Rooting Grains in Common Ground
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Local Alternative Seed Networks (LASNs) represent a diverse range of independent seed and grain supply chains spread throughout the UK.
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Interest in small-scale, farmer-led seed breeding has developed significantly in recent years, with a particular focus upon low-input, Regenerative and organic farming systems.
The recent success in this sector owes much to the opportunities offered by the artisan food sector with traditional stone mills and bakeries often providing the driving force of commitment and support needed for growers to consider these markets as viable alternatives.
Making "alternative" work
The importance of small-scale markets has often been overshadowed by the dominance of commodity markets. However, they are increasingly becoming recognised as providing important opportunities for farms that find the global commodity markets can no longer provide a viable business model for them.
LASN helps to coordinate the supply of seed for these specialist markets, as well as providing important support to ensure that millers and bakers can access both the quality and quantity of grain that will help their businesses flourish.
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"A proper community ...is a commonwealth: a place, a resource, an economy. It answers the needs, practical as well as social and spiritual, of its members - among them the need to need one another."
- Wendell Berry
Supporting growers
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Coordination of Seed Availability
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Agronomy - knowledge sharing
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Supporting new market development
Population wheat and other crops
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Promoting in-field diversity
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Building Climatic and Environmental Resilience
Plant breeding and crop trials
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Support for independent plant breeders
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On-farm trials
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Collaboration with millers and bakers
Legislation and policy
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Enabling legislative change
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Helping shape future policy​​
Designed to work in conjunction with Population crops, including wheat and oats, HeteroGen is an important tool that enables full traceability of seed, through it's complete family tree.
For millers, bakers and customers, it also provides provenance about where a crop is grown (down to the specific field) as well as information about the grower and the values they represent.​ It also supports our live field performance work, collecting valuable data about how each crop performs in terms of yield and quality.
