Establishing the commercial viability of paludiculture on land across the Somerset Levels and Moors, to ensure farmers can continue to grow useful commercial crops whilst also raising the water table to preserve our peat.
The project is seeking to expand our learning about how novel crops (with a focus on Typha - Bullrush) can help ensure that farmers can continue to grow useful, commercial crops, at the same time as raising the water table to preserve our peat, reduce eCO2 emissions, and improve water quality by stripping legacy phosphate from SSSI & Ramsar designated sites.
Taking Typha to scale on the Somerset Levels and Moors
Will Barnard
Email: will.barnard@fwagsw.org.uk
Project Overview
Establish the commercial viability of paludiculture on pockets of land across the Somerset Levels and Moors, from establishment to post-harvest processing. Develop a scalable, field-ready Typha paludiculture system suitable for lowland agricultural peat, adapting existing farm machinery and processes so that Typha-growing can be trialled quickly, cheaply, and reversibly on any flat arable field, maintaining land value and reducing barriers to uptake.
Introduction:
A core objective throughout this programme has been to ensure that all equipment, workflows, and operational processes are inherently scalable and transferable across the wider landscape. To achieve this, the design philosophy focused on adapting (where possible) or making only minimal modifications to existing, widely available agricultural machinery rather than developing bespoke one-off systems. This approach enables rapid replication, reduces capital costs, and supports farmer-led adoption.
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In parallel, the in-field trials were explicitly designed to develop equipment, processes, and operational skills that could be applied quickly, cheaply, and with minimal disruption to any flat, arable lowland peat field—regardless of existing hydrology or cropping regimes. A key guiding principle was that fields should retain the option to return to conventional agricultural cropping if required. This protects land value, maintains flexibility for farmers, and lowers perceived barriers to participating in Typha-based paludiculture trials.
This report summarises the major progress achieved in the development of a fully integrated Typha paludiculture workflow on lowland agricultural peat. The work spans mechanised establishment from seed, mechanised harvesting, and an operational post-harvest processing chain including cleaning, standardisation, drying, and storage. Together, these developments represent the first practical field-scale demonstration of Typha production on the Somerset Levels & Moors and lay the groundwork for commercial-scale paludiculture.
Mechanised Establishment From Seed:
Through the Paludiculture Exploration Fund, significant progress has been made in developing models of typha establishment, harvesting, and post harvesting processing. The work has focused on adapting existing machinery and methods to create a scalable approach, allowing Typha-growing to be trialled quickly, cheaply, and reversibly. This reduces many barriers to farmer uptake.
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Significant progress has been made in mechanising Typha establishment using existing agricultural machinery and drone-based systems. Both approaches have been trialled successfully, demonstrating flexibility for different hydrological and operational scenarios.
Adaptation of Opico Avadex Air Seeder
An Opico Micro Pro granular applicator was adapted to deliver Typha seed uniformly across wet fields. To achieve low ground pressure suitable for saturated peat soils, the machine was modified with balloon tyres and UTV track units, enabling access without rutting or soil deformation. Key achievements include:
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Calibration to ensure a consistent flow of low-density Typha seed.
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Adjustment of outlet geometry for even distribution and minimal drift.
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GPS-guided operation for accurate field coverage.
This confirms that farms already possess most of the required infrastructure for Typha establishment, significantly lowering barriers to adoption.
Opico Avadex Air Seeder, adapted from an Opico Micro Pro granular applicator
XAG P100 Pro agricultural drone used to apply Typha seed in a gel suspension
2.2 XAG P100 Pro Drone Establishment
We have demonstrated two aerial establishment pathways using the XAG P100 Pro agricultural drone platform:
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Application of Typha seed suspended in a viscous gel spray.
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Broadcasting of pelletised or encapsulated Typha seed using the granule spreader. These pellets were specifically developed for flooded establishment conditions, allowing seed to land and sink where required rather than drift across the water surface.
These methods enable establishment in areas unsuitable for ground vehicles and allow rapid deployment following weather windows or disturbance events. The combination of the Avadex platform and the XAG drone system provides a robust and flexible establishment toolkit.
Mechanised Harvesting Using Custom LogLogic-Based Harvester:
A major milestone has been the construction and deployment of a mechanised Typha harvester built on the LogLogic SoftTrak 65 low-ground-pressure tracked platform.
Platform Selection and Modifications
The design brief centred on the requirement to harvest Typha while the seed heads are still green, ensuring high-quality material for product development, while deliberately leaving the majority of the stem biomass standing. This retains the physiological pathways needed for full senescence, supports subsequent-year seed head yields, and provides naturally desiccated stems for use in fibreboard production.
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To achieve this, we designed and manufactured the first-ever height-controlled LogLogic SoftTrak 65 platform, enabling precision cutting height independent of ground irregularities.
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Key modifications include:
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Integration of a front-mounted Typha cutting head optimised for selective green-head removal.
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Height-control mechanisms that allow clean removal of the flowering structures while maintaining intact standing stems.
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A conveyor-based collection system feeding modular bins.
Describe your image
Describe your image
Field Performance
Field trials demonstrated:
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Consistent cutting height and minimal biomass shatter.
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Major reductions in labour requirements compared to manual harvesting.
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Very low peat disturbance, fulfilling core paludiculture environmental requirements.
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Productivity suitable for both research-scale and early commercial operations.
This represents the first operational Typha harvester built and used on the Somerset Levels.
Post-harvest processing:
A complete post-harvest processing workflow has been designed, built, and tested, covering cleaning, grading, drying, and storage.
Cleaning and Standardisation
A prototype processing line has been developed to:
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Remove excess stem material.
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Eliminate debris.
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Produce consistently sized and cleaned Typha heads.
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This step is crucial for developing downstream applications, enabling repeatable research and product trials.
Drying and Storage With Trickle Ventilation
The drying system was designed using principles borrowed from daffodil bulb drying systems, which are well-suited to handling moisture-rich biological material. The system was enhanced with:
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Forced-air and passive drying capability modelled on bulb-drying airflow management.
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Controlled heat input to stabilise drying rates during high humidity periods.
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Full integration with the LoRaWAN sensor network for remote monitoring of internal temperature, humidity, and moisture-loss curves.
This system maintains Typha biomass at stable moisture levels suitable for storage and subsequent processing, while supporting the development of detailed drying kinetics datasets and early-warning thresholds for mould risk.
Integration of the Supply Chain
The major achievement of this period has been the full integration of the Typha supply chain:
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Seed → Establishment via adapted agricultural machinery or drone systems.
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Stands → Harvest using the custom LogLogic harvester.
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Biomass → Clean → Dry → Store through the post-harvest processing line.
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The system is now technically feasible, operationally reliable, and scalable. It supports the broader objectives of peat conservation, low-carbon farming, and commercial paludiculture development.
Year 1 chaos – turned into more refined chaos in year 2
The calm before the storm of processing our biggest batch (7t)
New solar pumping arrangement to maintain hydrology
Stabilising hydrology at the field scale proved a major challenge, particularly the creation of a reliably “perched” raised water table within single fields that were never originally engineered to hold water.
Challenges and next steps
Integration of the Supply Chain
Together, these components form the UK’s first integrated, scalable Typha supply chain – from seed to storage – demonstrating technical feasibility and strong potential for landscape-scale adoption.
Challenges
Stabilising hydrology at the field scale proved a major challenge, particularly the creation of a reliably “perched” raised water table within single fields that were never originally engineered to hold water.
Product variability across sites—driven by differences in machinery access, water depth, and stand maturity—added complexity to downstream processing.
Securing harvest support has also been difficult: Typha harvesting competes directly with the busiest period in the farming calendar, leaving limited contractor availability. Compounding this, we have only a narrow one-month annual window to test harvesting systems, meaning machinery is often designed and iterated without access to the standing crop, increasing technical risk.
A further constraint is that all harvested material is required to meet supply commitments for Ponda’s facility; this limits the scope for experimental runs that might jeopardise the production pipeline.
The novelty of the crop and the system means there is a limited pool of people with relevant experience, and scepticism from the wider industry. This results in most tasks being impossible to fully delegate, placing a heavy operational load on key project staff.
Integration of the Supply Chain
Future work will focus on:
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Expanding the area under Typha establishment.
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Increasing harvest efficiency and throughput.
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Advancing Typha product development (fibres, insulation, biocomposites).
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Integrating biomass flows with hydrological and carbon accounting models.
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Strengthening farmer participation across the Levels & Moors.
Location
RSPB Greylake and nearby private land on Somerset Levels.
With over 24,000 ha of lowland agricultural peat, Somerset is at the forefront of learning how best to preserve this valuable natural resource. Previous generations have worked hard to drain this low-lying, marshy landscape in order to grow valuable food for the surrounding communities, and that legacy runs deeply through our communities. However, as our understanding of peat grows, we are beginning to realise that excessive draining leads to peat oxidation and sinking land levels, the need for even more drainage, and the emission of vast amounts of CO2e at a time when we can ill afford that to continue.
Project partners
The Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group SouthWest (FWAG SW)
FWAG SW is a registered charity representing the region’s farmers and landowners in the delivery of wildlife conservation, and will provide project management, administration, and key stakeholder engagement in the landscape
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Project Lead - Will Barnard
Mobile:
Email: will.barnard@fwagsw.org.uk
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RSPB -
The RSPB is the UK's largest nature conservation charity, inspiring everyone to give nature a home and secure a healthy environment for wildlife. They will deliver sites 1 & 2, undertake ecological survey work and develop our understanding of the ecological impacts of growing Typha as a commercial crop.
J & K Barnard Farms Ltd -
A local farmers with experience of arable crop production, wetland site construction and management. Responsible for delivery of site 3.
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Plymouth University -
Plymouth Universities experienced water quality research team will carry out emissions and nutrient monitoring & analysis across the life of the project, to provide data on the potential positive (or negative) impacts of growing Typha commercially. It is hoped that they will validate the viability of utilising Typha to strip Phosphate from degraded water courses thus improving the water quality in some of our most valuable, protected habitats.
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LogLogic -
LogLogic, experienced developer and manufacture of wetland harvesting and management equipment will work to provide custom harvesting equipment that allows the crop to be economically harvested at scale (all harvesting is currently undertaken by hand).
KWR Water -
KWR Water will provide specialist advice on Typha establishment based on experience from multiple sites across the Netherlands.
Ponda -
Ponda is a materials science company that makes planet-positive textiles, providing a potential global market for typha seed heads. They will support to the development of mechanised harvesting techniques and crop standards to ensure that crops are fit for purpose by the end user.
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Velcourt Ltd -
Velcourt Ltd – arable research & development, exploring the economics of production at scale and providing support, knowledge and experience around crop establishment and long term care.
IUCN-UK -
IUCN – UK peatland code and oversight of the carbon monitoring program. Exploration of the inclusion of Paludiculture crops into future iterations of PCC.
CEH -
CEH will provide additional oversight of CO2e monitoring.