A LEADING farming representative visited Yeo Valley Organic in Somerset to see the work being done to improve the sustainability of its farming.
National Farmers' Union (NFU) president Minette Batters started her visit at Yeo Valley's headquarters in Blagdon, where she met co-founder Mary Mead OBE and the company's regenerative agriculture team.
Renegerative agriculture describes farming practices that aim to build healthy soil, which is an effective way of fighting climate change.
Ms Batters then saw the company's trials with mob grazing cattle (a planned grazing system that seeks to emulate nature) on the Mendip Hills.
She later visited one of the UK's largest agroforestry projects, where livestock are introduced to woodland pasture to increase soil carbon and enhance biodiversity.
Ms Batters spoke to Yeo Valley representatives about British food production and the opportunities and challenges surrounding food manufacturing.
They also discussed methane measurement and approaches for soil carbon sequestration, particularly how they are accounted for in future agricultural policy.
Yeo Valley’s Karl Tucker said: “It was great to see Minette here in person, seeing first-hand what we’re doing.
“As an organic brand for nearly 30 years, we believe it’s important that we all continue working together and sharing best practice and the opportunities and challenges of UK food production.
“With nine million households enjoying Yeo Valley Organic products a year, it's vital that we share our views on farming, particularly the sustainability of livestock farming in regenerative organic systems, which we believe provides potential solutions to our climate, nature, health and cost of living crisis.”
Ms Batters and Yeo Valley also spoke about the future of farming careers and opportunities for people interested in sustainability.
Yeo Valley Organic sees regenerative organic farming as a potential solution to many of the world’s climate problems and wants to encourage a new generation of people into sustainable, nature-friendly farming.
You can find out more about Yeo Valley's Regenerative Organic Farming Projects at regenerative.yeovalley.co.uk.
To learn more about working on Yeo Valley's farms, click HERE.
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