We spoke with Sam Done, a UK farmer based in Lincolnshire, who has been successfully integrating regenerative practices into his malting barley operation for over a decade. Sam’s experience proves that a gradual, patient approach leads directly to improved soil health, greater climate resilience, stable yields, and consistent quality, all while maintaining farm profitability.
Q: Can you briefly describe your farm, the size of your barley operation, and what initially sparked your interest in transitioning to regenerative agriculture?
A: "We’re farming around 1,500 acres as an overview. Of that, there’s probably about 10% grassland, so we do have some cattle on the farm—not a lot, but the main emphasis is arable. We use the cattle sheds we have, really. The start was actually more from a soil health point of view and the need to control black grass. Cover cropping came in from a black grass perspective; it wasn't necessarily to do that much with soil health at the time. It was really about, 'Okay, can we help to suppress the weeds as an issue?'"
Q: How long have you been doing regen ag for your farm? What year?
A: "It probably would have been ten years ago I would say we really started shadowing that out. We really started looking at how that transition looked. Fifteen years ago was when we really thought, 'Yes, we need to probably change our processes and what we're doing in the rotations,' but actually linking it to soil health is more probably 10 to 12 years ago, I'd say."
Q: What specific barley varieties are you currently growing? And what are the key quality requirements mandated by the malting industry for those varieties?
A: "At the minute, our winter barley we’ve just changed from Craft, and we trialled some Buccaneer last year. Our spring barley is similarly changing. We used Planet as our variety previously, and then we’re looking to go to Laureate. Our specs have both been pretty good from a specification point of view this year. I think they have to be below 1.85 is the nitrogen spec they need to be below. I think the highest we’ve got is 1.79 on a little bit of poor-yielding winter stuff."
Q: What does regenerative agriculture look like on your farm? Can you please explain the chronological order of your key operations, from the previous harvest to the barley harvest, focusing on the core practices you've implemented?
A: Winter Barley:"Cultivation-wise, it's minimal cultivations now. We’ll effectively take the spring barley off, and then just a shallow cultivation—three inches, something like that—just to mix the straw. Whereas previously, we’d be working at 25 centimeters with an inversion, a low-disturbance tine, but pretty much heavily cultivated in the past."
Spring Barley: "It’s quite a big change in that we would probably previously be on overwinter ploughing ten years or so ago. Whereas now, everything is cover cropped with at least four species, but we’re at six species now in our cover crop. We sort of see that effectively as being a cultivator for us as well because they do such a good job of getting through compaction. We’ve been able to work... you know, we get a wet time on the ground... it's taking that rain from last week, and the ground is working better with those difficult conditions, really."
Q: What changes have you made to your overall rotation?
A: "We would have spring barley as a starting point. That will follow with oilseed rape, which will have a companion crop, followed by a winter wheat. That will then go into a cover crop. The cover crop first time round will be followed by spring beans. We will direct drill the beans into the cover crop, and then following on from beans, we will direct drill wheat into that. That's the only time we will direct drill. Then for a second time within that rotation, we again are followed by a cover crop, which then goes into spring barley, which is malting, and the barley then loops back around into the winter barley following that."
Q: Which types of cover crops did you introduce before or after barley, and what was your biggest learning curve regarding their management?
A: "We’re at six species now in our cover crop. So we put vetch, buckwheat, I think my big ones blackouts, are the three larger seeds that we put in there. But we’ve also got Berseem clover, phacelia, and linseed as well. I think the biggest thing for us, it looks like there’s times when you’ve got to be more patient. You do very much have to bend to what nature is offering you. You sometimes have got to be a bit more patient and make sure you can get the covers well destroyed."
Q: Have you reduced tillage intensity, and what challenges did that present for barley establishment and root development specifically?
A: "We’ve had four springs direct drilling into covers now. It can look like it’s a little bit slower than some of the other plants that have been cultivated. I think there’s a little bit more air there, and potentially it’s easier for the roots to start moving rather than a more solid structure. But generally, we see that the direct drilled spring stuff does catch up during May/June, the peak growing seasons, when potentially some of the roots in other plants are stopping at a plough pan or a compacted area. By having those root structures and better soil structures, that’s when we see our plant really developing and hopefully catching up, if not growing past the alternative."
Q: How have you adjusted your nitrogen fertilizer strategy to manage yield while maintaining the low protein content required for malting quality?
A: "We use granular fertilizer. The biggest thing that we’re trying to do from that point of view is get it on nice and early. We try to keep that nitrogen away from the malting barleys because we don't want it. The thing with organic manures that we find is, A, it’s hard to predict what’s actually in it—it’s not that consistent—but equally, when the plant will actually take it up. So we’re a little bit safer, really, and we are using granules at the minute from that point of view. It is to split; we go to low doses."
Q: Are you seeing more consistent plumpness and kernel size in your barley under the regenerative system compared to conventional years?
A: "The majority of our barley went in was, you know, met the spec requirements. Ours looks really quite good spec at the minute. We’ve not seen any negative impacts from a nitrogen point of view. From a spec, that’s the biggest spec that we seem to not struggle with, but that we need to be aiming for, is to get the nitrogen rates right."
Q: Do you feel / see more resilient against climate extremes, and how does that improved resilience translate into more stable production for your buyers?
A: "I think throughout that rotation, we're seeing that there’s more resilience to poor years, whether that’s dry or wet. By having the soil structures in a better condition through cover cropping and reduced tillage, it’s helping our soils fight for themselves rather than us having to keep hitting the reset button with them. An average year in a year that could have quite easily been a bad year is actually not that bad. Having those soil structures is probably the biggest thing that we've seen to benefit from."
Q: Can you share the evolution of your malting barley yields over the last few years since transitioning to regenerative practices?
A: "We’ve not seen any major yield deductions, definitely, from what we’re doing. I think if you jumped into the process too quickly, you could, if your soils weren’t ready to do it. If you take, I honestly think three years, four years—it depends on your soil types—but three or four years of gradually reducing your tillage, we don’t see it as a major issue trying to do what we’re doing."
Q: Can you share the evolution of your malting barley protein spec over the last few years since transitioning to regenerative practices?
A: "We’ve not really seen an issue. Nutrient-wise and fertilizer-wise, we’ve not changed too much yet. I wouldn’t say we’ve cut back, but we’ve definitely not seen any negative impacts in terms of specks and proteins and that side of it. The conclusion is that we can do regenerative barley without making the spec out of norm, which is a good conclusion."
Q: How has the adoption of regenerative practices impacted the revenue generated from your malting barley sales in recent years?
A: "We are seeing a good reduction in our costings because we’re not spending as much money on wearing parts and time and labour for doing the cultivations that we’re not having to do, really. So the bottom line is, it’s trying to do the little sort of 1% here and there and get all the little targets to add up together."
Q: To whom do you sell your malting barley? Do you sell to the same buyer every year, and if so, why? Do you use a multi-year contract?
A: "Molson Coors is who we sell ours to. So there's a grain merchant that approaches us. We effectively commit to three years. Generally, the prices and premiums they’re offering are better than the market premium—that’s how they sort of try to get you committed to growing for them. We’re trying to aim to go for the high-quality crops. We try to think that if we can continuously grow a good product, they’re going to want to keep the same farmers."
Q: Have financial incentives been important in your decisions, and how have they impacted your overall farm economics?
A: "Part of that is diversification and other forms of income, and that’s for us where Soil Capital came into us. It’s basically supporting us to do what we’re doing, and it’s another form of income and string to our bow, really. From a barley point of view, Soil Capital is the direct link to that. The merchants are saying that it’s coming, but I think they may just be saying that rather than it actually doing it."
Q: What practical, agronomic advice or data insights have you received from Soil Capital that made a significant difference to your barley crop or soil health?
A: "We’re looking at how that lines up with Soil Capital, other practices that we should be doing, shouldn’t be doing, more so than others. It will help combat potentially those early years when you’re looking at it and thinking, 'Well, actually, my yield is slightly down compared to a conventional year.' I think generally it seems a nice bonus to what we’re already trying to achieve as well."
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What was the single biggest challenge you faced when you decided to implement the first few regenerative practices, and how did you overcome it?
"I think the knowledge is a difficult part. You need to be trying to pick the brain of people that have been down that journey. And equally, equipment. I think a lot of people potentially look at it and think, 'Well, it’s going to be a massive expense for us to become sustainable.' But I think there’s a natural progression that as you start heading towards sustainable agriculture and using different cultivations, when you’re replacing equipment, it’s quite doable on a regular rotation and a regular changing of the equipment rather than, you know, 'We need to go and spend a fortune at the minute.'"
If you could imagine the “ideal partnership” with a buyer in the beer industry, what would it look like in terms of commitment, support, and shared goals?
"It’d be nice to see companies really valuing that sustainability of a product, because I think at the end of the line, there are a lot of customers that will value the fact that you’re trying to have a sustainable product and looking at trying to protect animals, insects, and soil health. It’s trying to sort of bridge that gap from farmers actually doing it on the farm and doing what they’re saying, and it benefiting the maltsters as well."
What would be the advice for a fellow farmer that is thinking of transitioning?
"I think you’ve got to try and convince yourself that it’s going to work. By looking and working with farmers that have potentially started the journey or companies that are further down the journey, you know, we probably wouldn’t have jumped to these steps. Let’s learn from their mistakes. Try to tailor it to your farm. Where in your rotation can you start reducing your tillage and potentially looking at cover cropping if there’s a natural start to that? Do half a field or leave two tramlines where you haven’t cultivated it. You’re not going to lose that much by trying it."
Looking ahead, what is your vision for malting barley on your farm in 5–10 years, and what broader benefits do you hope to achieve?
"The malted barley side of it fits in really nicely to our overall aim of a wider rotation as well. It’s a nice break crop in there. Looking at things like flower strips all the way around the fields, whether we’re going to have, you know, six metres around there for beneficiaries and biodiversity. Hopefully, a progression to see what we are doing on the farm and try to add value to that product, not just producing a malted barley, but actually doing it to help and working with nature, really."
We spoke with Sam Done, a UK farmer based in Lincolnshire, who has been successfully integrating regenerative practices into his malting barley operation for over a decade. Sam’s experience proves that a gradual, patient approach leads directly to improved soil health, greater climate resilience, stable yields, and consistent quality, all while maintaining farm profitability.
Q: Can you briefly describe your farm, the size of your barley operation, and what initially sparked your interest in transitioning to regenerative agriculture?
A: "We’re farming around 1,500 acres as an overview. Of that, there’s probably about 10% grassland, so we do have some cattle on the farm—not a lot, but the main emphasis is arable. We use the cattle sheds we have, really. The start was actually more from a soil health point of view and the need to control black grass. Cover cropping came in from a black grass perspective; it wasn't necessarily to do that much with soil health at the time. It was really about, 'Okay, can we help to suppress the weeds as an issue?'"
Q: How long have you been doing regen ag for your farm? What year?
A: "It probably would have been ten years ago I would say we really started shadowing that out. We really started looking at how that transition looked. Fifteen years ago was when we really thought, 'Yes, we need to probably change our processes and what we're doing in the rotations,' but actually linking it to soil health is more probably 10 to 12 years ago, I'd say."
Q: What specific barley varieties are you currently growing? And what are the key quality requirements mandated by the malting industry for those varieties?
A: "At the minute, our winter barley we’ve just changed from Craft, and we trialled some Buccaneer last year. Our spring barley is similarly changing. We used Planet as our variety previously, and then we’re looking to go to Laureate. Our specs have both been pretty good from a specification point of view this year. I think they have to be below 1.85 is the nitrogen spec they need to be below. I think the highest we’ve got is 1.79 on a little bit of poor-yielding winter stuff."
Q: What does regenerative agriculture look like on your farm? Can you please explain the chronological order of your key operations, from the previous harvest to the barley harvest, focusing on the core practices you've implemented?
A: Winter Barley:"Cultivation-wise, it's minimal cultivations now. We’ll effectively take the spring barley off, and then just a shallow cultivation—three inches, something like that—just to mix the straw. Whereas previously, we’d be working at 25 centimeters with an inversion, a low-disturbance tine, but pretty much heavily cultivated in the past."
Spring Barley: "It’s quite a big change in that we would probably previously be on overwinter ploughing ten years or so ago. Whereas now, everything is cover cropped with at least four species, but we’re at six species now in our cover crop. We sort of see that effectively as being a cultivator for us as well because they do such a good job of getting through compaction. We’ve been able to work... you know, we get a wet time on the ground... it's taking that rain from last week, and the ground is working better with those difficult conditions, really."
Q: What changes have you made to your overall rotation?
A: "We would have spring barley as a starting point. That will follow with oilseed rape, which will have a companion crop, followed by a winter wheat. That will then go into a cover crop. The cover crop first time round will be followed by spring beans. We will direct drill the beans into the cover crop, and then following on from beans, we will direct drill wheat into that. That's the only time we will direct drill. Then for a second time within that rotation, we again are followed by a cover crop, which then goes into spring barley, which is malting, and the barley then loops back around into the winter barley following that."
Q: Which types of cover crops did you introduce before or after barley, and what was your biggest learning curve regarding their management?
A: "We’re at six species now in our cover crop. So we put vetch, buckwheat, I think my big ones blackouts, are the three larger seeds that we put in there. But we’ve also got Berseem clover, phacelia, and linseed as well. I think the biggest thing for us, it looks like there’s times when you’ve got to be more patient. You do very much have to bend to what nature is offering you. You sometimes have got to be a bit more patient and make sure you can get the covers well destroyed."
Q: Have you reduced tillage intensity, and what challenges did that present for barley establishment and root development specifically?
A: "We’ve had four springs direct drilling into covers now. It can look like it’s a little bit slower than some of the other plants that have been cultivated. I think there’s a little bit more air there, and potentially it’s easier for the roots to start moving rather than a more solid structure. But generally, we see that the direct drilled spring stuff does catch up during May/June, the peak growing seasons, when potentially some of the roots in other plants are stopping at a plough pan or a compacted area. By having those root structures and better soil structures, that’s when we see our plant really developing and hopefully catching up, if not growing past the alternative."
Q: How have you adjusted your nitrogen fertilizer strategy to manage yield while maintaining the low protein content required for malting quality?
A: "We use granular fertilizer. The biggest thing that we’re trying to do from that point of view is get it on nice and early. We try to keep that nitrogen away from the malting barleys because we don't want it. The thing with organic manures that we find is, A, it’s hard to predict what’s actually in it—it’s not that consistent—but equally, when the plant will actually take it up. So we’re a little bit safer, really, and we are using granules at the minute from that point of view. It is to split; we go to low doses."
Q: Are you seeing more consistent plumpness and kernel size in your barley under the regenerative system compared to conventional years?
A: "The majority of our barley went in was, you know, met the spec requirements. Ours looks really quite good spec at the minute. We’ve not seen any negative impacts from a nitrogen point of view. From a spec, that’s the biggest spec that we seem to not struggle with, but that we need to be aiming for, is to get the nitrogen rates right."
Q: Do you feel / see more resilient against climate extremes, and how does that improved resilience translate into more stable production for your buyers?
A: "I think throughout that rotation, we're seeing that there’s more resilience to poor years, whether that’s dry or wet. By having the soil structures in a better condition through cover cropping and reduced tillage, it’s helping our soils fight for themselves rather than us having to keep hitting the reset button with them. An average year in a year that could have quite easily been a bad year is actually not that bad. Having those soil structures is probably the biggest thing that we've seen to benefit from."
Q: Can you share the evolution of your malting barley yields over the last few years since transitioning to regenerative practices?
A: "We’ve not seen any major yield deductions, definitely, from what we’re doing. I think if you jumped into the process too quickly, you could, if your soils weren’t ready to do it. If you take, I honestly think three years, four years—it depends on your soil types—but three or four years of gradually reducing your tillage, we don’t see it as a major issue trying to do what we’re doing."
Q: Can you share the evolution of your malting barley protein spec over the last few years since transitioning to regenerative practices?
A: "We’ve not really seen an issue. Nutrient-wise and fertilizer-wise, we’ve not changed too much yet. I wouldn’t say we’ve cut back, but we’ve definitely not seen any negative impacts in terms of specks and proteins and that side of it. The conclusion is that we can do regenerative barley without making the spec out of norm, which is a good conclusion."
Q: How has the adoption of regenerative practices impacted the revenue generated from your malting barley sales in recent years?
A: "We are seeing a good reduction in our costings because we’re not spending as much money on wearing parts and time and labour for doing the cultivations that we’re not having to do, really. So the bottom line is, it’s trying to do the little sort of 1% here and there and get all the little targets to add up together."
Q: To whom do you sell your malting barley? Do you sell to the same buyer every year, and if so, why? Do you use a multi-year contract?
A: "Molson Coors is who we sell ours to. So there's a grain merchant that approaches us. We effectively commit to three years. Generally, the prices and premiums they’re offering are better than the market premium—that’s how they sort of try to get you committed to growing for them. We’re trying to aim to go for the high-quality crops. We try to think that if we can continuously grow a good product, they’re going to want to keep the same farmers."
Q: Have financial incentives been important in your decisions, and how have they impacted your overall farm economics?
A: "Part of that is diversification and other forms of income, and that’s for us where Soil Capital came into us. It’s basically supporting us to do what we’re doing, and it’s another form of income and string to our bow, really. From a barley point of view, Soil Capital is the direct link to that. The merchants are saying that it’s coming, but I think they may just be saying that rather than it actually doing it."
Q: What practical, agronomic advice or data insights have you received from Soil Capital that made a significant difference to your barley crop or soil health?
A: "We’re looking at how that lines up with Soil Capital, other practices that we should be doing, shouldn’t be doing, more so than others. It will help combat potentially those early years when you’re looking at it and thinking, 'Well, actually, my yield is slightly down compared to a conventional year.' I think generally it seems a nice bonus to what we’re already trying to achieve as well."
What was the single biggest challenge you faced when you decided to implement the first few regenerative practices, and how did you overcome it?
"I think the knowledge is a difficult part. You need to be trying to pick the brain of people that have been down that journey. And equally, equipment. I think a lot of people potentially look at it and think, 'Well, it’s going to be a massive expense for us to become sustainable.' But I think there’s a natural progression that as you start heading towards sustainable agriculture and using different cultivations, when you’re replacing equipment, it’s quite doable on a regular rotation and a regular changing of the equipment rather than, you know, 'We need to go and spend a fortune at the minute.'"
If you could imagine the “ideal partnership” with a buyer in the beer industry, what would it look like in terms of commitment, support, and shared goals?
"It’d be nice to see companies really valuing that sustainability of a product, because I think at the end of the line, there are a lot of customers that will value the fact that you’re trying to have a sustainable product and looking at trying to protect animals, insects, and soil health. It’s trying to sort of bridge that gap from farmers actually doing it on the farm and doing what they’re saying, and it benefiting the maltsters as well."
What would be the advice for a fellow farmer that is thinking of transitioning?
"I think you’ve got to try and convince yourself that it’s going to work. By looking and working with farmers that have potentially started the journey or companies that are further down the journey, you know, we probably wouldn’t have jumped to these steps. Let’s learn from their mistakes. Try to tailor it to your farm. Where in your rotation can you start reducing your tillage and potentially looking at cover cropping if there’s a natural start to that? Do half a field or leave two tramlines where you haven’t cultivated it. You’re not going to lose that much by trying it."
Looking ahead, what is your vision for malting barley on your farm in 5–10 years, and what broader benefits do you hope to achieve?
"The malted barley side of it fits in really nicely to our overall aim of a wider rotation as well. It’s a nice break crop in there. Looking at things like flower strips all the way around the fields, whether we’re going to have, you know, six metres around there for beneficiaries and biodiversity. Hopefully, a progression to see what we are doing on the farm and try to add value to that product, not just producing a malted barley, but actually doing it to help and working with nature, really."
