Farmer Case Studies
Pioneering Agroecological Farming Approaches for Healthy Sustainable Food Production: Doug Christie
Doug Christie is a regenerative farmer that promotes soil health. He farms 540 ha of land at Durie Farms in Fife, Scotland, of which one third is run organically on mainly livestock (beef) based rotation where mob-grazing has recently been implemented. The remainder of the farm is under an arable rotation where agroecological farming practices have increasingly been used over the last 25 years. Doug switched from conventional to organic beef production in 2006 and he started adaptive multi paddock grazing in 2019. He is a Pasture for Life (PfL) member, BASE-UK (Biodiversity-Agriculture-Soil-Environment) committee member, and was named Carbon Farmer of the Year in 2023. As well as hosting farm visits, he participates in field labs with the Soil Association, specifically looking at mob-grazing and companion cropping, and has also collaborated with researchers from the James Hutton Institute and Scotland’s Rural College conducting crop variety with tillage regime field trials.
Journey towards regenerative farming and improving soil health
Why Doug decided to alter his farming methods and adopt agroecological approaches that support healthy biodiverse farming systems:
“I originally turned to regenerative agriculture as a cost-cutting exercise and experimented with minimising tillage, this practice by itself was not idea so integrated cover crops and more diverse crop rotations. Admittedly I have made mistakes along the way but the benefits to soil health are evident. As well as improved soil structure I’ve seen increases in soil organic matter, earthworm numbers and bird populations on the farm.”
Doug participated in ‘soil health’ study tours between 2014-2015 to the USA and France and found confirmation that his methods were on track, with the role of soil being prioritised as both an ecosystem service provider and a vital source for sustainable food production.
“Looking after the soil enables soils to become more resilient and provide wider environmental benefits including coping with stress (drought/flooding), cleaning water, and an increased ability to retain soil nutrients and reduce erosion.”
The five principles of regenerative agriculture that help guide farmers are 1) minimise soil disturbance, 2) keep the soil covered, 3) maintain living roots in the soil, 4) increase diversity and 5) incorporate livestock into crop systems.
“I use conservation tillage to reduce soil disturbance and establishing cover crops helps maintain living roots and protective vegetation cover on my farm soils at all times. Reducing synthetic inputs and using agroecological approaches like mob grazing that mimic natural ecosystems creates self-sustaining productive and biodiverse food production systems.”
Agricultural ecosystems encompass the soils, plants, land, habitats and waterways. These precious resources are our natural capital and providers of vital ecosystem services and Fidra’s evidence gathering, and awareness-raising projects seek to protect agricultural ecosystems from harmful microplastic and chemical contaminants.
Contaminants in soil and impact/sources
Farmers like Doug are aware of contaminants of concern such as the persistent forever chemicals ‘PFAS’ that make their way into our environment from agricultural inputs. Based on a recent survey conducted by Fidra investigating the awareness of contaminants in organic fertilisers such as treated sewage sludge (biosolids), it was encouraging to see that the awareness of unregulated contaminants such as microplastics, pharmaceuticals and PFAS by farmers and landowners has increased recently and that there is a desire for these contaminants to be addressed.
Organic farmers and growers of malting barley for whisky production do not use biosolids as a source of nutrients due to contamination concerns. Doug actively avoids the application of biosolids on his arable land. He says:
Doug uses the advice of soil and waste material consultants to ensure that he only uses high quality composts that aren’t contaminated with microplastics on his land. Harmful microplastic and chemical contaminants that make their way into agricultural ecosystems must be tackled as part of the UK’s ambitions for a sustainable circular agricultural production system in the future.
Focusing on maintaining soil carbon, protecting biodiversity, and increasing the use of sustainable low carbon farming practices where possible over the last 20 years has also enabled Doug to reduce fuel and artificial input use. He has reduced previous chemical fertiliser use by a third and has reduced or eliminated the use of certain pesticides, for example insecticides have not been applied for over 20 years.
“Changing mindsets and experimenting is key for a sustainable future. I’ve had some success with rolling for mechanical cover crop destruction, (livestock could have an important part to play in this respect) but farmers currently using cover crops and no tillage systems often still rely on the use of glyphosate. Not spraying with chemicals would always be my preferred option but personally think judicious use of glyphosate is preferable to intensive tillage.”
Fidra are working directly with farmers, agronomists and farming industry stakeholders to help protect soils, crops and the wider environment from PFAS pollution. PFAS are intentionally added to pesticides, providing a direct source of contamination to crops, soil and the wider environment. There are over 25 PFAS containing pesticides in use in Great Britain and these so called ‘forever chemicals’ represent 6% of approved pesticide active substances. We’re asking farmers and agronomists to support sustainable alternatives to pesticides, such as Integrated Pest Management (IPM), wherever possible, and where pesticides are still used, to talk with suppliers about the potential presence of PFAS. Learn more about our PFAS project here.
More farmer case studies: Reducing chemical contamination by integrating regenerative farming practices.