The Prince of Wales has paid a visit to an innovative Duchy of Cornwall farm in Herefordshire, viewing a new grain store and getting to grips with a bin of worm-filled compost.
William’s hour-long tour of Lower Blakemere Farm, which is spearheading efforts to cut carbon emissions through greener farming practices, saw him inspect a seed drill and the premises of home composting equipment provider Wiggly Wigglers.
Tuesday’s visit also saw William take a keen interest in solar panels and a local community event space at the 630-acre farm.
William was shown two types of kitchen waste home composting bins, before sifting through waste and inspecting the worms by hand, after talking about the Japanese Bokashi method of composting and declaring the bins to be “fantastic”.
Tenant farmers Phil and Heather Gorringe and their son Monty welcomed the prince to the farm – one of the Duchy of Cornwall’s seven Focus Farms, an initiative designed to share knowledge and experiences of the transition to greener farming practices.
The farm was established in the early 1980s as a specialist seed grower with a herd of South Devon cattle, and has a focus on restoring soil health, boosting biodiversity and using farming practices that are sustainable for the long term.
It is also the home of Wiggly Wigglers, which operates online and through garden centres to sell thousands of composting kits each year, with the aim of helping individuals, homeowners and businesses to recycle organic waste and create healthier soil.
As he was shown the contents of the wormery version of the composting bins, the prince was heard to say: “Oh my goodness, look at that, that’s amazing!”
Speaking after the visit, Heather Gorringe said of William: “He’s been here to see all the innovations that are going on on the farm and the way that we are trying to move to a more regenerative approach, which includes things like composting and Bokashi.
“A lot of us send our kitchen waste to landfill or centralised composting or to a bio-digestor.
“If you can make use of that resource at home, obviously that cuts down on carbon, reduces transport and makes something really worthwhile out of useless kitchen waste.”
She said of the Prince’s interest in the kits: “He got right in there. He basically wanted to know how the heck it worked in terms of Bokashi, which is Japanese.
“He had not heard of that, but in terms of worms he seemed really interested that it was functioning in such a small scale.
“He wanted to know if we could replicate that on a larger scale – for farm composting.”
Mrs Gorringe added: “We are so lucky to have had a (royal) visit. It’s good for the team … and I think also it gives you a real boost because we are a Focus Farm for the Duchy, which means we are sharing information with other farms and they’re doing the same.
“It gives that whole thing a boost, that actually you might be being useful and on the right track.
“It’s tough farming, it’s tough moving to a regenerative process, it really is. So it gives everyone a boost.”
