It’s one of the most productive agricultural regions in England, but it’s also an area at the most risk from climate change and environmental degradation, prompting debate about its future management.

Having been drained in the 17th century, the lowland peat soils found in the Fens have been shrinking ever since – with carbon being released into the atmosphere and water management becoming critical. 

The search for ways to continue farming the area, while also meeting climate and biodiversity targets, is ongoing.

See also: Wetter farming: Growing typha for the construction industry

Wetter farming, alternative crops, regenerative agriculture, nature recovery and energy production are all part of the mix, providing a perfect case study as the government consults on a planned land use framework.  

Balancing act

Its history makes the Fens as much of a man-made landscape as it is a natural one, explains Megan Hudson, general manager at Fenland Soil.

She describes the situation today as a delicate balancing act and one which requires a shared vision to come up with the right plan for its sustainable future.

“It’s a unique scenario and a very complex one,” she explains.

“A one-size-fits-all solution is impossible, given the economic, environmental and social pressures involved, although progress is being made by collective commitment.”

Having a mosaic of options at their disposal will be important for farmers making decisions about changing businesses, she believes.

“We know it’s possible to have both food production and environmental protection working in harmony, alongside areas that are being managed in a different way for other aims.”

At the member organisation’s two-day conference, Farmers Weekly spoke to three farmers pursuing different approaches in the Fens:

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Biodiversity and nature

Sarah Taylor, Oxwillow Ltd, Ely

The desire to leave a legacy is behind Sarah Taylor’s decision to focus on preserving peat soils and building biodiversity on the family farm, rather than pursuing production on marginal land.

The farm at Pymoor near Ely is adjacent to the Ouse Washes, a high-priority area, so rewetting and biodiversity recovery were the bold steps they decided to take, even though there were few examples to learn from at the time.

The family now has 20ha devoted to biodiversity net gain (BNG). They have also established a paludiculture trials site to investigate food and biomass crops that can be grown successfully with a higher water table.

Data gathering is being carried out – a flux tower and peat camera have been installed by researchers, as well as equipment for biodiversity monitoring.

“Our biodiversity baseline was disappointingly low, so it will be interesting to see how long it takes to reverse that,” says Sarah.

The farm is also part of an ambitious Landscape Recovery project, which will see them link up with others to deliver habitat in an internationally important area.

This will aim at reducing carbon emissions and supporting wildlife, while cleaning water and providing public goods.

“None of this has been a walk in the park,” Sarah explains. “The balance between carbon emissions and biodiversity doesn’t always work – on peat, watercourse units may be a better option than BNG.”  

She adds that the risks of taking Grade 1 land out of production have to be factored into any calculations. “Those risks are not lost on us – we need to make this work.”

A wildflower meadow and pond wetland area form the basis of the first BNG site, with deposits already received from developers. A second phase will see mixed scrub and watercourses created.

“It’s been a labour of love. The wildflower meadow established well, with 16 of the 18 species recorded. Some of the ponds have vegetated up better than others, so we’ll wait to see what happens with those.”

While there’s increasing interest from both the government and private funders in their efforts, there are still huge challenges with such an approach, she points out.

“The tax situation needs clarifying, as does the government’s long-term vision for farming. Nature finance isn’t flowing yet, and we don’t know what effect the changes we’ve made will have on land values.”

As early adopters, the Taylors have had little guidance to fall back on and the costs of setting up a site for BNG have been considerable.

“There’s baselining to be done, as well as monitoring, while the legal costs are also high.”

Some of the land is still farmed commercially. “We’re looking into the options for peatland that can’t be rewetted and considering how we can be more sustainable.”

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Alternative crops and carbon capture

Luke Palmer, FC Palmer & Sons

The need for a profitable farming system which can adapt to climate change and contribute to net-zero commitments is influencing Luke Palmer’s decisions about the 1,650ha family farm near Ely.

With a vast range of cropping as well as solar panels and reservoirs on the farm, Luke strives to maintain as much diversity in the business as possible.

The farm produces food, energy and public goods, with some land rented out for vegetable and turf production.

For the past two years, hemp has been grown for look-see purposes, following its inclusion in a project on crops with potential for high carbon capture.

Working with Niab, Luke took the chance to see whether it would be suitable as an alternative spring crop.

“There’s lots to like about hemp with its carbon sequestration potential, especially now getting a licence for growing it has been simplified,” he says.

Very fast growing, with the ability to capture 22t of carbon dioxide/ha, hemp is used to produce insulation materials, textiles and oil, as well as having the ability to clean up polluted land through its absorption of heavy metals.

Drilled in April or May – when the soil temperature reaches at least 8C – it doesn’t require any inputs. “The seed cost £650/ha and we had to create a stale seed-bed before drilling, but that was it,” recalls Luke.

Grown on fields with a high water table, it reached 4.2m high in record time. At harvest, it was cut and left to ret in the field for two to four weeks, with baling taking place when its moisture content has fallen.

“In the first year, we couldn’t get a baling contractor so we incorporated it back into the soil. The following year, it was baled at 17% moisture, which is too high for processing.”

Despite these mixed results, Luke believes there is a place for hemp in the Fens, especially on non-water table fields.

“We need the infrastructure in this area to be able to process it, so it requires some energy from the government.”

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Intensive vegetables and higher water table

Peter Sargeant, G’s Norfolk Farms

Responsible for 1,100ha of deep peat, Peter Sergeant of G’s Norfolk Farms grows root and combinable crops, as well as salads, in an intensive year-round operation that’s based on meeting supermarket demand.

Salad crop planting takes place across 575ha from February to August, with planting carried out every week for 3-6 days to ensure daily delivery to key customers. The harvesting operation lasts from April to October.  

Aware of the high emissions from peat soils and the scrutiny being applied by his customers and wider society, Peter has investigated techniques that can reduce carbon losses and protect the peat soils.

These have to be assessed for any disruption to the viability of crops or the operational efficiency of the business.

This is so that any conflicts between farming income, food production and environmental impact are understood.

In 2024, a paludiculture trial was done on the farm to see if holding the water table between 10-30cm in fields could work with intensive vegetable production, or if there were trade-offs that risked its commercial success.

By managing the water table in both celery and Chinese leaf crops to 14cm and 16cm respectively, rather than the usual 50cm and 80cm, there were significant reductions in carbon dioxide emissions.

These were a drop of 47% for Chinese leaf and 40% for celery – an encouraging early sign for the development of a more resilient growing system.

However, crop yield and quality suffered, adding huge costs to the operation and requiring a greater area of the crop to be grown to meet their commitments.

“With Chinese leaf, our output was 50% rather than 65%, adding £300,000 to our costs. We would need 30% more land given to the crop to make up the shortfall and fulfil our customers’ orders.”

The situation with celery was even worse, he admits. “Yield and quality were way down at 34%, rather than 85%, so the cost hit to us was £3.3m. The extra land requirement is two and a half times that of current levels.”

There were operational impacts too, continues Peter. “We needed to hoe the crops for weed control but struggled to travel on the wetter soils. After a rain event, we couldn’t even walk on the fields.”

As a result, getting a harvesting rig onto them was impossible.

“Our experience showed us that it’s a huge challenge to grow commercial vegetables in a paludiculture system – it’s just not a viable alternative for our current set up.”

Despite that, Peter remains committed to sustainable farming practices and recognises the pressure that lowland peatlands are under.

“We have to accept that reducing cultivations and alternative crops will play a role in our future. Techniques such as rotational wetting may also have a place.”