The Benefits of Organic Farming

Benefits of organic farming to human health

Management of the land to sustain soil health and fertility.
The use of natural methods of pest, disease and weed control e.g. absolutely no use of chemicals or sprays.
High standards of animal welfare (see our happy free-range pigs).
Low levels of environmental pollution.
Enhancement of the landscape, wildlife and wildlife habitat (see our conservation lakes).
The prohibition of all genetically engineered food and related products.

Benefits of an organic approach to animal welfare (health and life quality)

Animals have access to fields and behave naturally. That sounds an obvious thing to say but anyone who has watched the movie 'Babe' and remembers the intensive pig farming where Babe came from will understand why this is important.
 
Our animals always have comfortable bedding, often straw, and plenty of space when they are housed, our pigs live outdoors in their own fields with huts to offer shelter from bad weather and at night. Organic standards minimise the negative effects of transporting animals and where possible our animals are slaughtered at the farm by suitably qualified DEFRA approved slaughterman.
 
We manage our animals without the routine use of antibiotics and other drugs because we run a healthy, balanced system:
 
We do not keep too many animals on a given area,
We do keep a mixture of species wherever possible and use natural feedstuffs.
 
Grazing animals like cows and sheep are fed mainly on herb and clover rich grass. Our pigs have their own grazing land, woodland area and plenty of nutritious food to help them grow slowly and naturally.
 
Homeopathy and herbal remedies are used widely in organic livestock management to great success. However, in the case of acute illness, where the animal might otherwise suffer, a conventional drug treatment would be used.

Benefits to the Countryside and Environment

Organic farming methods ensure the continued biodiversity of our countryside,providing a wide range of habitats for British wildlife.
 
Organic farms have more hedges, wider field margins, herb and clover rich grassland and a mixed range of crops.
 
Conservation is an integral part of the Organic Farmers and Growers approach to farming. See our projects pages soon which will show you our conservation lakes, our Drigg project and the latest news about our new and improved Farm Shop.

For an introduction to organic farming, follow this link