Carlin peas from a transformed arable farm

James Bucher grows carlin peas for us at Hall Farm in Knettishall on the Suffolk-Norfolk border as a mixed bi-crop and with no pesticides or synthetic fertiliser, one element in his transformation of the farm from intensive input-reliant production to working with the soil and nature.

As the two crops emerge in the spring, the carlin peas are identifiable from their rounded leaves while the grass-like leaves are a cereal crop called triticale. Triticale is a cross between common wheat and rye, the rather awkward name a compound of their scientific names, Triticum aestivum x Secale cereale. It's effectively a single plant maslin – more usually a mixed crop of wheat and rye - and we mill it and sell it to our bakery and home customers.

We've been trialling approaches to intercropping carlin peas for around 7 years. Like much of what we do no one was doing this commercially with carlin before we started; there was no perceived need, no market and no willingness to work out how to handle the mixture after harvest.

Over the years more and more farmers have come to see the importance of diversity in their cropping and the co-benefits that come from mixing species, both below and above the ground. Our work has inspired a host of institutions to invest in research and it's directly informed other commercial production.

We settled on Triticale as a good option with carlin peas because it's stiff enough and tall enough to offer some structural support to the peas, though not always as much as James would ideally like. The peas can be tall and unruly, and barley, the other option, doesn't cut it in the mix - it's just not stiff enough. 

The triticale also offers some weed competition without having too much impact on the peas. The weeds that do compete - including ragwort, smooth hawksbeard, vetch and radish - have a benefit in bringing more biodiversity to the field and supporting valuable invertebrates.

Importantly, Triticale is both sown and ripens at around the same time as the peas so they can be planted and harvested together. Plus Triticale is a tasty but underappreciated cereal grain that brings extra flavour and nutrition to bread and other bakes.

Since returning to the family farm in 2003 James has worked to transform the cropping system from the intensive arable production encouraged by past government policy and subsidies to one that works with the soil and with nature. By cutting inputs like synthetic nitrogen and pesticides, increasing crop diversity and finding new markets for superior crops, the farm now produces a diverse range of arable crops while supporting biodiversity.

James has won prizes for his conservation work and continues to explore further approaches to more agroecological production. Last winter he began establishing an agroforestry system, something very much at the heart of our vision for resilient multi-layered future food production.

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