Farming
Scales
Farming is not a 'one size fits all' model. At FWAG, we seek to support farms regardless of product or scale. This page is present to demonstrate the wide ranging scope we operate at.
At Suffolk FWAG, our independence allows us to operate and support across the spectrum of farms.
Conventional to Regenerative
At FWAG, our independence allows us to operate and support across the spectrum of farms. While we try to move along the scale to regenerative, nature friendly or eco-agriculture, we understand how those are either not immediately achievable or even effective on all land.
At the conventional end, we can still look to optimise systems through targeted chemical application, margin health or alternative business operation to improve survivability and maintain yields.
Where possible, we seek to progress along the scale to more regenerative methods. Swapping to minimal tillage and drilling to maintain soil health, employing integrated pest management and soil health cover crops to reduce the need for chemical application, and creating space for nature. While organic farming continues to dominate the media, we seek the less prescriptive alternative so to tailor procedures to the land, crop and goals of our clients.
Community or Commercial
While this scale looks more into the supply chain, it can also be a simple matter of size. Pre-World war, local farms produced food for local communities, supplying local shops and markets to people they may well know. However, the industrialisation and increased demand from farms favoured specialising over larger estates, generating repeatable deals with commercial entities. In Suffolk, this has lead to 70% of our crops being distributed beyond our county, never to return. This has lead to control being lost to these commercial entities. This is where our interest in scale works.
Through partnership with local movements and suppliers such as Framlingham Farmers, we can regain control of the incoming supply chain locally and for more specific needs. We also look to distributers and markets, linking crops to markets, or, where possible, re-introduce processes onto farms, such as mills to produce flower. This could be in the form of local shared resource co-operatives, farm shops or local market introduce.
This does not mean that commercial deals are not beneficial, they form the backbone of farm finance, but through resource management and supply chain knowledge, control can be wrestled back to farmers, who can make deals and rely less upon them.
