Regenerative practice in action on a commercial scale - Em Gen visits Proctor Bros

This Bank Holiday weekend, Em Gen members enjoyed a fantastic visit to Lighthouse Farm in Lincolnshire. A huge thank you to Proctor Bros for hosting us at this inspiring farm, providing lunch, and generously sharing their time and enthusiasm as they showed us around!

We were welcomed by the Farm Manager, Stafford Proctor, who introduced us to the farm’s history. He explained how the land, owned by the Crown Estate, is a prime example of 20th-century land reclamation, offering a unique landscape that was new to many of the attendees.

Our tour guide - Melissa

Our detailed farm tour was led by Em Gen’rs Melissa and Quentin. It was inspiring to see how their practical experience on the ground enhanced their deep knowledge and passion for regenerative farming.

The first stop was a spring-drilled Wildfarmed field that had experienced several challenges during the season. On the hottest day of the 2024 harvest, the combine caught fire, and strong winds quickly spread the flames across the field. This field had previously been drilled with a multispecies overwinter cover crop, later grazed by sheep. However, in areas where the fire had burned off the protective surface mulch, the soil was exposed and baked hard. Some sections were also overgrazed, and the combination of compaction and hardened soil made it difficult for the Avatar direct drill to penetrate.

To overcome this, a power harrow was brought in for some shallow tillage, allowing for better drilling conditions. Walking the field, the contrast between power-harrowed and direct-drilled blocks was clearly visible.

Sue Proctor then gave us an insightful look at her herbal ley management, using mob grazing with Native Angus and Lincoln Red cattle, moving the herd three times a day - a system that is clearly working well.

On the way to lunch, we paused at a field where one tramline had not received a T1 fungicide spray. That section had become infected with yellow rust. It’s believed that one contributing factor was a higher UAN application (60kg N) compared to the neighbouring Wildfarmed field, which received a lower UAN application (40kg N) and no fungicide, yet showed significantly lower disease pressure.

For lunch, Sue Proctor served delicious, slow-cooked Pasture for Life-certified lamb from the farm, paired with Wildfarmed bread rolls.

After lunch, Melissa spoke about how they are developing direct routes to market through their meat box schemes. We then visited the nutrition and composting sheds, where we discussed integrating biological applications with nutrition rounds using sprayers, and explored methods for extracting and applying Johnson-Su compost at drilling. A key point of discussion was the challenge of running field trials with a 36m sprayer!

Melissa Walker said: 

“It was a real pleasure to host a farm tour and share some of the many trials and projects underway at Lighthouse Farm. It was great to reconnect with fellow Em Gen members, and even better to have such an engaged group - full of thoughtful questions and lively discussion.”

A big thank you to Melissa, Quentin, and Proctor Bros - what a wonderful and inspiring trip!