At Luffness Mains Farming, we farm between 400 and 600 hectares in East Lothian and neighbouring counties with a dedicated team of seven, growing mainly potatoes, carrots and wheat.
We are committed to farming for improved sustainability, having signed up to the LEAF Marque in 2009, and the way we farm is guided by the LEAF principles of Integrated Farm Management.
We invest time in our team, educating our staff and concentrating on LEAF, to deliver yield in a profitable and more sustainable way.
We produce between 5,000 and 7,000 tonnes annually of potatoes, about 4,000 tonnes of carrots and 1,500 tonnes of wheat (spring and winter) and oats, as well as smaller quantities of cabbages, sprouts or broccoli.
Traditional crop rotation is still one of our main tools, helping us to maintain soil health, achieve natural control of pests and diseases, and optimise marketable yield.
A typical rotation on a suitable soil, sandy loam, would be:
wheat / brassicas (cabbages, sprouts or broccoli) / wheat or oats / carrots / wheat / potatoes (and back to the start)
In addition, where there is time, cover crops such as radishes and clover can be grown to improve the soil.
We undertake regular carbon audits that measure yield against fertiliser and fuel, our biggest carbon use. Improved equipment and methods are key in reducing both carbon use and costs, and we have up-to-date tractors, more efficient trucks for haulage, and new equipment for planting potatoes.
Fields are mapped in zones according to their soil texture (percentages of sand, silt and clay) and tractors are guided by GPS so that each zone can be treated according to what it needs in the way of sprays or fertiliser while avoiding overlaps that might cause excessive applications.
We make weekly visits to every field to assess, observe and measure our crops and we record interventions such as sprays or fertiliser. All this is logged through an online system called TELUS (previously Green Light Grower Management) through which every team member can access the history of every crop and see photos, and our suppliers have access to the same information.
We have key relationships with a number of partners for advice and expertise including Agrii, who provide advice on agronomy at our locations on an almost daily basis, and Scottish Agronomy. Supplier relationships include Frontier for grain, Mercian for potatoes and Hammond for carrots.
Our new sheds were built in 2010 and designed for year-round storage of grain and potatoes in climate-controlled conditions.
Farming for improved sustainability
Luffness Mains haulage