Going with the grain: how restoring biodiversity led one farmer back to heritage wheat
Farmer Henry Astor is restoring biodiversity on his Cotswold farm by integrating heritage wheat varieties and agroforestry. This approach has led to a resurgence in local bird populations and improved soil health.
Why it matters
It demonstrates how regenerative farming practices can reverse environmental degradation while producing more nutritious food.
Henry Astor mills his own flour on Bruern Farms, near Burford, Oxfordshire. Heritage wheat provides far more nutritious and digestible bread. Astor also finds it ‘fundamentally exciting’ to form a relationship with a baker by growing and milling the flour they use. Henry Astor mills his own flour on Bruern Farms, near Burford, Oxfordshire. Heritage wheat provides far more nutritious and digestible bread. Astor also finds it ‘fundamentally exciting’ to form a relationship with a baker by growing and milling the flour they use. The age of extinction Farming Going with the grain: how restoring biodiversity led one farmer back to heritage wheat Henry Astor looked back to his grandfather’s time for the inspiration to find older varieties that could help nature on his Cotswold farm
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