Regenerative Agriculture: What does it mean?

Regenerative agriculture is a conservational approach to farming systems, increasing sustainability, focusing on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving carbon sequestration, encouraging ecosystems and protecting our native flora and fauna.

All aiding the fight against climate change.

Regenerative Agriculture. Fuelling our Desire to Farm Sustainably.

Sustainable & Regenerative Farming

We believe that we farm better when we work with nature. This is why we take a regenerative approach to farming, which means we promote plant and soil health through biodiversity and the balance of natural systems. Certified Organic with the Soil Association we are further inspired by permaculture and biodynamics. We bring all these ideas together to create a farm that has a positive regenerative effect on our land and our local environment. 

As we practice regenerative agriculture, we manage our livestock for the benefit of our soil. Healthier soil means healthier animals, and the ability to sequester carbon underground. All of our grassland is a permanent pasture. We don't disturb any soil, so the Grasslands can absorb carbon dioxide during growth and store it in different tissues. Our Holistic grazing patterns ensure that our pastures have an adequate rest time, we work on “the third rule” a third grazed, a third trampled and a third left. Our livestock graze an extensive range of grassland including herbal leys, wildflower rich meadows and Pertwood's ancient downland. The animals that are housed during winter have organic hay and haylage that is only sourced from our own pastures. We compost all of our organic animal waste and utilise our muck from winter housing and spread it back on our fields improving soil structure and organic matter. 

70% of our pasture at Cools Farm is in Higher Tier Countryside Stewardship, mainly for the protection of our wildflower rich meadows, letting them go to seed and regenerate for the following year,  we purposefully don't graze nor cut these fields for forage from mid-May to mid-July to allow the flora and fauna to pollinate, this is where our bees become very special to us.

Pertwood Organic Farm is the second oldest and one of the leading organic farms in the UK, Pertwood's over 30-year tradition of organic farming has resulted in a wealth of wildlife residing in the unspoilt, chemical-free environment. The farm is passionate to identify every possible opportunity to enhance biodiversity and to allow more wildlife to coexist alongside the profitable commercial business. Our livestock have the privilege to graze and maintain 280 acres of their ancient downlands, We are able to out-winter all of our heifers alongside our sheep throughout the winter. In the summer months our youngstock and cows with calves at foot graze the downlands.

The Red Poll are an English Heritage Rare Breed, they thrive in low-input, extensive systems like ours at Cools, they are the perfect cow for our style of farming. With animals fattening at 28 months on a 100% grass-fed diet our beef is known for its incredible flavour and marbling, quite often referred to as the 'fine wine' of beef. Our Award-Winning herd of Red Polls are conservational graziers known as a dual purpose breed for their meat and milking abilities.

After what felt like a long battle, full of heartache from lambing 2022 we decided that our current lambing system no longer suited us, lambing North Country Mules and Suffolks inside on a semi-intensive system, a flock that Tom dreamt of owning as a young boy, Tom decided to sell what he thought was his "dream flock" and in August 2022 he bought a flock of Exlana's.

Our Exlana flock were bred by a local friend and sheep farmer, Tim White. Tim, alongside other likeminded sheep farmers developed the breed Exlana, bred with genetics in mind, a low-input, worm resistant, shedding breed. Tom, already having worked alongside Tim with the breed didn't take much convincing on the drastic swap of breed (and system) with Emily being a little more sceptical about the idea of the hands off lambing extensively outdoors. The Exlana fits in with our ethos, their natural worm resistance means the use of less anthelmintics (wormers), their shedding ability means they put less energy into growing that big fleece you see on traditional breeds as she reallocates that energy to be productive elsewhere. Shedding also means we don't tail dock as the likelihood of cases of fly-strike drops dramatically and they use their long tail to swish away any flies. This all leads to lower labour requirements.

Exlana, Sheep Improved Genetics

We believe this is what makes our farm (and us) unique...