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Rural land business

Land Business Autumn/Winter 2017

Q3 2017

Soil health is becoming a key issue for food producers. Research from Sheffield University, which suggested there could be fewer than 100 harvests left in UK fields, has fuelled concerns that the drive for efficiency is depleting farming’s most essential resource.

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But are these gloomy predictions accurate? In this issue, we take an expert look at the state of our soils and reveal that there are proven, practical ways to return land to robust and resilient health. You can discover the latest thinking on page 24.

The value of wild crops can often be overlooked, but when Walter Riddell started considering ways to diversify the Hepple Estate, located in the beautiful Northumberland National Park, he realised that almost all of the ingredients for a premium product were growing naturally on his land. Working closely with chef Valentine Warner, he set up a distillery and now Hepple Gin is served in Europe’s smartest bars. Read his fascinating story on page 10.

Harvesting wild ingredients is just one of the benefits provided by the countryside and the people who work in it. Ranging from biodiversity to flood prevention, these are collectively known as natural capital and might well form the basis of subsidies post-Brexit. We investigate its role in the future rural economy on page 22.

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