Sustainable Farming Practices and Carbon Offset:-

Fernwood Agriculture farms 500 acres of arable land located in Thurgarton Nottinghamshire.  This combined with two associated Companies - Meadow Agriculture, and Owen Hallam & Co, over 1,300 acres are farmed in the East Nottinghamshire area.  With an abundance of deciduous woodland, and native hedgerows punctuated across this landscape.

Crops grown include:-

• Winter Wheats for milling to make flour for bread or biscuits, and animal feed and bio ethanol production.
• Maize for green energy production.
• Oil Seed Rape.
• Spring Barley for malting and animal feed.
• Spring Beans for human consumption, animal and fish feed.

The Company's primary farming focus is to ensure good husbandry of the land and soil structure to ensure the entire farmed area is in "good heart."

The Company emphasises its use of cover and break crops to optimise soil health, its structure, and minimise invasive cultivation techniques.  Chemical inputs are kept to a minimum, while still allowing crops to be protected and reach optimum yields.

By doing this Fernwood Agriculture and its associated Companies, provide a significant carbon off-set for the trading activities of other Fernwood Group Companies.  Fernwood has a focus on sustainability and sustainable operations throughout all of its Companies and in particular, its farming business, our land management practices assist in achieving this objective.

Fernwood Agriculture and its associated Companies are all entered into Countryside Stewardship Management Arrangement Schemes.  In the last few years, we have planted over 3,568 metres of new Hedgerows, consisting of 20,500 new hedging plants, and this planting process continues.  Once established, these hedgerows are then laid to become long standing traditional features where wildlife can flourish.  The hedges are laid by our own in-house Craftsman, who has been trained in this age-old craft and technique.