RAGLAN Livestock Market was the venue for Rob Whittall of Square Farm to talk to an audience of agricultural families about his experience of Regenerative & Organic Farming.

While Rob has been farming organically for over two decades, a recent mentoring project has enabled him to have six 1:1 sessions with the regen farming expert, Ben Taylor Davies (aka Regen Ben) of Townsend Farm, near Ross-on-Wye.

At the start of the project, Rob admits he did not much anything about regen, but it turns out there is much overlap with the way he is already farming and regen practices.

In his talk, Rob reminisced about the mixed farming he knew as a child in Wales and, having now re-adopted much of that model, he talked about how the soil, the crops and the livestock have responded, with fewer weeds despite the absence of chemicals. Rob farms a mixed farm with cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, alongside vegetable and cereal crops.

He emphasised that the transition to Organic farming was one that took several years to achieve and patience was important. Changing can result in a smaller yield if rushed, and the trick is getting a balance between lower input cost and smaller yields. Eventually, as the soil recovers, this can actually result in more profit for the farmer. As is often said “The answer lies in the soil!”.

Rob described how his organically farmed soil over time allows for a much deeper root system, allowing water to penetrate deep into the soil and into the water table leaving his land still green in a drought, but also dryer in wet weather. The deep roots bring nutrients to the surface encouraging healthy plant growth and thriving livestock. The lack of chemical inputs means the soil biology thrives, with a higher worm density and abundant microbial life. Herbal leys are also a key contributor to the success of his farm.

Rob plans to open his farm on Open Farm Sunday on 8th June this year, and they will also host a Food and Farming event in October.

The questions from the attentive audience were all answered in depth by Rob, who impressed the audience with his experience of organic and regen farming.

The mentoring project for Square Farm was funded by Wye Valley National Landscapes, and supported by ACE Monmouth volunteers, and Rob’s talk was supported by the Monmouthshire Food Partnership.