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
The secret to our whisky is in our fields.
Look closely and you’ll see that one field of crops is not like the next. To understand Fielden, you need to know what we’re doing in our fields, and why – and how – it’s completely different.
We’re championing regenerative farming and we’re determined to bring England’s fields back to life: with heritage grains, grown with a lot of care. For us, that means no agrichemicals; no herbicides, no pesticides, no fungicides. There’s no need for chemicals because nature’s already doing the work. It’s a more sustainable way of farming that’s better for the soil, the grain and the wildlife. And it makes a whisky full of flavour.
HOW WE'RE CHANGING FARMING FOR THE BETTERFor the soil, the wildlife and our whisky
People use the phrase ‘regenerative farming’ to mean different things. Here’s what it means to us.
Fielden farmers follow our way of farming: they plant a mix of heritage grains in clover, they never use chemicals, and they nurture the soil. This clover-based "restorative" grain growing system means there’s food in our fields for more plants, animals and insects to grow and thrive, both above and below ground.
Fielden works with farmers who want to bring their fields back to life, but not all of our farmers farm this way just yet – changes like this take time.
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.
While Fielden farmers only grow heritage grains, they aren’t yet producing enough for us to make all our whisky. For now, we also source and use some certified organic non-heritage grains in our stills. We are working towards 100% heritage grains over time.
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.
While Fielden farmers only grow heritage grains, they aren’t yet producing enough for us to make all our whisky. For now, we also source and use some certified organic non-heritage grains in our stills. We are working towards 100% heritage grains over time.
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 clover - a natural fertiliser
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.
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.
