Meet the Sandy community: Tim Parton, Farm manager at Brewood Park Farm
In the first of our farmer case studies, we meet Tim Parton, Farm Manager at Brewood Park Farm in South Staffordshire. To find out about how Sandy can help you take control and capture the full value of your natural capital, request a demo below.
Using science and a passion for soil to farm a new future
South Staffordshire farmer, Tim Parton, manages 300 ha of arable land, using a regenerative, no-till system, including cover crops.
Part of the Green Farm Collective, Tim describes himself as a ‘biological nutrition farmer’, who believes in farming with nature to produce sustainable food, promoting plant health and protecting the soil for future generations.
We spoke to Tim about his journey with our smart natural capital navigator, Sandy.
Farm facts
300 ha of arable land, part-owned and part-tenanted in South Staffordshire
Growing milling wheat, winter oil seed rape, spring malting barley, spring beans, spring lupin and spring oats
Doesn’t use fungicides or insecticides
Soil type: Sandy silt clay loam
Cultivation technique: biological no-till approach
Part of the Green Farm Collective
What farm system are you running?
“I’m running an arable system where I am growing a variety of crops and always have grass in the rotation for haylage.
“I try to avoid synthetic inputs, so I don’t use fungicides or insecticides and I don’t use many herbicides.
“I’m working with nature, so I aim to farm in balance with nature, not against it.”
What is your crop rotation?
“I don’t have a set rotation – it’s more about getting the best for the farm and best for the soil because the soil is always at the heart of every decision I make.
“I’m 50/50 winter to spring cropping so for me, it’s always getting that cover crop in. I am sequestering carbon, so I’m putting something back into the soil and building my carbon resource.”
“Natural capital navigators need to give a true account of the natural assets you have on farm and I believe Sandy is the most accurate.”
Tim Parton
Farm Manager, Brewood Park Farm
What is your motivation?
“I’ve always had a passion for soil health and that has just intensified over the years. I always use science to make informed decisions which is one reason why I chose Sandy, the natural capital navigator.
“I think it’s really important to be at one with mother nature. I try to farm in the heartbeat of nature and find life is far simpler when you farm in this way.
“I’m not a low input farmer, I’m trying to produce a crop as cheaply as I can but like every other farmer, I want the best yield I can get.
“As farmers, we should be rewarded because we’re not only producing food, we’re building a planet that’s going to be there for generations to come.”
Why did you choose Sandy?
“From what I have seen of Sandy, I think it is the most robust and accurate natural capital navigator in the world.
“Navigators have to give a true account. They can’t be wishy washy because farmers need to have the confidence of knowing what natural capital you have to work with. You want reliability, independence and no comebacks.
“With Sandy, the proof is in the science and farmers know that what they are doing is right.”