Farm of the week: Ten years of worthwhile growth in organic fields

IT has been nearly a decade since Peter Richardson decided to switch to organic farming and, since then, he has not looked back.

His farm, at Newby Wiske, near to Northallerton, in North Yorkshire, is producing a plethora of organic vegetables which are sold in boxes around the whole of Yorkshire.

His holding, Home Farm, is one of five farms operating under the Riverford umbrella, a network of farms around the countryside producing organic vegetables boxes to be sold direct to the doors of customers.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Getting involved with Riverford has brought increased attention to Mr Richardson's farm and it is now home to more than 30 people involved in the harvesting and packaging that goes on there throughout the entire year.

The vegetables are sold via a network of salesmen with customers as far away as Sheffield and the East Yorkshire coast. The operation is so efficient that vegetables can be harvested, packaged and sent out within 24 hours or so, meaning the food is still very fresh by the time it gets there.

Mr Richardson is the third generation of his family to farm from Home Farm. His grandfather and father were tenants there until the 1950s when they bought the farm from the then owners of the Newby Hall estate.

"We have added bits to it over the years," he said, with the farm also operating some land at nearby Danby Wiske. "At that time, it was a mixed use farm, home to potatoes, sugar beat, barley wheat, sheep and pigs."

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The watershed moment for the farm came in 1996 when Mr Richardson decided to go organic and he remains very frank about his reasons for making the move, saying that it was not all about the ethics at that stage.

"To be perfectly honest it was for commercial reasons," he said. "But as the years have gone on I have begun to understand the system.

"It certainly was a big change for us, you soon get used to 20 per cent of the farm not cropping at any one time.

"I was brought up with conventional farming and when you are buying in things like fertiliser and pesticides there are things that you do not have to think about too much which are very important when you go organic. Suddenly these problems become quite dramatic.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"Weed control is the biggest problem. Getting rid of them can be an expensive operation but you cannot afford to let them stay as they compete for the nutrients and water – something which

has been in precious supply this year."

The leaving of land to go fallow for a year was another big challenge to Home Farm's day-to-day running. However, Mr Richardson was able to strike a deal with a local sheep farmer to allow part of his flock to be based on this land, helping with the land's fertility and bringing in a little bit of extra money too in the process.

The range of the vegetables the farm grows has increased gradually over the years, expanding to as broad a range as could be found on most Yorkshire holdings.

Today Home Farm is home to barley, wheat, grass clovers, potatoes, leeks, parsnips, carrots, cabbages, broccoli, asparagus, onions, chard, beetroot, courgettes, fennel, celery and sweetcorn.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The result is that there is continual harvesting work taking place at Riverford, with crops being dug up and sent out 365 days of the year.

"The harvest goes on for every week of the year," said Mr Richardson. "Including Christmas week.

"Sometimes during the summer we can have 20 different crops coming through."

Signing up to be part of the Riverford scheme seems to be mutually beneficial for both the organisation and Mr Richardson.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: "They were looking for somewhere in the north and geographically we were what they were after.

"Organically we had the right history and agreed with the heart of Riverford's message – which is all to do with local food.

"It is a good thing for the local farm community," he said,

with many of the neighbouring farms contributing to the output that goes under the Riverford brand.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It was just a case of getting a bit of structure to what we are doing so that the product is always going out fresh. Getting the labour structure right in particular has been quite a challenge and is an ongoing challenge. The majority of the workers are foreign."

Mr Richardson has become such a convert to the organic cause that he now hosts regular farm walks during the summer months.

The walks initially proved daunting for Mr Richardson but he has quickly grown to enjoy and relish the opportunity to talk to people about agriculture and

food production on a one-to-one basis.

School visits too have proved popular too, as farmers increasingly try to improve the country's understanding of how and where our food is produced from an early age.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Mr Richardson said the people buying the boxes tended to be from all walks of life, united by a shared concern and interest in food that was both fresh and ethical.

Vegetables are only sold when they are in season and customers can tailor what they are buying throughout the year to reflect

this.

The busy months tend to be those in the winter with summer holidays generally being more quiet.

The move to organics and to the Riverford organisation were two bold moves which have paid off for Mr Richardson and his family.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This year the farm hosted a meal for the public, set up inside a specially designed yurt on the farmland.

It allowed visitors to come and sample the food grown on the farm and helped to spread the word further about just what a supreme difference fresh vegetables can make to a meal.