Ash farm finds alternatives to traditional agriculture

KentOnline / KMTV

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.

Transcript

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.

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