Soil and Compost
Linscombe Farm was selected by the Soil Association to be its first National Demonstration Farm for Composting and Soil Management, demonstrating best practice for the productive and safe re-use of farm wastes: soil management is vital to any farm but is make or break for an organic farm. The health of the soil directly reflects in the health, nutritional status, size and appearance of the vegetables and so a huge amount of time and effort is put into soil management. Local community green waste from parks and gardens is hot composted on the farm before being applied to the fields to improve long term soil structure and fertility. Crop rotations, green manures and careful attention to the timing and techniques of soil cultivations are all employed to maximum benefit at Linscombe.
Conservation and wildlife
Conservation and wildlife are at the heart of our farm and we work closely with Devon Wildlife Trust. We have been planting trees and hedges since we came here in 1996, including over 5000 trees on 5 acres in 2003, and a further 2000 trees and hedgerows in 2004. We have areas of rough grassland to provide habitat for small (and not so small) mammals, plants, insects and fungi. Our irrigation needs are supplied by the two ponds we created when we first came to the farm; in addition to supplying the irrigation water, the ponds are superb habitat for a huge variety of insect, bird and plant life. It can be exhilarating to see the masses of swallows and house martins perform their stunning aerobatics as they hunt, drink, wash and play over the ponds without ever appearing to collide with each other. The ponds are also home to water fowl who have found their way there, including families of coots and mallards. The frogs and toads that have invaded the ponds migrate around the farm and are especially welcome in the polytunnels where they engage in a bit of much appreciated slug and snail control. In the vegetable fields, the wide diversity of crops supports a multitude of insects and weed seed which provides food and cover for many bird species throughout the year. Barn owls, kestrels and a host of dragon flies can be seen going about their business, alongside yellowhammers and skylarks.
Social Responsibility
We never forget that people are at the heart of everything that we do. We provide local families with fresh, nutritious, seasonal produce, giving an additional local focus to the community. As the community supports our business, we reciprocate by re-investing the communities’ “food money” back into the local economy by, wherever possible, ensuring our suppliers are other local businesses. We also supply vegetables to local shops, pubs and other Organic Box Schemes based in Devon, to help them reduce their dependency on imports, so perpetuating this cycle of local regeneration within the rural economy. Within the farm itself, we pay our permanent staff fair wages for fair work, actively promote a safe and healthy working environment and provide regular training courses and opportunities for career development.
Many studies have highlighted the social and economic benefits from organic farming systems such as the one at Linscombe Farm. A recent one by the University of Exeter is summarised below:
Key findings from the University of Exeter study
- 39% more jobs per farm in organic systems (6.40 compared to 4.60)
- 64% more jobs per hectare in organic systems (4.21 compared to 2.56 per 100 hectares)
- Organic farmers are, on average, five years younger than non-organic farmers
- 31% of organic farmers are new entrants to farmers, compared to 21% of non-organic farmers
- Better educated - 51% organic farmers have been through higher education, compared to 30% of non-organic farmers
- Greater businesses diversification - 56% of organic farms, compared to 45% of non-organic farmers
- More direct and local marketing - 39% of organic farms, compared to 13% of non-organic farmers
- More computer literate - 82% of organic farmers use ICT, compared to 61% of non-organic farmers
The survey covered 302 organic and 353 non-organic farms in three catchments in England: Devon, East England and North England in 2003. This accounted for 44% of organic farms and 35% of organic farms in these areas, but only 12% of organic farms in England and 7% in the UK.
Added to the environmental, ecological and nutritional benefits, this makes a strong case for a local organic farm to be at the base of everyone’s individual food chain.