Crisp Malt’s Field Forward initiative has produced its first results — and they are a cause for optimism.
New data from Field Forward reveals strong uptake of sustainable farming practices across its East Anglian grower network. There is widespread focus on soil health, biodiversity and input optimisation.
Thirty-nine farmers from Crisp’s Grower Group completed the survey, providing one of the most detailed snapshots to date of environmental practice in the UK malting barley supply chain. Their farms cover more than 48,000 hectares.
87% of participating growers already grow overwinter cover crops; 85% use organic manures; and 75% establish pollen and nectar mixes. 44% report no insecticide use at all. Livestock integration is also playing a role: 67% of growers use grazing to manage cover crops, improving soil health through natural nutrient input.
“It’s exciting to see how much our growers are already doing to support soil health and encourage biodiversity,” said Ellie Wood, sustainability manager at Richardson (parent company to Crisp Malt). “The insights from Field Forward will help take that work to the next level.”
Norfolk-based grower Ben Jones has seen soil organic matter more than double in some fields. He uses fodder radish as a cover crop, helping to improve soil structure, quality and drainage – and providing grazing for sheep in February. Their manure adds nutrient content to the soil. Another cover crop he grows, legume mix, supports habitat diversity and nitrogen fixing. The tools provided by Field Forward will help him drill further into the metrics around his farming regime and its impact on sustainability to support future decision-making.
The Field Forward programme, aligned with SAI Platform’s Regenerating Together Framework, and drawing on datasets including DEFRA’s Magic Map, also identifies areas for improvement. 60% of farms irrigate crops, with a significant proportion relying on groundwater – flagging resilience concerns in drought-prone regions with high groundwater vulnerability. Nitrogen-related air quality risks and challenges linked to soil type and erosion are also noted.
That granularity is part of the point. Field Forward allows targets for soil health, water usage, biodiversity and greenhouse gas emissions to be set at individual farm level: specific, measurable, and motivating.
“These results form an important baseline,” says Ellie. “All this will result in actions to address region-specific risks and to create more resilient, lower-impact farming systems — while maintaining barley-growing productivity.
“The headline figures in these first results are striking. It’s good to have cause for optimism around sustainability in this grain to glass supply chain arena.”
Field Forward was launched by Crisp as the largest sustainable agriculture initiative in the UK malting industry. As data accumulates and targets are refined, its ambition is to drive meaningful, lasting change across the supply chain. This supports the sustainability credentials of brewers and distillers as well as Crisp itself.
