What do farmers think of paludiculture? Is it a sustainable alternative for them – or just a nice idea that doesn’t work for them?
At the start of June 2026, the Palus Demos team heard from farmers across Lancashire, some of whom are growing paludiculture crops and some of whom are skeptical about wetter farming.
The event was held as part of a meeting of all Palus Demos in Manchester.
Kathryn Wright (main image, right), director of Wright Farms and a member of the Palus Demos consortium, hosted the panel discussion.
“Peatlands are our biggest resource and we need to look after them,” Kathryn said.
“But it also has to be financially viable for this area. There are five major family-run businesses within a three-mile radius, employing over 2,500 staff. That’s 2,500 incomes and mortgages.
“On the back of this, there are also tractor dealerships in the area, packaging companies, engineers and taxis. Even our local shops change their produce based on what seasonal workers in the area will want to buy.
“So we can’t just change the land overnight, rewet it and leave it as it is.”
Kathryn said that farmers want to know what works, but they also want to see it with their own eyes.
“We need to be able to touch things, so we got involved in Palus Demos to see how this could work,” she said.
Andrew Sutton (main image, centre) is another local salad producer. He wasn’t sold on the idea of paludiculture.
“We grow spinach on very fertile soil,” he explained.
“But if we, say, turned that over to a clover crop in order to fix nitrogen in the soil, that means we lose a full year of production.
“This country is already not food independent: if we relied entirely on what was grown here, we would be out of food by September of any given year. So if we grow, say, sphagnum moss as a paludiculture crop, that means we produce less food.”
Lisa Edwards and her son Cameron (Cameron pictured in main image, left) farm on nearby land, and have looked to paludiculture in recent years.
They grow cereal and potato crops on their highest land while, until recently, they had grown grass for hay in a less suitable field.
“We’re in the bottom of a drainage basin in the area, so all the water comes through us. There’s also a sewerage treatment works in the area.
“As the peat drops in this part of the farm, the water table rises, causing water logging.”
This problem drove Lisa and Cameron to look at alternative crops. They first considered sphagnum moss, but quickly realised that it wasn’t suitable due to the level of nitrates coming from the sewerage works (sphagnum does not like nitrates, and takes its nutrients from the air, not the soil).
“We sowed the crop with a drone,” said Cameron.
“Initially, we had trouble establishing the crop, and getting the water table right. But now I think we have nailed it, and we will have our first harvest in August.
“I have been building my own harvester too, and it is about ready. I’ll have my first outing in a few months.”
Cameron pointed out that typha crops also clean water.
“So, where we had an area that we couldn’t grow any crops in, now we can use the land while also improving water quality and biodiversity.”
Cameron and other farmers pointed out, however, that there are – as yet – no subsidies or payments to typha farmers for the valuable service the crop provides.
Andrew echoed a point that several farmers and landowners have highlighted during the first 18 months of the Palus Demos project: food security. Speaking about his wariness of paludiculture, Andrew said that he could not see enough money in it, adding that it could mean less food production.
“Where we are growing typha is not suitable for food,” Lisa said, while Cameron added that the land may, within the next 20 years, become less productive.
Cameron is now selling his typha to Ponda, a biomaterials company that uses regenerative fibres from plants grown on wetlands to make clothing.
“It’s about getting a balance: we can’t keep doing what we have always done, and we have to work with the changing climate,” Lisa said.
Andrew expressed a concern that, if more farmers grow typha, that will drive down the return for them.
And, he asked, if we raise our water tables, how do we drop them when needed?
“Our business is geared around producing salads,” he said.
“If the water table is raised, fine, but can you drop it within a day or an hour if there is a sudden storm? If the crop floods, it is gone. And if we did this on a bigger scale and lost our crop, we can’t supply our contractors, so we lose business.”
Kathryn said that there remains a lack of information on the viability of paludiculture, which is why she was taking part in this trial.
But all farmers highlighted a major concern: that paludiculture policies set by States and Governments will have longevity, and that any new Government would not pull support.
“What alternatives did Cameron and Lisa consider?” an audience member asked.
“We could drain the land again by putting in a pump, but that only gets us about 40 years,” said Cameron.
“I want to do something about this now, before my children don’t want to take it on,” he said.
“I want there to be a farm here for future generations.”