Much of my work is about encouraging people to notice, engage with, and benefit from nature. This involves being curious about the world around us. Focusing in on the bees, butterflies, flowers and berries you see. Looking up through layers of leaves and appreciating their different shades and the way they filter the light. Hearing their rustle or feeling the breeze on your skin.
It can also be important to look around and appreciate the wider landscape. If you visit the Greenway, the landscape around the route is busy and productive. The majority of it is owned by the Foundation and farmed by two tenants who have now held their tenancies for one year. The grazing land is farmed by Lower Wilbury Farm while the arable land is farmed by Pilkington Farms Partnerships.
Being conscious of the challenges faced by farmers during this hot and dry summer, I recently visited Pilkington Farms to see how they were getting on. They also kindly invited some of our staff to visit them in the fields during harvest - and have a ride on the combine harvester!
It is true that this year has presented considerable challenges; the harvest was very early, and the yields were about 25% lower than expected. Still, unpredictable weather is part and parcel of farming, and the team are optimistic that they will research and find ways to adapt to a changing environment.
I was curious to find out where the crops grown on Letchworth land end up. Tom Duffin, their CEO, explained:
Tom Duffin, CEO of Pilkington Farms“We are very proud of what we grow, we take great care in growing our crops and believe it is it important to consider what they are used for. We try to keep our carbon footprint and transportation costs down, and so we sell as much as we can as locally as we can”
Considering the individual crops:
- The best quality wheat is sold to Heygates, who are top-quality millers with a mill in Tring. Nothing is wasted, and so lower quality wheat is sold to be made into animal feed.
- Barley goes to French and Jupps in Stanstead Abbotts. They are a local maltster of long standing and use the barley to colour (not flavour) beer, which is a very skilled process.
- Oats go to Glebe Farm Foods in Kings Ripton to be made into oat milk, gluten-free flour, and other products. Again, this is a skilled process, with this local business making positive progress and competing with multinational businesses.
- Sugar beet is only occasionally grown to provide a valuable break from cereals, it goes to Bury St Edmunds to be turned into sugar and related products by British Sugar.
- The Oil Seed Rape has an interesting story. It is a variety called HEAR rape (High Erucic Acid Rapeseed). This is a specialised type, producing oil that can be made into a high quality lubricant, used in the high end manufacture of industrial components, and also printing inks. This does travel further afield, including Germany, but it is a very specialised market.
Ebenezer Howard recognised the importance of countryside, and the value of contact with nature, for enjoyment, health and wellbeing. Today we are able to demonstrate, understand and articulate this in a much clearer way. At the same time, the use of rural land to produce food and other commodities was and remains important. Since Howard’s time, the farming vs nature balance has certainly faced challenges. Encouragingly, the realities of nature decline and climate change are speeding up innovation and creativity so that balance is restored. We will continue working with our farmers so that the Letchworth estate continues to be productive, yet at the same time rich in nature and leisure opportunities.