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Arable Crop Wanted Long Term Partnership

SCLtd

Member
Arable Farmer
Hello All,

First of all apologies if this is in the wrong thread/place.

We are looking for someone to grow catnip for us in the U.K.

Current requirements are one tonne dried weight per year however this my increase. Estimated approximately one acre depending on plant spacing.

Organic certified a plus but not necessarily a deal breaker.

Product to be air dried as heating will drive off volatile oils.
Product to be milled down to 2.5mm

Successful, genuine business operating for the last 8 years. This is not a fanciful idea and has sound backing.

We have some experience growing catnip in the U.K. and can share lessons learned/methods.

Unfortunately family issues resulted in current arrangements no longer being a viable option.

Please feel free to get in contact if you feel this is something you may be interested in.

Toby
Simply Catnip
 

SCLtd

Member
Arable Farmer
Grow it , dry it , mill it , package it , post it to PO Box ?
No thanks it’s about to be banned in the UK

Thank you for you input.

To clarify there is no plan to ban mint in the U.K. Nepeta cateria is a mint.

Further to your comment regarding what we are looking for. We intend to pay a fair rate for the job.

We are a small British firm who wants to support British farmers and farming.
 

SCLtd

Member
Arable Farmer
Why not try and rent some land from a farmer for an attractive rent, then get a contractor to carry out all the operations for you as and when needed?
This is an option we have started to look into.

I guess it comes down to whether a contractor would be interested in performing this task for a single acre.
 

SCLtd

Member
Arable Farmer
Any info on what soil it prefers? Sounds interesting.


Hello,

It is fairly hardy and it doesn't seem to struggle with competition. This is what we have found online:

Mature Size2 to 3 feet tall and wide
Sun ExposureFull sun
Soil TypeModerately rich loam or sandy, well-drained
Soil pHAcidic to alkaline (6.1 to 7.8)
Bloom TimeSummer and fall
Flower ColorWhite, lavender
Hardiness Zones3 to 9 (USDA)
 

SCLtd

Member
Arable Farmer
So you harvest the leaves? Mow it? How does it work?

We would harvest and dry the whole plant. Cut, sheave and hang in a drying barn. Other suggestions have been to allow to dry on pallets weather permitting. This was an experiment we did back in 2019. At this stage the plants had been allowed to flower so were no use for this harvest:
15. Sheaves - testing too far gone.JPG
 

SCLtd

Member
Arable Farmer
What location are you looking for

We aren’t particularly fussy about location, some of the business is based in South Wales another part is based in Berkshire. We are less worried about location and more concerned about a good working partnership. However, U.K. is a must.
 

Muddyroads

Member
NFFN Member
Location
Exeter, Devon
We could be interested. Organic farm just east of Exeter growing veg as well as sheep, cattle, cereals etc.
Feel free to PM us.
p.s. We have 2 farm cats who are our main predator control and we’d rather they didn’t become junkies! 😁
 

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Webinar: Expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive offer 2024 -26th Sept

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On Thursday 26th September, we’re holding a webinar for farmers to go through the guidance, actions and detail for the expanded Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) offer. This was planned for end of May, but had to be delayed due to the general election. We apologise about that.

Farming and Countryside Programme Director, Janet Hughes will be joined by policy leads working on SFI, and colleagues from the Rural Payment Agency and Catchment Sensitive Farming.

This webinar will be...
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