On Friday (10 July 2015) The Prince of Wales, Patron of the Soil Association, visited an organic livestock farm in Wales. Maesllwyni Farm, an organic livestock farm, is hosting a field lab as part of the Duchy Future Farming Programme that will give farmers tangible measurables and real information about multi-species leys, which in turn will help influence the how the group involved manage their farms.
The Duchy Future Farming Programme brings together groups of innovative farmers to trial practical solutions to the common problems farmers face. Dafydd Jones at Maesllwyni Farm is growing different species of grass on his farm, this will form the basis of the field lab and lead research into potential implications for finished lamb production.
Liz Bowles, head of farming at the Soil Association said; “The Duchy Future Farming Programme is seeing practical successes for farmers across the country. This new, ground breaking research at Maesllwyni will show farmers quantifiable results of the benefits of grass leys. Whilst the benefits of more diverse leguminous leys for organic arable farms is becoming well known, there is less evidence on the value of such leys within livestock production systems. The field lab is addressing this knowledge gap.”
The meeting involved 10 to 12 organic and non-organic farmers coming together to discuss how differences in the quality of grass leys could affect livestock production and to devise on-farm trials to be carried out over the next 12 – 18 months. The group were able to share experiences of establishing and managing grass leys for their own production systems and to learn from Dafydd’s experience of his multi-species leys and how he has reduced concentrates fed to sheep.
Duncan Sinclair, Agriculture Manager at Waitrose commented; “Dafydd was crowned UK Grassland Manager 2014 and has supplied lamb to Waitrose Duchy organic for a number of years. It is fantastic he is now host to a Duchy Future Farming Programme field lab which holds so much potential within the industry. At Waitrose we are not only proud to be working with farmers like Dafydd, but also that the sale of Waitrose Duchy Organic products helps to fund such important work as the field lab programme. It is a true example of organisations and industry working together, using their resources to help develop innovation in farming.”
The trials will initially run over a two year period and will include the expertise of a forage consultant and ruminant nutritionist to help to evaluate the different options in different conditions, identifying the potential for yield and animal performance. The feed value of a multispecies ley is likely to change throughout the year as different plants reach peak performance at different times. Learning about this will drive improvements in group member's farming systems.
All farmers are invited to be part of the Duchy Future Farming Programme and join the network of famers sharing knowledge and researching new practical ideas.
