Apart from the one hectare forest garden and traditional orchards, tree planting is a priority at Planton. The already permanent pastures are being planted to create traditional wood-pasture – one of our most diverse ecosystems and now a rarity in the British landscape.

“20% of a cow’s diet is meant to come from woody plants. If we’re not providing those, we’re not optimising the cattle’s health. There is no livestock species that doesn’t do better under trees. What we want to demonstrate is the art of what’s possible with livestock and agro-ecology.”

Planton Farm’s 80 acres are under conversion to organic certification and although small, Clare is keen that part of what they do is to show the profitability in shifting to this more diversified, regenerative approach.

“We see ourselves very much in service to the regenerative movement.”

Farming generally only monopolises one level, the ground. By adding trees you add in other layers which acts as a carbon sink, shade, shelter, browsing for animals, and human food in the form of fruits and nuts.

Cattle
The pedigree Aberdeen Angus cattle are fundamental to this agro-ecological farming system. Currently ten breeding cows with 11 calves are all 100% forage-fed. The plan is to grow the herd to at least double, but the farm needs rest in its transition.

Animal welfare is a high priority. Managing a stable family herd and allowing weaning to occur naturally, so that there is no requirement to separate the cows from their calves, are just part of the way in which they do things differently.

“This means that the calves have got milk for so much longer through the year, which makes them much stronger, so it is much more natural. Everybody tells you, oh, that will never work, the big calves will steal the milk. And it was like, yeah, but that doesn’t happen in nature. We’re always looking to see how nature does things.”

Chickens
Planton will soon be home to broiler chickens who will follow the cattle, three days on, when there are plenty of bugs in the cow dung which the chickens can enjoy scratching around. The scratching, the variety of animals dung, all brings more biodiversity.

“How do we increase biodiversity? It’s the ultimate aim. How do we create such an abundance of insects in the pastures that the chickens get a large proportion of their protein needs from that wild source? I guess that’s our north star.”

Clare talks a radically new language when it comes to food production. 

“We don’t farm ‘yield’ anymore, we farm phytonutrients, micronutrients and what is good for the gut microbiome. I want to talk about how we bring awareness to hidden hunger, the excess calories we consume yet the micronutrients we lack. How do we start talking about that in farming circles?”

It is really important to the team that they demonstrate all their ideas on the farm, to help convince other farmers. 

“We’re managing for biodiversity not just because we’re one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world and we need to put that right, but also because better ecosystem health = better animal health.” 

As well as official biodiversity audits, demonstrating an impressive increase in just two years, the team are observing many changes. Birdsfoot trefoil is suddenly everywhere and other plants are coming up from the latent seed bed all the time. There is a noticeable increase in insects and birdlife, but this is just the beginning.

Clare sees certain species as indicators: barn owl, curlew, dormice and dung beetles. Curlew nests on the ground and have struggled with industrial farming and early hay cropping; dormice need hedges, especially with hazelnuts; owls need plenty of voles and no rat poison; dung beetles, who come in many species, need a variety of wormer-free dung. Clare has a big vision for how the farm will look and feel in the future.

“What I really want is for this to be a safe haven for wildlife. I want people who come here to be like, oh, wow it even feels different.”

We hope you get the opportunity to try the excellent quality produce we provide from Planton Farm!