Treflach Farm Manifesto

The Problem

The need to feed an ever growing population brings about calls to increase intensive farming and monocultures, leading to abrogation of responsibility and reduction in traceability. There follows an increase in land degradation through increased use of large agri techniques searching for ever larger economies of scale, which have been necessary to cover ever lower margins to compensate for historically low prices of food and farm gate prices (Spanish onions, Dutch tomatoes, Polish mushrooms etc).

Responsibility and traceability have been traded in exchange for increased returns for fewer and fewer producers.

Land is degraded and water and air polluted through increased use of intensive agri-business (as opposed to agri-culture) techniques.

We believe today’s food industry is skewed by multi nationals who see control of the food chain and the illusion of choice as a way of extracting maximum profit.

Techniques include ownership of seed genomes, the sale of herbicides and pesticides, highly processed animal feed and high calorie low nutrient processed food for human consumption.

However ‘cheap’ food is not cheap when typically unaccounted costs are taken into account:

• Animal welfare. Unhappy animals more likely to become unwell -> increased use of antibiotics -> societal problems of antibiotic resistant bacteria
• Human health -> typically type 1 & 2 diabetes cost 10% of the NHS budget each year. Type 2 diabetes cost £11.7 Billion in 2012. (Source: Kanavos, van den Aardweg and Schurer: Diabetes expenditure, burden of disease and management in 5 EU countries, LSE (Jan 2012))
• Cost of environmental remediation due to waste & by-product contamination
• Loss of soil & soil fertility
• CO2 emissions from (arguably unnecessary, definitely low efficiency) inputs (diesel and artificial fertiliser) and bare earth.

But often a “what can I do?” attitude prevails.

In our view ‘Eating is Voting” and one person can make a difference.

We need to reframe the dialogue.

We need to see land use (soil specifically) and wildlife as a resource to be valued and maximised, otherwise we will continue to see a dwindling of these eg the colour of and topsoil loss down the Bristol Channel, the Wash and around the Essex coastline seen in the satellite image below or see the State of Nature 2016: England report by British Trust for Ornithology

https://www.bto.org/sites/default/files/.../state-of-nature-report-2016-england_0.pdf.

The Solution - What we at Treflach Farm do, and how we do it

Who are we at Treflach Farm?

• A family farm since 1904, based in the North Shropshire Hills outside Oswestry
• Four businesses run from the farm:
  • Land: A small family working farm managing 60ha of land and free range animals
  • Food: An on-farm employer, operating an on-site butchery and bakery
  • Distribution: Delivering chilled food products on behalf of award winning chefs and food producers
  • Community: Working with young adults with challenging behaviour, learning difficulties and physical disabilities
• We grow, rear, cook and distribute nourishing, healthy and delicious food

Vision Statement

Agriculture as a sustainable industry, rooted in the community, working in harmony with nature and providing for the needs of local people. Treflach Farm at the centre of many communities associated with people, animal welfare in food production, sustainability and care for the environment.

Mission Statement

We transition towards sustainable farming guided by holism and grounded in permaculture principles.

We build soil, conserve biodiversity, and grow, make and eat wholesome food.

We build resilient relationships between the different on-farm businesses and other individuals/communities/customers/suppliers:

• The farm with its diverse set of nature friendly eco-systems and free range animals
• The food business making #tastypies
• The distribution business supporting high quality producers get their products to market
• The Community Interest Company providing therapy projects for a wide range of user groups

Our 5 Core Principles

1. We have a vision of becoming and remaining socially and economically viable and relevant to the community we serve by

   • Localisation: meeting more core needs through local & ethical food production
   • Building a stronger more resilient community through sustainable service provision of farm based education to all

2. We have put in place the opportunities for developing an aspirational quality of life by

   • Employing people on a fair wage
   • Allowing personal and professional growth through developing on-farm projects that interest employees and benefit the wider community

3. We increase biodiversity and build soil with

   • Planned grazing with grass finished cattle, sheep, pigs & chickens
   • Development of rotational planting plans to work with the land,growing food for animals and people, feeding the
   • soil where appropriate and conserving biodiversity
   • Development of plans to reduce less preferred herb varieties (forbs) without the use of chemicals
   • Composting of as much as possible and use of FYM as fertiliser only on fields that need it
   • Management of land with a view to preserve diversity and benefit the environment with:
   • Short – 1 to 6 six year rotational plan
   • Medium – 5 to 25 year plan
   • Long term – 100 year plus plan

4. We farm using ultra-high animal welfare methods

   • Permanent access to the outdoors
   • Family groups & calm atmosphere
   • No routine use of anti-biotics
   • Grass finished cattle
   • As much feed as possible grown on the farm
   • Where feed is bought in, it will be organic, traceable and UK grown

5. We are moving toward a circular economy through our goals of

   
   • Reducing unsustainable inputs on the farm whilst maximising useful outputs
   • Producing ‘no waste’ or ‘zero waste to landfill’
   • Generating on site 100% of energy used on site
   • Reducing our impact upon the environment to become carbon zero/negative

What	How	Where
Grow animals	Grow animal food	Shropshire
Grow soil	Grow plants/Compost	Shropshire
Make food & drink		Shropshire
Deliver food		London
Collect food waste/compost		London
Feed animals... and restart...		Shropshire