Community Supported Agriculture: Making poultry feed more

Better Organic Business Links Organic Centre Wales IBERS, Aberystwyth University SY23 3EE Tel: 01970 622248 [email protected] www.organiccentrewales.org.uk

Making poultry feed more sustainable:the potential for oil seed crops to replace soya in organic poultry feed

An Organic Centre Wales project

Community Supported Agriculture: A survival guide for projects

Conclusions• From a nutritional point of view both

OSR and sunflower have potential to substitute for soya in poultry feeds.

• Of the two crops, sunflower has the greater potential under organic conditions.

• It is technically possible to produce sunflower commercially in the UK, including small areas of Wales.

• Poultry producers could grow both canola varieties of OSR and sunflower on the range either as part of a cover crop mix on the range, or in small pure stands. In this situation the birds consume the whole ‘full fat’ seed which has a higher nutritional value compared to meals.

For more information and to get involved contact: Tony Little [email protected] 01970 621632

Find out more Write to: Organic Centre Wales, IBERS, Aberystwyth University, SY23 3EE Email: [email protected] us online at: www.organiccentrewales.org.ukor call the BOBL Project c/o Organic Centre Wales: 01970 622248

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The deep roots of sunflower mean it can access nutrients from deep in the soil profile and can therefore yield satisfactorily at quite low levels of soil nitrogen. This means it could be grown in the second and possibly the third year after a legume based fertility break. Phosphate is required at relatively low levels, but they do need high levels of potassium. The latter is mostly returned to the soil after harvest and levels are usually adequate in an active soil with a good clay content.

The height and broadly spreading leaf-canopy of sunflower enables it to compete very effectively with weed growth from as early as the fourth week from emergence, but the crop is highly sensitive to competition during establishment. However, the late drilling date of sunflowers allows ample opportunity to control weeds by cultivation and if conditions allow for a stale seed bed and weed strike the opportunity should be taken. Insect pests are rarely an issue, but slugs can be a problem from drilling until one pair of true leaves is visible. Botrytis cinerea, causing head rot or grey mould, can be problem under cool (15-25˚C) and wet conditions.

Harvest should take place when seed moisture content reaches 30% or less. Oil quality does not suffer between 15 and 30% moisture content. A cereal combine can be used with little modification, but if sunflowers are grown regularly then harvesting trays can be fitted to the cutter bar. Combine settings should be similar to those used for harvesting beans and the crop should be harvested during the day and when dry.














TheCommunitySupportedAgriculture(CSA)movementin the UKCommunity Supported Agriculture has gone through a period of extraordinary growth in recent years. Five years ago there were very few projects in the UK. Now, largely due the work of the Making Local Food Work project and the Soil Association in particular, there are about 90 active projects in England and Wales working 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres) of land with at least 5,000 trading members and a combined turnover of £7,000,000. In addition there are an estimated 150 more projects in development.

Most of these projects are therefore considered in their infancy, or at least their childhood. In these early days, projects are often carried along by the commitment and passion of the founding members, the good will of the members (both producer and community) and, often, by of varying levels of grant funding.

Maintaining projects for the long term can be more difficult: It takes huge commitment of time and energy, often from a small number of people, and that can only be sustained for so long; the excitement and euphoria among the membership, so vital to carry the project through in the early stages, can only be maintained at that level for a limited time; and public funding is notoriously short lived.

Securing a long-term futureWhat can you do to make sure that sure that your project continues to grow and develop into the future?To help answer this question, we’ve looked back at the history of CSA globally. We have drawn on the experience of other countries, such as Japan, the USA and France where the CSA movement has been active for much longer than in the UK. We’ve tried to draw out the challenges that they faced and the solutions they found, ultimately to identify key differences between those that survived and those that failed. While some of the advice is particularly relevant to projects in the start up, established schemes also need to think about the points in relation to the changes they can make to their existing structures and systems.

We’ve developed this guide in the context of the Welsh projects, and tailored it to their needs and situations, but ultimately the challenges faced in Wales are not widely different from those elsewhere in the UK and we hope this guide has a wider relevance.














Key survival factors:• Clearstructure: This is not meant as a prescription

for a particular type of structure but a strong recommendation that there should be something more than a common aim. Structures include unincorporated associations, co-operatives, community interest companies, limited companies, etc. Whatever the structure it should be absolutely clear to all what their rights and roles are. These examples may not be so relevant to a producer-led scheme but the relationship between producer and members should be just as clear to avoid misunderstandings.

• Realisticpricingandpragmaticforecasting:This means getting a viable return on the sale, subscription package or community share. It is easy to be tempted to under-price when getting started, but you cannot sustain the project long term on that basis. Many producers have found to their cost that it can then be difficult to increase prices to a more realistic level. There is plenty of advice to guide pricing decisions and it should be used. The monthly price data on the Soil Association website and the Organic Centre Wales marketing bulletin are good places to start but local information should also be used. Be aware of the true costs of production.

• Suitablesite:If you are starting from scratch, make sure the site is suitable – this will vary according to what is being produced but horticultural crops will generally require a soil that is reasonably friable and well drained. Most Welsh soils will do the job providing the soil is treated carefully and any compaction dealt with. Avoid steep land, north facing slopes, frost pockets, etc.

• Gettherightkit.Depending on what you want to produce this can vary from a good set of hand tools up to a tractor with a range of implements. Facilities for handling and packing are also important, including clean areas where appropriate for handling ready-to-eat-crops, such as salad leaves for example.

• Gettherightpeople. There must either be a good level of experience available at the start or people involved in production must be prepared to move quickly up the learning curve. Customers/members will not tolerate deficiencies for long although this can vary. WWOOFers and volunteers are a real bonus and are often essential for the initial success of many projects. Don’t rely entirely on volunteers though; your workforce could dry up unaccountably at the busiest time of the season.

• Securelandtenure. This is usually quite straightforward for established producers, but it can be a real pitfall for a new community scheme. Try to secure a 5-year Farm Business Tenancy or equivalent as a minimum; it is impossible to plan ahead if the arrangements are informal year to year.

• Userealisticcropplans; Try not to be too ambitious when setting up. Members will rightly expect variety, but trying to produce everything from the outset can mean that none of the crops get the attention they need.

• Goodcommunicationsare essential whether this is within a community-based scheme or between a producer and the subscribers. This should go hand in hand with the need for a clear structure.

• Accesstoanappropriatelysizedpopulation:This doesn’t automatically mean a large number, but it needs to be able to supply enough members/customers to support the objectives and projected size of membership


































































Gethelp!There is an excellent support system in place to help you, and useful contacts in Wales are listed below. There are also useful online resources especially on the Soil Association CSA Website (www.soilassociation.org/communitysupportedagriculture), which lists an excellent range of other references and guidance.

For Welsh projects, Organic Centre Wales and the Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens offer a range of services to help projects get started, grow and develop.

Contacts:Tony Little, Organic Centre Wales. [email protected] 01970 621632

Rupert Dunn, Federation of City Farms and Community Gardens. [email protected] 869 927

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Community Supported Agriculture: Making poultry feed more