Free Workshops - GREATsoils with Plants and Livestock  Ian Wilkinson and Sam Lane from Cotswold Seeds will be speaking at a series of workshops on the links between plants, soil health and financial benefits for farms, aimed at growers, farmers and advisors. The events are part of the Growing ...

We have now planned a new crop rotation on our arable land, dividing our small arable area into an eight year rotation and demonstrating a method of diverse ley farming designed to improve sustainability, animal health, soil fertility and ultimately boost the profitability of a farm. It’s a ...

Yesterday Ian Wilkinson spoke at the National Trust’s Food & Farming Plenary on ‘The forage plants that work for pollinators and soil’. The annual Plenary, which took place over three days at the Holnicote Estate in Somerset, gathered together the National Trust’s ...

Why the diverse ley system of rotational farming has lasted for 200 years. British novelist L.P. Hartley famously wrote that, ‘The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.’ But not when it comes to farming with diverse leys. This is a system that has stood the test ...

The autumn season provides the second opportunity in the year to think about planting grass leys. At Cotswold Seeds the majority of our orders are received in the autumn, taking advantage of reasonable weather conditions, appropriate soil and air temperatures and usually the ability to achieve ...