Ash farm finds alternatives to traditional agriculture
One farm in Ash has found an alternative to producing tonnes of food under one roof. KMTV reporter Daisy Page went to find out if there's mush-room in the industry for a new type of growing.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Kent is known across the world as the Garden of England.
00:03Its rolling green fields have historically produced many staples in our weekly shop.
00:08But with the issues posed by climate change, traditional farmers face a shopping list of
00:12challenges to keep food on our tables and their businesses alive.
00:16But how can they diversify to compete with the threats and keep farming going?
00:20There's quite a lot of farmers using on-farm holiday accommodations, so perhaps cottages
00:24that used to be used by farm workers that can now be converted into farm holiday accommodations.
00:29That's a good income stream and a good opportunity for members of the public to see what goes on on farms.
00:34A lot are engaging in agriculture contracting, so doing farming tasks and activities for
00:38their neighbours and others in the surrounding area.
00:41We're seeing quite a few go into viticulture, so planting of grapes and vineyards in the
00:47southeast as well, quite prevalent across Kent and into Sussex.
00:51That's got great potential and arguably one of the few advantages of climate change in
00:56the sense that the climatic conditions now are really ideal for growing grapes.
01:00But one farm from Ash have found an alternative.
01:03Urban Farm It has designed a way for anyone to grow anywhere.
01:07Visiting their factory today, we got suited and booted to take a look behind the scenes.
01:11So, you know, within this room, we're not at the whim of the cycles of the year, so
01:19it doesn't matter whether it's autumn, summer, spring, we can grow the same produce year-round.
01:24We don't have issues like what we've had this year with unpredictable weather, ruining crops.
01:28We don't have so many issues with risk of contamination or a requirement to use pesticides.
01:34Think about it like having a clean slate from which you can grow pretty much anything, pretty
01:39much any time of year, as long as you've got the right knowledge and the right hardware.
01:44So that's why it's so good for farmers as a diversification option, because often what
01:48farmers have is willingness, some good basic knowledge and space, but what they don't have
01:54necessarily is the hardware to go in there.
01:56But even in their own sheltered environments, they too have to weather the storms of climate
02:00change as well as rising costs.
02:02You see that like everything else in our economy and in our world, that climate change will
02:07make it more difficult to procure certain items, it will create limitation and it will
02:12also drive price changes.
02:14So although yes, the actual mushroom side of things we can take care of in an ever-warming
02:19climate, there are other factors that impact as a result of climate change that will impact
02:23a mushroom growing business that we also probably can't control.
02:26They hope this is something people at home and farmers will explore.
02:30Daisy Page for KMTV.