POST IN GOV.UK by Graham Higgins

Last summer, we visited a group of farmers in the Derbyshire White Peak. They shared what they’ve learned from growing herbal leys in improved grassland systems.

Working with Natural England’s  Catchment Sensitive Farming adviser Ben Rodgers, who coordinates the project, farmers in the area have been trialling herbal leys over several years.

Together, they are exploring how multi-species swards can be successfully integrated into grassland systems.

In this post, we share the first films from that work: 

• a short overview of the project 

• a farmer case study featuring Rusty Mycock 

The videos we're sharing today are part of a wider series. Over the coming months, we’ll publish more video case studies from farms across the White Peak. 

Our series

Across the project, farmers have been exploring how herbal leys can: 

• reduce reliance on nitrogen fertiliser 

• improve soil structure and resilience 

• support livestock performance 

• deliver environmental benefits alongside production 

As Ben explains: 

For the last 6 years, we’ve been working with our local farmers looking at ways of using herbal leys as a replacement for perennial ryegrass swards managed with nitrogen fertiliser.

The series will explore what has worked in practice and the lessons farmers learned along the way.

Overview: lessons from the White Peak 

In this short film (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi88C7LDZEk), Ben introduces the work and summarises some of the main insights from the farms involved.

We’ve also produced a full-length version of around 20 minutes (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHfNB62lWyk) if you’d prefer to go into more detail. It includes a wider range of farms and systems.

Case study: Rusty Mycock 

Rusty farms 320 dairy cows in the White Peak. He began introducing herbal leys as a way of reducing nitrogen use and improving the resilience of his grazing system. 

Since then, herbal leys have become a significant part of the farm: 

We must have about 25% now, herbal leys. I think we do get slightly better intakes and probably slightly better milk yields.

Rusty explains how direct drilling helps establish new leys while protecting soil structure: 

The main thing is, we're not disturbing the soil, so we're not disturbing any weed seeds.

He also highlights the potential to reduce nitrogen inputs: 

We’d probably, on average, be using about 150kg of nitrogen (N) per hectare. I think we could be down at 60–70kg of N per hectare if we get it established right, and the clover performing. 

Short film version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlNe1PBOgMM

Full version:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Hduf6PwPNE

 

Coming up

In upcoming films, farmers and advisers will share practical insights on: 

• choosing the right fields 
• establishment methods and timing 
• weed control and rotations 
• balancing inputs and performance 

The focus throughout is on real-world experience: what works, what doesn’t, and what farmers would do differently. 

As Ben puts it: 

I’d like to share some of the things we’ve found out and hopefully you’ll be able to apply them to your own farm.

Learn more

Join a tour

You can join CSF and host farmers for a one-day self-drive tour taking in 2 farms participating in the White Peak Trials. Several dates are available.

The day focuses on herbal leys and the wider herbal ley farming system as an alternative to inorganic nitrogen fertiliser within intensive forage-based systems.

Learn more about the tours and register your place.

Learn more about Catchment Sensitive Farming

Catchment Sensitive Farming is led by Natural England in partnership with Defra, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission.

It supports farmers to produce food in a way that protects their local water, air and soil and deliver more environmentally sustainable farm businesses

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