Partnering with Care-Peat and Lancashire Wildlife Trust.
Mon 6th March
A wet, cold and blustery day on the Lancashire Mosses, which shone new light on the options for farmers wanting to move from the difficulties of intensive production on peatland soils. Oversubscribed, 2 coaches of attendees set out to see the Carbon Farm, despite the threat of snow.
Returning to a hot lunch at a local hall, the afternoon was filled with a full range of guest speakers and experts.
The afternoon was dedicated to a workshop and the local hall proved a warm and excellent space to present, discuss and network other people interested in Paludiculture.
Presentations links are available on the paludiculture.org.uk website in the Events section, and more will be uploaded as they become available.
Starting with a Welcome from Manchester University’s Dr Chris Field and Lauryn McLoughlin of Care-Peat. The audience heard pre-release news of version 2.0 Peatland Code and the proposed plan to add Paludiculture to the next version, by Emma Hinchliffe, followed by a talk by Judith Stuart on Lowland Peat Policy and Paludiculture.
A farmer’s perspective from Wright Farm Produce highlighted the issues facing peatland farmers and the alternatives.
Following the workshop activity two further presentations completed the day, a look at GHG removal through Paludiculture on Lowland Peat and Saltyco’ s look at the next generation of fashion textiles made from Bulrush.
Wrights Farm
Farming on 300 acres, with 100 acres of lowland peat, producing salad crops lettuce, Chinese lettuce and celery. Wrights supply retailers, wholesalers and processing the whole supply chain.
Now they are reviewing the feasibility of other crops:
Sphagnum moss
Typha crops
Crops for carbon capture to offset on farm or sell
Conventional crops like celery grown in wetter conditions.
Summary of Opportunities:
New crops could work well with existing farming on less productive areas of the farm, for a whole farm approach.
Potential for a peat-free growing medium
Best use of existing resources, water and land
Soil regeneration and sustainable food production
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