef to enjoy all while encouraging more diversity in the land, and fixing nitrogen into the soil.

​-Reducing Soil disturbance- such as the reduction in ploughing for sowing crops, having excessive upturned soil can lead to rain running along the exposed soil surfaces causing nutrient run off. Some regenerative farmers have modified direct drilling machines to reduce tilling to less than 20% which is a huge decrease on the 100% a plough would cause. Not only avoiding upturning soil, but excessive compaction on the soil can be negative as well. Root growth is reduced under compacted soils, minimising uses of heavy machinery can be positive to the land. Driving on wet grass is very negative for root growth and should be avoided unless urgently required.

Creating Sustainable Farmland

The soil of which everything grows upon is incredibly important to have a natural balance of minerals and nutrients for plants to grow, animals are a vital part of the system and cycle to make sure everything can continue to rely on each other even without human input. Upsetting the balance of the soil through altering even the smallest of details can have a detrimental affect on the farming system.

Regenerative farming can be used to, firstly restore a balanced level of nutrients including nitrogen into the soil as well as sequestering carbon and then move onto a sustainable system where the land isn't losing anything. if we were to farm in a regenerative way, such as one aspect,

Holistic management and leaving longer rest periods for the grass in between grazing to allow increased and deeper root growth (plant roots being predominately carbon based), there will be more root matter in the ground, thus meaning more carbon "locked" into the soil.

Although this method of farming is "carbon negative", we won't get the rate the same of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere 5 years time as the soil can only sequester so much carbon from the atmosphere. So ultimately the levels of storing carbon through combined practices will eventually taper off and reach a balance where no more is taken in. However this is no issue, a farm may not be considered "carbon negative" anymore if it gets to this level, however if farmers maintained their practices at this point the farm could be considered sustainable, or rather carbon neutral, and it would be the best kind of sustainable farm as it would be maintaining farmland at it's healthiest.

If all farms in the world adopted more of these methods, there could be a big impact on reversing the effects of climate change, although only partly responsible, there are more intensive methods of agriculture that will be causing excess emissions.

Animal feed importance - Avoiding Soya, Palm and Animal protein where possible

Avoiding Soya

It is of the utmost importance that we source feeds for animals responsibly for the current environment and land. Cows sheep and goats can grow, and manage without extra feed. Pigs, and in particular chickens will become too inefficient at growing using just the natural food off the pastures, they can be supplement with UK crops such as wheat and barley and rapeseed meal. Soya, Palm and Animal derived feeds are three things we avoid.

Soya in feed for livestock is often used due to the high protein content and relative cheap price. Using these feeds would be a quick and easy way to grow animals, however we believe it is not the best way for these reasons . Soya has been correlated to contribute to mass deforestation on a global scale for it's growth. It cannot be grown in the UK so also contributes to excessive air miles needed for it's transport. 

Feed based off what a Chicken may naturally find for example, grass, insects, worms and seeds for example is the best food. A natural diet while adding some UK based food that can be naturally grown here bumps up the efficiency to end up with animals that reach their full potential.

Soya used in other foods for direct human consumption are often avoided for the same high food mile and deforestation issues. However in modern day we have plenty of substitutes that can be UK grown such as soya lecithin, this can easily be replaced with sunflower lecithin.

Avoiding Animal based feeds

But we also look into the history and chemical status of the areas of where the feed comes from, pigs and chickens can be fed with animal by-products such as fish meal. This is banned for ruminants such as Cows and sheep, however some factory style farms still use this method for pork and chicken production. Fishmeal is used as it is very digestible and contains a level of high quality protein. However we believe this should be avoided partly for safety reasons, it is an unnatural diet and is often high in heavy metals found in fish, particularly fish that would not be safe for human consumption.

For example, after World War Two, canisters with approximately 17,000 tons of the organophosphate nerve gases sarin and tabun, 14,0000 tons of phosgene, 120,0000 tons of mustard gas, as well as other waste munitions, white phosphors etc. and propellants such as nitro glycerine were removed from Queniborough and other ordnance and storage depots, these were then shipped out and dumped along fault lines such as Beaufort dyke, under the irish and north seas, these areas have since been intensively trawled for the provision of fish protein for both human and livestock consumption in the UK. The gradual corrosion these canisters by the salty sea water and mechanical damage due to the laying of cables on the sea bed, led to reports of munitions leaking into the open seas , fishermen have suffered acute intoxication as a result indicating the start of a wide scale contamination of the local marine food chain.

Corroding canisters containing white phosphorus and mustard gas munition have been washed up on Irish and UK beaches since the late 1980s. Phosphorus represents one of the nucleating agents that can seed metal protein crystals in biological tissues, related to tumour cell growth. This is a fine example of why to eat meat we have to be extremely scrupulous of where their feed has come from, fish meal used in these animal feeds could affect the animals negatively potentially contaminating meat sources.

UK Government analyses of sea bed sediment and the "edible" portion of the fish has been unable to identify the parent compounds of the particular types of chemical munitions that were dumped in these seas, this study however failed to analyse the samples for specific metabolites that are known to degrade via alkaline hydrolysis from these types of chemical ordnance. Thousands of tons of "inedible" fish were bio concentrated into animal feeds, this was banned in 1988. Non-ruminants such as pigs and chickens can still be fed this however under UK regulations, the use is controlled to check farms and ensure there is no risk of cross contaminations into animals that it would be illegal to be fed this.

Potentially there is risk of consuming meat from animals fed with contaminated "inedible" fish meal. To pinpoint the areas of high risk fish is highly difficult, however it is unnatural to be feeding pigs and chickens a diet like this, neither animal would eat these in the wild. So the best step we decided is to avoid it altogether.

Unfortunately, The EU have lifted the ban recently on feeding animal by-products "The proposed change in legislation allows processed animal protein (PAPs) from pigs to be used in poultry feed, and from poultry to be used in pig feed." [*2]. 

Less bio concentrate of fish-meal is used today, as a replacement, Soya and Palm are used with their high protein content, this now being something damaging to the environment, but less risk to human health. Sometimes soya free chicken contains this waste fish-meal in areas of the US as an advertising ploy. So as wholesale we need to avoid all of these things. Locally and responsibly grown ingredients are needed.

Traceability of not just the animals, but their feed is incredibly Important, so we can sell it with confidence in the product. 

[*2] PigProgress - EU lifts ban on animal by-products in pig feed