Regenerative Agriculture Mentoring Project
Monmouthshire Food partnership has been supporting a local project run by ACE (Action for Climate Emergency) Monmouth.
ACE Monmouth is all about bringing the community together to tackle climate change and the biodiversity crisis. ACE set up this project to encourage farmers into the ACE community and to explore regenerative agriculture.
Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture focusses on improving soil health and follows five key principles:
- Maintain living roots in the soil
- Keep the soil covered
- Diversity of plants
- Include grazing livestock
- Minimal soil disturbance (physical & chemical)
Project Basics
An expert in regenerative agriculture, Regen Ben (or Ben Taylor Davies), mentored three farms for 12 months helping them to transition to regen. The three farms covered a total of 1,404 acres of Monmouthshire countryside.
They included:
Lower House Farm
Laura Pollock and Matt Brooks are Council tenant farmers at Lower House Farm, Llanvair Discoed, near Chepstow, where their primary source of income is through calf rearing and sheep. They had been on the farm less than a year of a 5-year tenancy period when they applied for the mentoring project.
Square Farm
Rob Whittle and his son Ryan run Square Farm, a certified organic farm in Mitchell Troy, near Monmouth Square Farm. This is a small mixed Welsh family farm with a wide range of animals and crops produced. They have a thriving farm shop selling their produce, which is visited by many people from Monmouth town and the surrounding villages. Despite converting to organic in 2008, Rob was interested to learn about regenerative practices.
Llanover Farm
The Llanover Estate incorporates Llanover Farm. The land is managed by Tom Jones, who has a team of three farmers and multiple support staff. The River Usk runs through the farmland, which straddles Bannau Brycheiniog (formerly the Brecon Beacons National Park) near Abergavenny. It is an historic estate that has had a mixed history of land use. However, with a desire to farm more regeneratively for the longevity of the asset, it was decided to implement a more environmental focus for the in-hand farming enterprise.
To learn more about the project outcomes and the farms involved please read the full report on the ACE Monmouth website >
This project was funded by:
- Wye Valley National Landscapes (WVNL) Sustainable Development Fund (SDF)
- Monmouthshire Food Partnership (MFP) and Monmouthshire County Council (MCC) UK Share Prosperity Fund
- The Coop Carbon Innovation Fund through Size of Wales
- Action on Climate Emergency (ACE) Monmouth through a Monmouth Town Council (MTC) Partnership Agreement
