A modern take on traditional farming with Claire Pollock

Claire’s family has been farming in Fife for generations and came to Ardross Farm in 1968. It’s a mixed arable and livestock farm, comprising 1400 acres.
Rotation planning
Claire’s father had a clear vision for the farm and saw great value in combining traditional farming techniques with the technology of today. He drew inspiration from his grandfather, implementing a five-year crop rotation.
The rotational farming method is practiced at Ardross Farm today, which they try to keep as wide as possible. They grow a variety of crops, including winter and spring barley, winter wheat, spring and winter oil seed rape, spring beans, green manures, cover crops throughout the winter, plus forage crops for their cattle. They also grow a mix of vegetables, plus large amount of grass. By introducing break crops and having a flexible crop rotation, it has allowed the soil to build up humus and increase soil fertility.
A regenerative agricultural journey
The family started their regenerative agricultural journey primarily for economic reasons. Firstly, they looked at their cattle which they used to feed a small amount of grain, but now they’re only grass-fed and Pasture for Life certified. The benefits are twofold: their animals are cheaper to feed and soil health has improved.
They also looked at their establishing crops. For the past decade they’ve been using a Claydon drill, which works in all conditions on much of their land and gives good crops throughout the year. This means they’re not ploughing, so saving huge amounts on diesel and manpower, and they’re not subsoiling.
Abundant biodiversity
Since their regenerative agricultural journey started, they’ve seen a positive environmental impact. The worm count gone up and soil structure has improved. The ground appears to be more free-draining in wet seasons, and in dryer seasons crops can still find moisture as the root and soil structure is there. Pollinator-friendly cover crops support the pollinator community, particularly their bees which they’ve had on the farm for nearly a decade.
From farm to fork
In 2005 they opened a farm shop selling direct to consumers, making good food convenient to people. Customers are now curious to know more about grass fed beef.
Picturing the future of farming
Just like her father, Claire sees the huge opportunities open to farmers: to embrace the progressive changes in farming and mix that with the fundamental knowledge of soil and of nature, to create a system that works financially and environmentally. Claire is excited to see what the future holds if the farming community can move with this way of thinking.
This video is part of our #RethinkFarming campaign to show how UK farmers can deliver on climate change, nature recovery and sustainable food production.
#sustainable #farming #regenerativefarming #naturefriendlyfarming #scotland #fife

[@paulchance7948]

What a brilliant way to farm and I'm sure a happy and fulfilling way too.