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Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Food & Farming Awards finalist: Overbury Farms

Charlotte Smith is judging the "Farming for the Future" category in this year's Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Food and Farming Awards. In this programme she visits the third of her three finalists.

When Jake Freestone wants to grow a field of oil seed rape, he doesn't just plant rape seeds - he also plants buckwheat, clover and vetches. For him, the price of these extra seeds is more than made up for by the jobs the extra plants do for him. First, they help hide the young rape plants from pests which could damage them. Then they provide a habitat for predators like spiders, which also help tackle pests. The clover and vetches are nitrogen fixers, so reduce the amount of money Jake has to spend on fertilising the crop. This typifies his regenerative farming approach. Jake's focus is on improving his soil biology. He says, "If we can have healthy soil, we can have healthy plants and ultimately healthy food."

Overbury Estate has been chosen by Charlotte Smith as one of her three finalists in the "Farming for the Future" category of this year's Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Food and Farming Awards. In this programme, Charlotte visits the farm to find out more about its regenerative approach and what that means for yields, carbon sequestration and biodiversity.

Presented by Charlotte Smith
Produced by Heather Simons

Available now

22 minutes

Broadcast

  • Sun 6 Nov 2022 06:35