Farms of the Future

We must develop the farms of tomorrow in such a way that they regenerate themselves more economically and become more and more diversified, serving as the primary source of food for the local community. This diversity and regeneration should arise with the help of the forces of nature inside the farm organism…

-Trauger Groh 1990, Farms of Tomorrow (Groh and McFadden, 1990, pp18-19)

In its proposal for a local food vision for the City Downland Estate Plan, BH Food Partnership recommends modelling a community-run sustainable farm on the South Downs. The paper highlights three “examples of good practice in land management”: Kingsclere Estates in Hampshire, Tablehurst and Plaw Hatch Community Farms in Sussex. To help articulate BH Food Partnership’s vision for South Downs farms, let’s take a look at the nearby farms.

Less than an hour’s drive from Brighton, Tablehurst and Plaw Hatch Community Farms in Forest Row are pioneer community biodynamic farms which, for nearly thirty years, have been practicing many of the holistic principles also promoted by Agroecology and the emerging Regenerative Agriculture movement -- and more. What can Brighton gain from a biodynamic approach for future South Downs farms?

It has become obvious that the profit motivation does not lead to healthy life-giving food, nor to conservation or improvement of the environment. The history of agriculture in the last 200 years proves this clearly…we need farms for three reasons: for healthy food, for a healthy environment, and for cultural and educational reasons. In dealing with these needs, we have to be aware they are basic to everyone, and in creating the farms of the future we have to make sure that the needs of all are met.….

Soil fertility, ecosystem vitality and biodiversity

Biodynamics is a holistic form of sustainable, regenerative agriculture, recognising that all life, seen and unseen, has a role to play in growing the best food possible. Conceived by the Austrian philosopher and natural scientist Rudolf Steiner through lectures given in 1924 (to remedy the widespread use of artificial fertilisers in the First World War), this hundred year old environment friendly system supports the vitality of ‘living’ soil to produce healthy nutritious crops. This is maintained without the use of artificial chemicals but rather natural fertilisers such as compost and manure, materials that build soil rather than deplete it. (Heckfield Place, website) Working beyond organic standards, biodynamic growers use specific herbal remedies known as 'preparations' to enhance the ability of soil, plant and animal to make the most of the forces, or information, available to them in the atmosphere. This finely attuned way of growing food in harmony with the planetary cycles of Nature enhances the health and vitality of soil, food, animals and people.

A South Downs ‘terroir’

In biodynamics, the farm is perceived as an ‘organism’ that functions most ideally within a closed loop system. It is a living farm organism with its own self contained individuality that is fully realised through healthy symbiosis of all its parts or organs - the realms of earth, plant, animal and humankind. As with any organism, the farm needs a strong inner circulation of substances. The biodynamic farm aims to obtain most of its inputs and utilise most of its waste products on the farm, selling the clean, healthy food it produces to the local community. Over time and with minimal external input, the farm organism becomes more and more itself, developing in its food a ‘terroir’ or distinctive taste, expressive of the soil, climate and production method of this unique individuality. The produce becomes ‘of the place’ – truly local food. (O’Connell, 2022, p. 29) On various levels, this ecological concept strongly supports the Food Partnership’s vision of a ‘South Downs brand’ for local food that is truly worth promoting.

Closed loop systems and ecological resilience

Achieving a fully closed loop farming system is not easy, but Steiner suggested that biodynamic farmers must always aim for this ideal. The closed loop system may be familiar to Brighton residents as the circular economy model promoted by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, which Brighton recently adopted in its climate resilience plans. For biodynamic farmers, it has been a guiding principle for nearly 100 years, a concept that is fundamental to building a strong farm organism. Thus we see how this farm model offers great potential to educate and instil valuable lessons for farmers and visitors alike.

According to the farmer and author Marina O’Connell, Steiner’s holistic approach to food and farming has inspired some of the most radical rethinks of modern sustainable food systems. Key to all this is the ‘threefold path’, balancing the environmental, social and economic aims of the farm. (O’Connell, 2022, p. 28) Steiner’s indications in 1924 were subsequently researched and developed by practitioners into biodynamic principles introduced in the UK in 1939 by the scientist Ehrenfried Pfeiffer, through lectures given in Lord Northbourne’s estate in Kent. Today the ‘Demeter standards’ for certification stipulate that a biodynamic farm should:

  1. Become an organism with closed loop systems

  2. Work with nature rather than against it

  3. Create biological cycles and avoid pollution

  4. Grow and produce high quality food that is sold as locally as possible

  5. Connect plants, animals and people to cosmic and planetary movements, and work with them

  6. Promote biodiversity from the soil up (10% of each farm to be given over to biodiversity)

  7. Be socially and community connected

  8. Be economically viable and provide right livelihoods

  9. Allow animals on the farm to express their nature to ensure high welfare

  10. Enhance the landscape

(Ibid.)

Ecologies of care

As productive farms run on high standards of animal welfare and ecological stewardship, Tablehurst and Plaw Hatch Community Farms are important models for the South Downs farms of the future. Both are mixed biodynamic farms with a café and farm shop providing healthy, clean (toxin free), nutrient dense food for the local community. With strong community support and a healthy threefold structure of governance (St Anthony’s Trust, website), Tablehurst and Plaw Hatch farms have evolved to become economically, socially and ecologically sustainable businesses. The farms’ educational offerings are varied. Training of farm apprentices is an important feature of biodynamic farms. In addition, Tablehurst receives a local authority allowance for three adults with learning difficulties who live and work alongside farm staff.

As open community farms, they hold events, open days, volunteer workdays, farm walks and school visits. The farms are supported by a community that values local, healthy sustainable food, and understands the realities of farming. An annual barn dance welcomes 300 locals, a much anticipated event for the community. What would the public benefit of such community farms be worth for Brighton?