Ingram Valley Farm – looking after the land, to live for today and farm for tomorrow
We work with The Planet Mark as we work towards addressing the global challenges we all face in the world such as Covid19, hunger, inequality, climate change, looking after the environment, peace and justice.
The Sustainable Development Goals are the blueprint we follow to help achieve a brighter and more sustainable future for everyone.
Sustainable & recyclable materials, both big & small, are another important area to us. We use recycled or reusable packaging where ever possible and encourage customers to reuse boxes for planting flowers, herbs & vegetables.
The biodiversity in our area is essential for our pasture fed animals and to maintain this we carefully balance our hedgerows, trees and land for the survival of our native wildlife. Our cattle and sheep also play a key role in making sure the land provides the perfect breeding environment for some of the many threatened species of wader birds.
Working with the Planet Mark we continually monitor our carbon footprint and strive to reduce it such as the use of electric vehicles wherever possible, even charging them using solar energy!
Global warming and farming
As farmers we get asked a lot about our contribution to greenhouse gases (GHG), below we try to explain the bigger picture and why our farming methods at Ingram Valley support carbon sequestration – reducing GHG.
Our rotational grazing not only ensures we always have plenty of nutritious grassland for our animals, but it also ensures the pastures remain as carbon sinks (sequestering carbon as they grow). Soil fertility is also increased and there are even beneficial effects to our surrounding world recognised clean water.
This explains CO2 but what about methane?
Methane, originally labelled as a worst offender, is being reclassified by experts. Methane has a short half-life, especially compared to CO2, as such it doesn’t remain in the atmosphere for the decades other GHG emissions do. As GHG emissions have risen agricultural contribution has reduced and with the techniques used here at Ingram Valley, with an emphasis on sustainable and responsible farming, climate neutral farming is not far away.
4) We passionately believe in sustainable farming and as such we host educational visits for local schools and universities to help raise awareness on sustainable farming practices using our rich heritage as evidence of its effectiveness (for more information please contact us).