10 MINUTES with... GUY SINGH-WATSON
THE ISSUE: SOIL HEALTH
In 2014, scientists warned that the UK was facing an “agricultural crisis” in regard to the depletion of nutrients within our soil. A study by the University of Sheffield predicted that we have only 100 harvests remaining if we carry on farming in the current way – largely due to a reliance on intensive agricultural practices, heavy machinery and agro-chemicals. But through strategies including crop rotation and increasing the organic matter that goes back onto fields, this fundamental environmental resource can be nurtured back to health.
THE ADVOCATE
Best known for founding Riverford Organic and its vegetable box scheme 32 years ago, Guy Singh-watson is one of organic farming’s most vociferous voices. Creating Riverford with the goal of giving everyone a fair deal – from customers to growers and the planet – last year, he sold 74 per cent of the business to its employees (at one third of market value), rejecting numerous investor approaches.
“One of the key problems with commercial farming is its detrimental impact on soil health, which has huge implications. The global average of organic matter in the soil has dropped from five per cent to between one and two. Whether we’re considering water pollution, dwindling wildlife or flooding, our treatment of the soil is the primary culprit. That’s where it all starts – we’re just beginning to realise that. I farm organically because I believe it is the right way, but I’d never claim we’re paradigms of virtue with the only answers. Even some organic practices aren’t good for the soil. For instance, because we don’t have access to herbicides, we often need to cultivate more than conventional farmers, and lower yields can mean we use more land, which, it could be argued, leaves less space for wildlife. On the positive side, we’re not adding chemicals to the soil that decimate the fungal, bacterial and invertebrate populations vital to its health, and our fields support greatly increased bio-diversity below and above ground rather than banishing it to field margins and nature reserves.
“Feeding into my obsession with the soil, I’ve reinvested money from the Riverford sale last year into a compost business. We’re creating it from stuff such as fish and crab waste, which would have gone to landfill – generating vast amounts of methane. It smells vile if you get it wrong, but the active bacteria and fungi within the compost consume the aromatic compounds (aka the smelly stuff ), causing the mix to heat up to 70°C within hours – so it kind of cooks and digests the crab. If done right, it’s almost odourless. It’s taken a few years to learn how to do that, but it’s a very simple system. It’s all about getting the right combination of ingredients.
“We’re also experimenting with a more diverse cropping system – meaning we’re trying to grow artichokes within an establishing cider orchard and pumpkins in a field of grass. Last year was tough with the drought, but I’m getting back to what I really love doing – growing vegetables, being kind to the soil and trying to spend as little time sitting in meetings as I can get away with.”
“It all starts with the soil treatment – we’re just beginning to realise that”