Industrial farming depends on uniformity: the exact same seed, grown to the same height with chemicals, for the same type of flavour. But nature is a wonderful, wild mix of colour, noise and life. She doesn’t need manipulating, and our grain doesn’t need chemicals - it’s naturally full of flavour.
OUR FARMING
Our farming revolution began 30 years ago, when farmer, archaeobotanist and plant breeder John Letts discovered hundreds of perfectly preserved examples of ancient cereals in the thatch roofs of late Medieval buildings in Southern England. This discovery led him on a journey, culminating in the development of a revolutionary, clover-based, ‘restorative’ grain growing system.
Now, three decades on with John at the helm, that revolutionary approach is at the heart of everything we do. Fielden works with farmers who want to bring their fields back to life. Fielden farmers follow our way of farming: they plant a mix of heritage grains in white clover, they never use chemicals, and they nurture the soil.
Our way of farming means there’s food in our fields for more plants, animals and insects to grow and thrive, both above and below ground. We farm fields full of life, for whisky full of flavour.
HOW WE'RE CHANGING FARMING FOR THE BETTERFor the soil, the wildlife and our whisky
We never, ever use chemicals or artificial fertilisers
We grow mixed crops of heritage grains
We plant heritage grains that grew in our fields long before industrial farming took hold. Our diverse populations have natural genetic differences, which mean some lines flourish more than others. The crops keep adapting, naturally, becoming more resilient and full of flavour as they grow year on year. We encourage this change by saving seeds from one year to the next, which means our mixed crops are truly unique.
We plant our winter cereals earlier than most farmers - sometimes in late summer - so they can grow healthy roots before the winter. It means when spring arrives, they’re ready to grow quickly and produce more stems, which makes for a better harvest.
We plant heritage grains that grew in our fields long before industrial farming took hold. Our diverse populations have natural genetic differences, which mean some lines flourish more than others. The crops keep adapting, naturally, becoming more resilient and full of flavour as they grow year on year. We encourage this change by saving seeds from one year to the next, which means our mixed crops are truly unique.
We plant our winter cereals earlier than most farmers - sometimes in late summer - so they can grow healthy roots before the winter. It means when spring arrives, they’re ready to grow quickly and produce more stems, which makes for a better harvest.
We nurture the soil
We don’t plough or spray chemicals which keeps our fields healthy and full of life, above and below ground.
We don’t plough or spray chemicals which keeps our fields healthy and full of life, above and below ground.
We plant an understory of white clover - a natural fertiliser
White clover supplies our crops with the nitrogen they need to stay healthy, naturally without any chemicals. This living understory supports insects, bees and wildlife in our fields. We give our clover a yearly haircut and plant our heritage grains directly into the clover which nurtures the new crop.
White clover supplies our crops with the nitrogen they need to stay healthy, naturally without any chemicals. This living understory supports insects, bees and wildlife in our fields. We give our clover a yearly haircut and plant our heritage grains directly into the clover which nurtures the new crop.
We don’t clear the fields after the harvest
We leave the straw in the field to break down naturally. This adds organic matter to the soil, which slowly releases nutrients to feed the soil and our next crop.
We leave the straw in the field to break down naturally. This adds organic matter to the soil, which slowly releases nutrients to feed the soil and our next crop.
