The Regenerating Old Ways

Alasdair McNab is a new entrant farmer who runs The Old Ways, a regenerative farm deep within the snug and bucolic hills of Dorset. The Old Ways champions farming in line with nature's framework, its limitations and cycles. Rearing pastured pigs in local woodlands and chickens on fresh pastures, both systems aiming to regenerate the soil and wider ecosystem, Alasdair tells Angus D. Birditt why he is passionate about producing nutritious, flavoursome food for his community and how he became a farmer in the first place.

ADB: Can you tell us about The Old Ways?

Alasdair: We are passionate about family farms which provide their communities with nutrient dense food. We focus on regenerative farming practices and high animal welfare that mimic nature and improve biodiversity and soil health. Using pigs and poultry, we aim to make significant ecological improvements to our land as well as producing free range eggs and traditional dry cured bacon and sausages of the tastiest degree.

When I was telling my friends and family about the farming systems which I intended to use in my new venture, many of them would remark, 'Well, the old ways are the best, of course!' And so it stuck. To me, it represents a simpler form of agriculture without the concrete and steel, the debt and the chemicals. Using natural systems as a guide.

Alasdair, tell me a little about your background? How did you get into regen ag?

I grew up in suburban Huddersfield, but moved to the moors above Hebden Bridge when I was 14 or 15. This immediately sparked my love of the countryside and an interest in farming. I went on to study International Agri-Business at Harper Adams, which was great, however, I left thinking it would be impossible for me to farm in my own right.

So, for the next decade I did other things, until I read You Can Farm by Joel Salatin, during lockdown. It made me believe it was possible, so I jumped right back into it and here we are, now farming in Dorset with my wife and young son.

You say you farm pigs and poultry in 'the old ways', what does this mean? How are you rearing the pigs, first?

My pigs are a cross of the native Oxford Sandy and Black and the Belgian Pietrain. The pigs have free reign of around 2 acres of woodland at any one time, I allow them to consume up to 70% of the vegetation in the understory before moving them on to a new patch.

Importantly, the pigs only visit the same patch once per year, allowing nature to continue to thrive in their place. If possible, I try to time the moves to incorporate fallen acorns, cherries and cobnuts. Around 30-40% of their diet is foraged and the rest is comprised of a grain blend. The aim is to remove the soy bean component from their diet within the next few years but some other things have to fall into place before that.

The pigs are excellent rooters and will demolish bracken which smother the forest floor, allowing a more diverse mix of plants to regenerate in their place. Sometimes I will broadcast these plant species myself. Around 2% of pigs in the UK live outside their whole lives, even less in the woods. It is their natural environment and its a joy to farm pigs in this way. Given that so much of our woodland is unmanaged, I’d love to see a return to this production method, as pigs can be very useful to the landowner when managed properly.

And how are you rearing your chickens in line with nature?

I currently run two versions of a free range laying hen system know as ‘pasture raised’. The first is in mobile houses which can travel around the landscape. The second is within a fixed house but the range is rotated around the house like pieces of a cake. Both allow the chickens to improve soil biology by spreading manure, scratching and trampling. High importance is placed upon the management for high impact and long rest periods. I have flocks of different ages, so that when one flock is retired you still have young birds laying lots of eggs. Pasture raised eggs are high in Omega 3 fatty acids and are very tasty due to their constant access to fresh green vegetation. Commercial free range can (in some instances) result in birds staying inside, creating unpleasant ammonia build up, and you have the unenviable task of disposing of lots and lots of manure. Not the case in these systems.

Farming can be very difficult to get into if you're not from a farming family, so how did you become a new entrant farmer?

I had to research regenerative farming on the side for several years because it was not something which I’d encountered at university. Audio books and YouTube were the main resources, listening whilst on the go. When I left my previous career behind I searched for land and found Symondsbury Estate and a willing landlord who could see the benefits to the ecosystem.

My aim is to leave my little patch in a healthier state than when I found it. There are many landowners out there who want to collaborate with new entrants to the sector and can see the mutual benefits of doing so, but you have to get out there and knock on lots of doors, it's not gonna come to you.

And what are the challenges you are experiencing as a new farmer?

Without doubt, the biggest challenge is access to land. Furthermore, the thought of pigs and poultry scares many landowners, and so I have been searching for my own small acreage of Dorset farmland for around 4 years, but so is everyone else. Prices are sky high and not necessarily linked to agricultural returns.

What's the aim for the future?

In the next year, I aim to scale up the laying enterprise to a size where it can pay two members of staff alongside myself. Long term, I have a blueprint in my mind’s eye for a mixed rotational pig and chicken agroforestry system with fruit and nut trees dropping their bounties year round. And my dream would be to produce a Dorset air dried ham!

Have you a recipe using your pork or eggs?

Shakshuka with bacon lardons is my go-to!

How can someone support you?

My eggs are available in farm shops, cafes and restaurants in and around Bridport, Lyme Regis and Beaminster in Dorset. Plus, you can follow the daily musings on my Instagram.

Find out more about The Old Ways and follow their journey here.

The Regenerating Old Ways

Article & Photography by Angus D. Birditt

Interview with Alasdair McNab

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