Frequently asked questions

Wildfarmed is a farming and food business that offers a route to market for farmers embracing regenerative approaches that improve soil health, increase biodiversity, minimise water pollution, reduce carbon and produce pesticide free grain. 

Our nature, carbon and water impact is independently measured and our grain is tested to be free of pesticide residues to the lowest detectable level.

Our traceable field-to-plate network connects farmers and consumers, allowing them to participate in the restoration of soil and biodiversity.

Wildfarmed was born out of a desire to reconnect shoppers and farmers in a collaboration to make better food from better farming a high street reality. There will be as many different solutions as there are farms. It’s the outcome that counts. Wildfarmed has the following guaranteed outcomes:

• Improving soil health 
• Increases biodiversity 
• Reduces carbon 
• Minimises water pollution 

You can learn more about our pioneering work to measure nature, carbon and water outcomes here.

Wildfarmed farmers follow five regenerative principles to restore nature and build resilience. 

• limiting soil disturbance (both mechanical tilling and chemical inputs)
• maintaining year-round soil cover (through cover and companion crops
• promoting plant diversity (plant species richness and grazing animals where possible)
• keeping living roots in the soil (optimising photosynthesis)
• nutrition based on need (using plant analysis to determine nutritional inputs)

Let’s think about yields over time rather than this year or next year. Food production depends on nature and healthy soils that can store rainwater. For a long-term supply of abundant, high quality food, we need to farm in a way that looks after the natural systems that we depend on.  

The term ‘pesticide’ acts as an overarching term for Herbicides, Insecticides and Fungicides. 

We do not allow insecticides, as our farming is designed to restore nature. We are specifically focused on insects because they are the protein base of terrestrial food webs, as plankton are to ocean life. Unlike birds, for example, that have large ranges, insect populations are hyper local and are reflective of changes in farm management. 

Bristol University measures nature in our fields every year. In 2024 there were 3.7x bees and twice the biomass of insects in Wildfarmed fields. 

Every year with our farmers and scientific research partners, we review best practice to ensure an evidence based approach to regenerative farming. As a continuation of this, we have updated our growing standards for the 2026 harvest to include the use of a targeted herbicide early in the growing season as an alternative to the heavy machinery, soil disturbance and bare earth of mechanical weeding systems. 

We don’t allow the use of fungicides. A derogation can only be applied for when there is a proven risk of total crop loss. We allow this derogation because fear of total crop loss is a significant and understandable barrier to farmers changing their practices. Organic certification employs a derogation system for the same reason.

A derogation for a single fungicide application (3 or 4 would be used in a conventional system) is only granted when the farmer has demonstrated they have done everything we require in terms of proactive soil and nutrition management up to that point, and a qualified agronomist has provided photographic evidence of the risk of total crop failure. 

Andy talked in detail about the last 17 years of research and progress towards nature rich farming at our farm open days this year. You can listen to his talk here.

All of our grain is tested at the farm, store and mill to be free of pesticide residues to the lowest detectable level. 

Yes, sometimes it’s used before a crop is planted. Cover crops - plants used to nurture and protect the soil over winter - are crucial to restoring habitat and soil health. Once their job is done, they need to be cleared to make way for the following crop. There are two choices to prepare a seedbed.

Ploughing/cultivation or a targeted use of glyphosate. Research shows that the effect of ploughing on soil structure and soil organisms is particularly severe, often undoing the restorative work of the cover crop. We therefore allow our farmers the choice of how to prepare a seedbed as best suits their soil. 

Our grain is tested to be free of all pesticides, including Glyphosate.

When Glyphosate is found in food it is because it has been used to artificially dry crops just before harvest , speeding up the harvest process. This is called “dessication”. We never allow this, believe it should be illegal, and have joined with the Soil Association in putting pressure on the Government to achieve this.  

Most grain is consolidated into anonymous piles making it impossible to know where your food was grown, by whom or how. 

Wildfarmed grain is different. We have worked hard to create a segregated supply chain so that you know Wildfarmed produce comes uniquely from our fields. This includes custody records and operating procedures for our partners that define dedicated WIldfarmed storage, siloed production, and transport arrangements, certification audit reports and supplier declarations confirming segregation practices, labelling & tracking systems.

You can see a list of our growers on our farming page. Our community includes a broad spectrum of UK farmers. Some already have highly diverse farms that promote soil and ecosystem health. Many are just starting the transition thanks to the support of Wildfarmed and our customers.

Wildfarmed growers combine nature and food production, creating in-field habitat for insects that form the basis of our ecosystems.

Our farming is based on optimising the health of soil and crops, producing grains which are pesticide free and grown in soils which are building resilience.

Because of our traceable supply chain and 3rd party measurement of nature, carbon, water and grain quality, we’re uniquely able to link high street customers with their farmers and let customers know the impact of their food choices.

You can buy 1kg bags direct from Tesco, Ratton pantry or Bakery bits, or for a list of bakeries, restaurants and delis using Wildfarmed please see here.

For wholesale enquiries please contact us.

We do not add gluten to our flour.

We use fermented wheat flour in all our packaged baked goods, but not for our In Store Bakery products found in Waitrose.

Fermented wheat flour serves as a natural preservative, necessary in our packaged products as both retailers and consumers expect a longer shelf life. 

Most packaged bread on the supermarket aisle uses E282. We have worked hard to find a way to avoid this.

Most grain is consolidated into anonymous piles making it impossible to know where your food was grown, by whom or how. 

Wildfarmed grain is different. We have worked hard to create a segregated supply chain so that you know Wildfarmed produce comes uniquely from our fields. This includes custody records and operating procedures for our partners that define dedicated WIldfarmed storage, siloed production, and transport arrangements, certification audit reports and supplier declarations confirming segregation practices, labelling & tracking systems.