Regenerative food and farming company Wildfarmed supplies flour to over 500 brands including Ask Italian, Marks & Spencer and Wahaca.

Its breads and flours are made from wheat grown to regenerative agriculture standards, without the use of pesticides, on 107 farms across the UK and France, including Gawdy Hall’s from harvest 2024.

Founded in 2018 by Andy Cato of electronic music outfit Groove Armada, former TV presenter George Lamb and Edd Lees, Wildfarmed’s mission is to transform landscapes one field at a time.

They have just made their grocery debut with the launch of their own regenerative bread range. Their Life Changing bread range rolled into Waitrose stores at the start of May. Wildfarmed’s farming methods feature on the new series of Clarkson’s Farm.

Gawdy Hall is the sister estate of Courteenhall Farms in Northamptonshire.

Dr Johnny Wake, Managing Partner of Courteenhall Farms, said: “At both Courteenhall and our sister estate Gawdy Hall in Norfolk we are committed to farming with nature and as sustainably as possible. We’re also passionate about the health of our soil.

“So we’re really pleased that Gawdy Hall is one of the growing number of Wildfarmed growers. Wildfarmed ticks all our boxes in terms of both the sustainable and regenerative farming journey we have started at Gawdy and Courteenhall.

“Our considerate farming practices on the Wildfarmed cropping area include a focus on cover crops to benefit the soil, maximising the use of natural fertilisers rather than artificial nitrogen, not using any chemical sprays – so no fungicides, insecticides or herbicides - and minimising our soil disturbance to prevent carbon release. We also include livestock in our rotation.

“Working with our arable contractor Robert Alexander, we are in our first year with Wildfarmed and we are growing 125 acres of Spring Milling Wheat with a companion crop of Spring Beans which we managed to get drilled earlier this month.

“Going forward our Wildfarmed area will have a three crop rotation so next year will be Malting Spring Barley, followed by a cover crop and then Oats.

“We used a variable seed rate following scanning and testing carried out by Frontier Agriculture’s precision farming specialist SOYL. We’re also trialling a mechanical weeder to help to control the weed burden to the crop.

“We’re excited to be working with Wildfarmed and we’re learning a lot from the growing number of farmers who are also growing for them to help to satisfy the increasing demand from major retailer and chains for their flour.”

Charlie Ennals, Agricultural Relationships Manager for Wildfarmed, said: “We are delighted to be working with Mark and the team at Gawdy Hall Estate. They are a great example of an estate-wide approach to environmental improvements with nature conservation efforts working alongside food production, regenerating the land at the same time.

“Working in collaboration with their farm contractor and agronomist, they have established their first wheat and bean bi-crop for Wildfarmed this spring, which is a new approach for the whole team. I am excited to play a part in regenerating this historic estate and look forward to an ongoing relationship over the coming years.”

www.courteenhall.co.uk

• Look out for Wildfarmed on the new series of Clarkson’s Farm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k9NMbQe0C4
• Wildfarmed growers across the UK https://www.wildfarmed.co.uk/blogs/wildfarmed-farmers/our-growers