The BBC’s Countryfile programme recently reported on regenerative farming in the UK, using as an example the comparison between a crop of wheat on presenter Adam Henson’s conventional farm with a crop of heritage wheat on a neighbour’s farm, grown without any pesticides, herbicides or fertiliser.

On the Isle of Man, three farmers in different parts of the island are currently growing trial crops of heritage wheat for Noa Bakehouse, using similar farming methods.

One of the farms, run by David and Sarah Quayle, is in the south of the island, which is not an area traditionally associated with arable production, so Food & Farming went to see how the crop was coming along.

The Quayles have planted a blend of three varieties of heritage wheat, and the first thing that strikes you is how tall the crop is. Although it was deliberately planted late – November – it grows fast and out-competes the weeds and it looks like there will be a fine crop of straw too.

Miles Pettit, who owns Noa Bakehouse, has come to visit the Quayles and take a look at the crop. He tells me that these varieties produce the type of long straw once widely used for thatching on the island whereas now, thatching straw has to be imported.

In the Countryfile programme, the farmer growing heritage wheat regeneratively had planted herbal leys in the field for several years before, to get the soil conditions optimal before planting the wheat.

The six-acre field the Quayles are using had pigs on it a few years ago and has since been grazed by sheep.

Miles says: ‘The reason we love this field is because it has been naturally prepared for quite a few years so it hasn’t been sprayed. All of these things that add natural nutrients into the ground whereas, fields that have been sprayed quite a lot, a lot of those nutrients might be missing.’

David agrees: ‘I think the reason this has worked so well is because in living memory it hasn’t had a crop. We had it soil sampled initially and it was a little bit deficient in lime so we put some lime on to bring up the level but it has had no fertiliser and no pesticide. This hasn’t had anything at all.’

As well as David and Sarah in the south, Will Qualtrough in the middle of the island and Will McMillin in the north have also got fields of heritage wheat growing. For all of them it has been very much an experiment, underwritten by Noa, as Miles explains: ‘Even though the south of the island hasn’t been known for being good wheat growing land, this type of wheat should be more adaptable to being grown across the Isle of Man.

‘We thought that, as this is an exercise, what we need to do is have three different locations, with three different challenges, working with three different farmers, and see how the crop got on in those different environments so we could best learn to find the right way to move forward.

‘It’s about trying to find new, interesting crops, based on their flavour. That’s a taste that we’ve lost. There’s loads of different varieties of wheat that all have different flavours and those are the things that, as a baker, I’m really excited about because I get to work with the first natural, sustainable wheat from the island and, hopefully, from these three varieties we should get some really great flavours running through our bread and it should allow us to do some unique breadlines to supplement the range that the company has.’

Miles adds that, although this crop will produce less than half the yield of a modern variety of wheat, conventionally farmed, it commands a higher price which will make it a much more viable alternative. It’s getting back to the idea of valuing our food and the nutrition it provides, and being prepared to pay for quality food.

Sarah says: ‘Really we should be subsidising the consumer so that we’re paying the right amount for our food, so that everybody has really good quality food instead of a big quantity of food.

‘So we’re coming at it from that point of view and just hoping that that change will come.

‘At the moment the way the grading system is set up for animals, and for everything, is based on what the supermarkets want to sell to the consumer, and not necessarily what the consumer wants but what they’re led to believe they want. So we’re trying to get back to that, all the way back to the start, and say it should be based on the most sustainable way of farming.

‘I sometimes think that previous generations would come back and laugh at us because they knew what they were doing.’

Miles agrees.

‘This method of farming has been forgotten and we’ve had to reinvent it. It’s like making sourdough: it was forgotten so you had to bring it back because actually fermentation foods are fantastic foods and we should all be eating them,’ he says.

‘They are actually good for your gut whereas, if you just have processed food, it’s not as good. It’s about finding that balance in life.’

And he adds: ‘It’s great that David and Sarah were really up for taking on this challenge, as well as Will Qualtrough and Will MacMillin. They are all up for trying something new and pushing a new way of working and not being set in their ways.

‘Farming is really tough and it takes brave people to take on that challenge.’

What is regenerative farming?

Regenerative agriculture describes farming and grazing practices that, among other benefits, reverse climate change by rebuilding soil organic matter and restoring degraded soil biodiversity. The key to regenerative agriculture is that it improves the land, using technologies that regenerate and revitalize the soil and the environment.

What is heritage wheat?

Heritage wheat varieties are older varieties that have been grown in past that are experiencing a resurgence in interest. Our ancestors grew genetically-diverse crops, locally adapted to poor soils and difficult growing conditions.

The farmers growing for Noa Bakehouse have planted a blend of three varieties of heritage wheat:-

Red Lammass, England’s oldest recorded wheat, which dates back to 1650, which reaches heights of 1.5 metres and forms some of the foundations of modern hard red wheat breeds today.

Old Welsh was grown in south west Wales right up until the 1920s, usually for home bread-making purposes.

Orange Devon, originally grown in the south west of England, has been making a comeback in recent years and is highly prized by home bakers.