Nestled in the Lincolnshire countryside, Mike has employed various regenerative agriculture initiatives on his farm to not only improve the environmental impact of farming but also improve the quality of the crops grown there. He explains the aim of regenerative farming is to protect and enhance the microbiology of the soil (maintaining carbon within it).
However, when employing regenerative farming practices, Mike quickly hailed Hemp as one of the VIP crops to grow. Why, we ask? Mike explains how it is exceptionally good (even better than a mature wood) at taking carbon out of the atmosphere and storing it in the soils where microorganisms thrive. The quality of the soil is improved meaning plants have easier access to the nutrients they need thus leading to improved plant health.
We want healthier plants, not only for the obvious reasons but they require less artificial fertilisers and chemicals. Their higher levels of nutrition within them leads to enhanced gut health and in turn, overall skin health.
It’s a simple equation:
Soil health = plant health = gut health = skin health
So when asking Mike how regenerative farming works and what takes place, he told us about the following initiatives that the farm, where the Hemp used in Made of More’s Hemp Seed Oil is grown and pressed has taken to improve soil health:
We grow multi species catch and cover crops to keep roots growing all year round which improves the soil structure, retains carbon in the soil and also provides food for the micro-organisms to help them flourish.
We use a range of manures and organic pre-biotics in order to enhance organic matter.
Unlike traditional farming machinery, our tractors have variable tyre pressure capabilities which enable us to reduce tyre pressures to the optimum level to avoid soil compaction and reduce our diesel requirement. Most importantly, it also allows microorganisms space to grow and be happy!
We use ‘companion cropping’ - planting two plants with each other - to improve diversity within the soil and reduce disease pressure.
We have bee hives around the farm as bees are master pollinators. In some crops bees can even improve yield; for example bees can increase the yield of field beans by a massive 30%!
Made of More uses Hemp Seed Oil in all products. To find out more about the benefits of it please see here.
Found in the beautiful Lincolnshire countryside, the farm is licensed to grow hemp. As a farming business, the farm is assured under the national Red Tractor scheme.
