PACKAGING TRENDS
We will follow the journey from seed to plant to grain to loaf, sharing stories along the way that track the flow of food from the fields to our bakeries”
great example. They return here in the middle of March after spending all winter in Africa. When the chiffchaff comes back, you say to yourself, ‘Ok, it’s going to get better from now,’ so it becomes this lovely milestone in the year.” As we drive to the fields where wheat for
GAIL’s is growing, Annie explains how her career in farming is a homecoming of sorts. She grew up on her family’s farm in Oxfordshire but heeded her parent’s advice not to go into the profession herself for a long time, working in communication roles in London and Berlin instead. “I got into food while living in Berlin and I found it led me back to how and where produce is grown,” she says. Returning to London, she worked as a community manager for a farmer’s market before doing a post- grad at the Royal Agricultural University. “It gave me the foundational knowledge but the biggest learning curve was actually working on a farm,” she says. After taking in the wheat fields we drive to another part of the farm where the herd of Hereford cattle are grazing. Annie jumps out of her pick up, cuts into a hay bale and begins
18 Kennedy’s Bakery Production April/May 2024
rolling it out to form a carpet of hay all the way down the field. Between contending with some pretty large, hungry cows, Annie explains that her main priority at Ampney Brook is the health of the soil, which guides decisions on the farm about everything from how the fields are used and planted, to minimising the use of tractors (which compact the soil) and a having a minimal till approach that keeps nutrients in the ground. With the hay rolled out and Annie safely
out of the way, I wonder what cows have to do with wheat? “Cows are essential for our soil management,” says Annie, explaining that fields of diverse herbal leys are maintained for three to five years and rotationally grazed, enhancing soil fertility with manure and trampled plant matter. “This process boosts organic content,” Annie notes. Wheat is then cultivated for two years, drawing on this enriched soil, before the cycle of ley grazing resumes. “How we farm requires more thinking. It’s
about seeing the farm as a living system in which natural processes fit together,” she says. Having been around farming for most of her life, though, Annie is understanding
of the challenges farmers face, and why not everyone chooses to farm in this way. “It’s tricky because farmers have to make a living and they work in line with the systems that are put in front of them by governments and policy makers. When you do this type of farming, it’s a bit of a leap of faith, so you have to really believe in it and have customers who do too,” she explains.
As we stop on the edge of the 20 acres of land growing wheat for GAIL’s, Annie explains how a particularly wet winter meant planting late this year. It wasn’t ideal, but the genetically diverse variety planted, Miller’s Choice, makes it much more resilient to difficult growing conditions. “With a field of genetically identical wheat, if something affects the crop one year, the whole lot will get wiped out, whereas we will always get a crop because some genetic variants will do well,” she says. We’ll have to come back later in the year to see proof of that, something Annie is keen for. “Farming is really, really hard work, especially in winter and you’ve got to feed cows outside in non-stop rain. But it’s really rewarding too. It might not look as beautiful as it could right now, but when there are orchids, dragonflies and butterflies everywhere, it’s unbelievable. It’s better than most things I’ve experienced,” she says.
Keep up-to-date with the Wheat Project Diaries here.
bakeryproduction.co.uk
photography credit all on pictures] Elliot Sheppard
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