Ed Brown
Ed Brown
Main Expertise
- Soil Chemistry & Properties
- Soil functions
- Practical farming system knowledge
- Practical implementation of regenerative transition on an operational basis
- Reduction of risks
Affiliated Organisation(s)
H L Hutchinson Ltd (previous)
Wildfarmed (current)
Language(s)
- English
Based in
United Kingdom
Contact
My journey of becoming a regenerative agronomist
Agronomist and consultant for 10 years
Predominantly worked for a large agronomy company in the UK
- For the last 8 years, Ed specialized in soil health and regenerative agriculture practices
- Started the regenerative agricultural department within the company
- Recruited and trained a small team of consultants and specialized them in regenerative agriculture
This year, he moved to Wildfarmed, a regenerative food and
farming business:
- 140 growers, mostly wheat, a small amount of barley and oats
- All grown according to their reg. ag. standards, they process
- The wheat is ground into flour and has its own range of Wildfarmed bread in 2 UK supermarkets
- End products and goods go to independent bakeries,
restaurant and the food supply chain - Manage the farming team of 4 people who manage the
grower relationships with the 140 farmers,- Helping them with contracts
- Help the growers on the technical side of growing
- A couple of in-hand farms
- Some agronomy and consultancy as well
Main Challenges for farmers’ transition
Not jumping in too quickly, not jumping off the cliff
- Not directly jumping into principles of cutting completely of N-
Fertilisers or going fully no-till from the beginning – results in yield loss- They might not be able to afford a yield loss.
“Make sure that the transition is a process that adapts over time and the context. Start at the right point and do not get to the end goal too quickly”
Success story
Ed advised a farm in the Midlands of the UK
- Heavy clay soils, conventionally farmed for a long time, poor
soil structure, poor water infiltration, bad grass weed issue - soil like concrete, with poor yields
They addressed the soil chemistry and made soil tests
- Magnesium to Calcium imbalance
- Grass weed issue, compaction problem
- Ploughing once helped, afterwards sowed a multispecies
cover crop with lots of root diversity - Applied organic manures
- The following year introduced a Bi-crop
- RESULT: Good yield, soil structure improvements, lower
grass weeds - Understand the soil and the scenario and apply principles
of reg. ag. From there on
One principle you wish more people understood
Principle of maximising diversity
- Facilitates most improvements: quite quick reduction of input,
quick improvements of underground and above-ground biodiversity - Having plant and general diversity – also for conventional farmers
“Regenerative Agriculture is about building a farm ecosystem that produces healthy food in partnership with nature in a way that has a positive impact on our natural resources rather than an extractive one”
— What regenerative agriculture means to me
Learn Directly from the Experts
Meet this agronomist in our Regenerative Agronomy Training.
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