Farm News

Soil Association Certification Since 2000

Dale Farm Trust continues to maintain Soil Association organic farming status for a 24th Year.

Introduction to Soil Association Compliance

The Soil Association Standards set out the comprehensive requirements for organic farming and growing so we can produce and sell our produce as organic using the Soil Association symbol.

The Soil Association is the country’s leading organic certifier, it offers a huge range of organic and sustainable certification schemes across food, farming, forestry, beauty & wellbeing, fashion & textiles and catering. In order to attain and continue to comply with certification, Dale Farm Trust has proved that it adheres to the following standards: (EC) 834/2007 and (EC) 889/2008.

Principles Required

The list below highlights some of the principles we must adhere to in order to gain Soil Association certification.

  1. To produce food of high quality and in sufficient quantity by the use of processes that do not harm the environment, human health, plant health or animal
    health and welfare.
  2. To work within natural systems and cycles at all levels, from the soil to plants.
  3. To maintain the long-term fertility and biological activity of soils.
  4. To respect regional, environmental, climatic and geographic differences and the appropriate practices that have evolved in response to them.
  5. To maximise the use of renewable resources and recycling.
  6. To design and manage organic systems which make the best use of natural resources and ecology to prevent the need for external inputs. Where this fails or where external inputs are required, the use of external inputs is limited to organic, natural or naturally derived substances.
  7. To limit the use of chemically synthesised inputs to situations where appropriate alternative management practices do not exist, or natural or organic inputs are not available, or where alternative inputs would contribute to unacceptable environmental impacts.
  8. To exclude the use of soluble mineral fertilisers.
  9. To foster biodiversity and protect sensitive habitats and landscape features.
  10. To minimise pollution and waste.
  11. To use preventative and precautionary measures and risk assessment when appropriate.
  12. To exclude the use of GMOs and products produced from or by GMOs with the exception of veterinary medicinal products.
  13. The maintenance and enhancement of soil life and natural soil fertility, soil stability and soil biodiversity preventing and combating soil compaction and soil erosion, and the nourishing of plants primarily through the soil ecosystem.
  14. The minimisation of the use of non -renewable resources and off -farm inputs the recycling of wastes and by -products of plant and animal origin as inputs.
  15. In plant production taking account of the local or regional ecological balance when taking production decisions.
  16. The maintenance of plant health by preventative measures, such as the choice of appropriate species and varieties resistant to pests and diseases, appropriate crop rotations, mechanical and physical methods and the protection of natural enemies of pests.

People we Support – Training and Organisation

All the people we support, staff and volunteers are guided in the principles or organic farming. We use organic sourced seeds, we fertilise with sustainably sourced manure, and we rotate our crops to help prevent disease and pests.

Many of the people we support have gone through achieved John Muir certification. This course puts people at the centre of their learning, placing an emphasis on developing skills and capacities. It encourages an active, healthy approach to life through learning for sustainability and aims to ensure people learn beyond the classroom. The award embraces initiatives that support outdoor learning.

The conservations element of the award teaches simple concepts of personal responsibility and the ability to make a positive difference. This helps learners to understand the impact of our actions and helps engage them in finding solutions to mitigate some of the most urgent global and local issues of sustainability, climate action and managing the planet’s natural resources.

Lizzie, pictured above is currently working towards achieving her Open Awards Level One with the help and support of Coral and Colin. The people we support learn many techniques and skills that enable all of us as a combined team to achieve and maintain Soil Association certification. We continually educate to promote sustainable farming methods and use of organic materials throughout the growing processes. In the past year we have made significant progress in ordering, organisation and we have been involving the people we support throughout this process.

Certification

Our compliance can be found on the Soil Association Certification Checker.