Sustainable Farming for the 21st Century

The economic benefit of including biodiverse floodplain meadows in a 21st century farming system is largely unknown today. This is because there are so few of these meadows left that they have been lost from farming culture. Land agents and farmers tell you that there is no market for the hay because the calorific value is so much lower than silage. We have always managed to sell our hay to the few people who understand its nutritional value, eg racehorse owners. Our neighbours with floodplain meadows don't sell their hay but use it for their own livestock. Clare Hill at FAI farms at Wytham finishes her cattle in 16 months, without the cost of fertilisers, fuel or labour, using this species rich grassland ,since she went over to regenerative farming. Furthermore, she describes needing less feed than before because of the high nutrient levels in species-rich hay. Other neighbours use meadow hay for their cattle before they give birth to avoid them contracting 'fatty liver disease'. One neighbour describes it being economically viable to transport the hay from his farm on the Thames to his farm in Yorkshire.  

In this era of climate change, with flooding becoming more frequent around Oxford, the diversity of plant species on Long Mead (we have 120 different plants) makes it very resilient. Indeed, the crop never fails - in a dry year species like great burnet and quaking grass thrive in a wet year other plants such as meadow sweet flourish. The farmer who owns the arable field pictured up told us that if his crop fails again (a monoculture of winter wheat) he will be coming to us to create meadows.