What difference does being "Organic" make?

We don't mow our fields until mid July. Most of our neighbours have already cut their fields for silage at least once by then.  Ground nesting birds, like this curlew will lose their nests to mowers, and  leverets like this one would probably also get killed.

A newly hatched curlew chick at Keer Falls

A young leveret, vulnerable to mowing

Species rich wild flower meadows are the product of soils that are low in fertility. The use of artificial fertilisers will result in lush grass growth at the expense of wildflowers which can't compete. We use only organic fertilisers at low application rates, this gives an abundance of wildflowers which encourage insects and so birds as well. In 2004 officers of DEFRA inspected our farm and found more species per square metre than any other farm that they had visited that year.

Orchids, harebells and louse-wort all grow on our farm, but the use of herbicides to control weeds would indiscriminately wipe out  such delicate flowers--so we use none!

We are however a business, a business that we started with nothing, so if we don't make a profit, we don't eat. So we have to encourage the grass to grow where we can. Clover is a good natural source of nitrogen so we encourage our own native varieties by maintaining a sward depth that maximises their growth. We haven't needed to over-seed  any of the fields yet.

Clover is also rich in nectar!