Lessons learned from the first season of growing legumes and heritage varieties of wheat on a Welsh farm hopes to inform how more local food could be produced.
The Welsh government's Farming Connect initiative has funded a field-scale legume production trial on a 40-hectare council-owned holding, in Carmarthenshire.
The trial at Bremenda Isaf Farm, a former livestock unit, was instigated to explore how plant protein could be grown locally for public sector supply, such as in schools.
A menu redesign by Carmarthenshire County Council is examining food sourcing and sustainability, replacing items that can be produced more locally.
The Bwyd Sir Gâr Food partnership, which is involved in the trial, said the project hopes to demonstrate that farmers can produce high quality plant protein and cereals adapted to the local climate.
"If we can do all of that on one farm, other farmers can do it as well," said the partnership’s co-ordinator, Augusta Lewis.
With support from Farming Connect’s Advisory Service, a Nutrient Management Plan (NMP) was carried out to establish the soil nutrient status on this former livestock farm.
“It’s really important to have that insight first up," said Augusta. Soil testing showed that the farm’s deep alluvial soils are highly fertile.
“The NMP came back revealing some very interesting data in relation to our soils which very much changed the plans," she added.
“The soils are very high in phosphorous which you would expect from historic slurry application so we do not have a fertility problem here at all.
"As we have learned more about soil, we understand that high phosphorus levels potentially lock up other nutrients.
"In terms of crop health and vitality, we are looking at creating a balance which means no additional inputs for the time being, apart from lime to raise pH."
Support was also received through a mentoring service, with input from Marina O’Connell and Rachel Phillips of the Apricot Centre in Devon, a stacked mixed enterprise which is a model Bremenda Isaf aspires to.
Organic grower Iain Tolhurst also advised the farm on field scale production and is producing a rotation plan.
Bremenda Isaf is currently converting to organic certification, although it already grows to those principles.
The trial explored which legumes perform well in the west Wales climate, with Carlin and Daytona peas being grown.
Some were intercropped with the heritage wheat varieties, April Bearded and Malika, to establish benefits for soil health.
The trial faced a significant challenge from exceptional levels of rainfall ahead of establishment.
Augusta said: “We had an extremely unprecedented wet winter and that meant our tenant grazier was unable to get on the land to take off the silage and lime application was delayed."
This meant that the wheat and legumes could not be planted until the beginning of June, she added.
“It was very late but we decided that we would plant anyway in the spirit that we will learn something, and we really have learned a lot.
“There is a lot of risk involved with growing cereals, people who have been in the game for a very long time can have a disastrous season if it is exceptionally wet or dry but the great thing about doing trial size plots is that the risk is not too great."
Germination rate in the Daytona peas was poor, she reported, and harvesting of the crops will be very late, if at all.
But soil and quadrat sampling will provide useful information on any impacts the intercropping has had on soil biomass levels.
“We have learned a tremendous amount about the growing habits of these varieties and we are confident that even over one growing season we will begin to see how intercropping can make a difference to soil health."
