Regenerative agriculture

Entrant Farmer Traineeship

We run a nine month traineeship for entrant farmers, introducing the techniques required to begin a career or project in the regenerative agriculture sphere. We follow a guideline curriculum in collaboration with the Landworkers Alliance, offering a blended experience of hands on farming and project based assignments and reflections.

This course is free to access with priority given to people who may have previously experienced barriers to learning or training. Contact us for more details about the 2024 course.

A holistic approach

For most of the last millenia all the land at Lovebrook was given over to strip farming - a system where families in the village each had an alloted strip of land to cultivate, largely for their own purposes. Lovebrook land formed part of a larger area of strips called Swanborough Laine. For the first time in perhaps three hundred years we have returned a portion of the land to cultivation.

Regenerative agriculture is an approach to food and farming that focuses on increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystems, supporting biosequestration, increasing resilience to climate change, and strengthening the health and vitality of soil. This approach is vital, given the UN’s stark warning that soils around the world are heading for exhaustion and depletion in the next 60 years. 

By using regenerative, low input farming techniques at Lovebrook such as: no-till beds, zero chemicals input, low machinery use, and the use of cover crops - plus the addition of holistic grazing and diverse crop growing, we can drastically improve the quality of the soil. This in turn means our healthy soil can absorb large amounts of greenhouse gasses, sustain healthier, more resilient crops, lead to fewer floods, and bring a marked increase in insects, birds and wildlife. 

At Lovebrook, we will be an example of how these techniques can be used productively and efficiently. Through a diverse approach of commercial growing, volunteer opportunities, training courses and community events - there will be the opportunity to engage with the ideas at many different levels and entry points, ensuring maximum access to the regenerative approach is available to the community.