Boston farm aiming to grow food without producing C02

A farm near Boston has begun trialling new ways to produce food using less carbon, eventually aiming to make the process C02 free.

Langrick Farm are growing potatoes, broccoli and wheat with recycled fertilisers and green tractor fuels.

The project is a joint venture by the landowner Paul Grant, the University of Lincoln and several growers including potato specialists Branston.

"We know to produce a ton of potatoes, that's about 80 or 90 kilos of CO2," said Andy Blair, Field Technical Manager at Branston.

"We're hoping to take that as close to zero as we possibly can without having to do any offsetting.

"We're trying to do it all within the methods of how we produce the crop."

Sixty acres of land is currently being used to grow the three different crops, with the team hoping to introduce peas to the roaster soon.

The produce will start appearing on supermarket shelves, including TESCO, from the Autumn.

"The broccoli will be later on this season, October, November - but you won't notice it as any different," said Andy.

"The potatoes will be harvested in September and they will be on the shelves after a storage period of January, February.

"But again, you won't actually notice any different. The the produce is the same, it's the growing, method that's different

"Further down the line, once we've scaled, we can then start shouting on the packaging about what we're achieving."

Branston hopes to harvest around 520 tonnes of potatoes from their 20 acres on Langrick Farm. This could supply over 250,000 two-kilogram bags of potatoes on supermarket shelves.

"Trying to save the planet that we're all living on is is absolutely crucial," said Andy.

"There's caution about making sure we're not claiming things that aren't absolutely verified.

"So we that's probably why it's a little bit slower than what we might want to go.

"But from a consumer point of view, there's clear demand for us to become more sustainable."