Mark Lea — Green Acres Farm, Shropshire

Organic mixed farmer profiled through Agricology, centring diversity in every aspect of the farming system — crops, business, and people. Host of NOCC 2018.

Profile
Farm Green Acres Farm
Location Shropshire
Area 223 ha
System Organic (certified by OF&G for 18+ years)
Soils Sandy/clay loam
Livestock Pedigree Hereford cattle (10 years); recently introduced sheep for weed control
Other Compost business on farm

Rotation and Crops

Current rotation (evolving): clover ley → winter wheat → fodder beet → spring peas → spring oats undersown with clover.

Heritage and Population Varieties

  • Growing ORC Wakelyns Population winter wheat — a highly heterogeneous variety from 190 crosses of 20 different varieties
  • Provides resilience to pest, disease, and climatic variability through genetic diversity
  • Sold to specialist bakers (e.g. Small Food Bakery, Nottingham — 2018 BBC Food and Farming Award winners)
  • Part of a 7-farm network trialling organic wheat varieties with ORC and Organic Arable (LIVESEED EU project)

Intercropping

  • Carlin peas with triticale (Innovative Farmers Field Lab / DIVERSify):
  • Tested triticale at 0%, 5%, 10%, 20%, 30% of recommended rate in full-rate carlin peas (240 kg/ha)
  • 20–30% triticale best for holding peas off the floor
  • No significant yield difference between treatments (low lodging year)
  • 30% easiest to harvest

Cover Crops

  • Evolved from brassica-only to 7–8 species mixes
  • Added buckwheat and phacelia specifically to encourage mycorrhizal fungi

[Source: dd-issue-04, 2026-04-11]

Agroforestry

  • Planting wide rows of hazel (cut on 5-year rotation, 20%/year for biomass boiler) between rows of walnut
  • Trees from Woodland Trust
  • Rows run east–west for maximum shade/shelter on north side (borders grass ley field)
  • Provides: shade for cattle in summer, shelter for sheep in winter
  • Grass ley edge harvested from tree row outward — livestock benefit from highest hazel canopy

[Source: dd-issue-04, 2026-04-11]

Tips

“Embrace diversity in every way!” “Get closer to your market and become a food producer — bakers, millers — they will inspire you.” “Don’t be afraid to try things out!”

[Source: dd-issue-04, 2026-04-11]

Issue 14 — Living Mulch as the Most Significant Trial of His Career (July 2021)

Featured in the Soil Association / Innovative Farmers / ORC / AHDB living mulch field lab feature alongside Clive Bailye, James Alexander and Jamie Stephens.

  • “I don’t think I’ve ever been involved with a trial that I thought was quite so significant. It’s extremely difficult, and unlikely to work. But the prize is so great and so wide-reaching.”
  • Established the white clover living mulch on his sandy loam and direct drilled winter oats and winter rye into it
  • Bought a SimTech tine drill as a direct result of the field lab — Jamie Stephens and Jamie Hobbs were “adamant that a tine drill was the way to go” while Clive Bailye and James Alexander argued for discs. “I had attempted to inject grass into grass leys before, but I’d never done it with a cereal crop”

“I think we’re going to get a harvest, but the yield difference is absolutely critical. If we go in and it’s half the yield, then it doesn’t matter how excited we’ve been about the clover establishment.”

[Source: dd-issue-14, 2026-04-13]

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