In my previous blog, Why Family Farms Matter, I explored the often-overlooked benefits family farms bring to consumers - choice, passion, and a deeper connection to the food we eat.
But family farms offer something even more important: thoughtful care for the fields and the environment that they manage. More than ever, they’re setting themselves apart from industrial-scale operations by adopting farming practices that prioritise soil health, biodiversity, and long-term environmental sustainability.
Three farming methods are of particular interest: pasture for life, regenerative farming and organic farming. But what do these terms really mean? How are they different, and what role does each play in shaping the future of British agriculture?
In this blog, I explore each of these farming methods.
1. Pasture for life
A pasture-fed for life is better for cattle and sheep. This is the starting point for Pasture for Life. It is backed by scientific research, which shows that animals on a 100% pasture-based diet are less stressed and produce healthier, more nutritious meat.
The alternative is that they are fed on grain. Whilst it is rare for cattle and sheep in the UK to be 100% grain-fed, it does happen in more intensive beef production processes, and in the production of Wagu beef. What is far more common is that they are finished on grain (in the final 2-3 months prior to slaughter) - this happens for a variety of reasons, but particularly to speed up the achievement of the target weight.
As cattle and sheep are designed to eat grass, feeding too much grain can cause health issues. The use of grain also has an environmental impact, as more land, water and energy are required in its production.
Pasture for Life has a certification that is available to farmers. So, if you see their sticker on a label, it’s a guarantee that the meat is from an animal that has been 100% pasture-fed for life. There is also a tracing system so that the certification follows the meat through the food chain to the point of sale.
Finally, Pasture for Life farms also tend to have a better, even positive carbon footprint, as goodness is put back into the soil, rather than depleting it. They are also great for supporting nature and wildlife.
What Pasture for Life certification represents:
A 100% pasture-based diet, guaranteed. This needs to be differentiated from the term “grass-fed” which can be seen widely used on labels in supermarkets – this is a legal term and requires that an animal is only 51% grass fed.
An outdoor life for the animal, unless conditions prevent it.
Healthier, more nutricious meat
For cattle and sheep only.
2. Regenerative Farming
Regenerative farming focuses on actively improving soil health, biodiversity, and ecosystems. This approach emphasises carbon sequestration and restores degraded lands. In the UK, regenerative farming is gaining attention due to organisations such as the Sustainable Food Trust and Regenerative Farmers of the UK.
Primary goals of regenerative farming:
Actively restore degraded land. Improving soil quality so it is better able to support crops without chemicals. Quality soil will better absorb rainfall, leading to less local flooding, and making it less prone to droughts.
Sequester atmospheric carbon to mitigate climate change. Effectively lock away carbon in the soil permanently.
Work with nature to create self-sustaining, closed-loop agricultural systems, the knock-on effect of which is vastly reduced use of chemicals.
Highland Cattle Mob Grazing
Key Practices:
Minimise soil disturbance. To enhance soil organic matter and microbial life. A key element to this is no ploughing.
Maintain living roots: Integrating trees, hedges and shrubs into farmland to improve biodiversity and carbon storage.
Livestock on the land: Managing livestock to mimic natural grazing patterns, improving pasture health. I love that this is sometimes called “mob grazing”!
Protect the soil surface: Building soil fertility and structure. This includes the use of cover crops between harvests.
Diversity plants and crops: Increases biodiversity and soil health, enhancing crop yields and overall efficiency.
If you are keen to know more, two great sources are:
Rooted - a book by Sarah Langford
Six Inches of Soil - a small budget film that just been signed up by Journeyman Pictures, and is available on Amazon.
3. Organic Farming in the UK
The best known of the three, organic farming emphasises the avoidance of synthetic chemicals, genetically modified organisms, and artificial inputs. Certified by organisations such as The Soil Association, organic farming focuses on using natural methods to grow crops and raise livestock. While it shares some overlap with pasture for life standards and regenerative farming, organic farming is defined by strict regulatory standards.
Primary goals of organic farming:
Produce healthy, chemical-free food.
Protect biodiversity and natural resources.
Provide transparency and traceability through certification.
Key Practices:
Chemical-Free Farming: No synthetic fertilizers or pesticides.
Natural Pest Control: Using crop diversity, biological predators, and mechanical weeding.
Manure and Compost: Building soil fertility naturally.
Organic Livestock Management: Ensuring high animal welfare standards and avoiding routine antibiotics.
In Britain today, all three farming practices are part of a push by many smaller farms towards more environmentally friendly agriculture, where nature and food production act in harmony, improving soil health and animal welfare and providing the consumer with more nutritious, better-quality food.
Pasture for life and Regenerative farming are quite closely aligned as improved soil quality provides better quality, faster growing grass all year round, making it easier to keep animals in the fields.
A point of differentiation is that organic farming allows the use of grain in the diet. It also does not require an outdoor-based life for the animals – only that there is access to outdoor space. This is why, when I see organic certification for meat, I like to see the Pasture for Life certification alongside it.
As consumers, we can do our bit by choosing to purchase the food we eat from farmers across Britain who have adopted these practices. We are not just supporting farmer livelihoods but are choosing better options for our planet and our health too.
About us:
At WeFarmShop, we’re on a mission to inspire and empower consumers to buy directly from local farmers and producers from across Great Britain.
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