Since 1870 we’ve lived and breathed malting. With this passion and expertise, and by combining traditional and modern techniques, we create an impressive range of malted and non-malted products, including several unique and exclusive barley malts.
There is nothing more we love than talking to brewers and distillers so if you have any questions, or would like to arrange a call with a member of our team, please feel free to get in touch – we would love to hear from you!
The first step of Field Forward is to understand the environmental context at both farm and landscape levels to identify key environmental risks associated with the Grower Group. We collect data using Map of Ag across the four impact areas: soil health, water, biodiversity and GHG emissions. We have surveyed our growers on their current practices, and used national datasets, to understand the context in the region. This highlights opportunities where improvements can be made.
The data we captured is below:
This context analysis is based on 12 material criteria, in alignment with SAI Platform’s Regenerating Together Framework. We gathered information from our ABC Grower Group via surveying our farmers, as well as reviewing national datasets such as those available through DEFRA’s MAGIC Map.
Water-related risks across East Anglia are strongly influenced by the region’s medium to high groundwater vulnerability, reflecting free-draining soils, permeable geology and shallow water tables. The reliance on irrigation for potatoes and vegetable production places significant pressure on water resources, with over-abstraction from chalk aquifers posing a particular risk during dry summers, especially across south Norfolk and Suffolk. River abstraction further contributes to low-flow conditions, which become more pronounced during droughts and periods of peak irrigation demand.
Many farms are also located within Source Protection Zones, increasing sensitivity to groundwater contamination. The region’s sandy, highly permeable soils heighten the risk of pesticide leaching, particularly following heavy rainfall events. In addition, much of East Anglia lies within Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, where lighter soils and shallow groundwater significantly increase the risk of nitrate losses to both surface and groundwater, reinforcing the need for careful nutrient and water management.
Agricultural Land Classification provides a framework for understanding land capability and vulnerability, with grades reflecting factors that influence yield, crop choice and reliability, including soil quality, climate and topography. Grades 1 to 3 represent excellent to good quality land, while Grades 4 and 5 indicate poorer land that is more susceptible to degradation and erosion.
The predominance of Grade 3 agricultural land across East Anglia reflects soils that are productive but moderately limited and highly dependent on management. In Norfolk and the Breckland region, light, sandy Grade 3 soils are naturally susceptible to wind erosion; however, widespread use of overwinter cover crops by more than 80% of our growers and existing landscape features has reduced this risk from high to medium.
Soil fertility remains vulnerable due to continuous arable rotations and limited organic matter return, although most farms apply organic manures and over 40% of rotations include legumes, helping to support nutrient cycling and soil health.
Water-related risks are generally low inland, but coastal and reclaimed areas, including The Broads, face increasing salinisation risk from sea-level rise and groundwater pressures. Grade 3 sandy soils are structurally less resilient and the use of heavy machinery, particularly in potato and sugar beet systems, continues to pose a significant risk to soil structure and infiltration.
Due to the nature of the Norfolk and Breckland region’s soils, they are naturally vulnerable to erosion and nutrient loss, making biodiversity features and soil-cover practices particularly important for system resilience. The majority of farms maintain uncropped land – on average around 34% – and support a diverse range of permanent biodiversity features, including extensive hedgerow networks; although regional biodiversity remains under pressure from intensive arable systems, habitat fragmentation, and land-use change.
The region contains a network of designated conservation sites, including SSSIs, AONBs, SACs and Local Wildlife Sites, which support nationally and internationally important habitats and species. However, these areas are sensitive to nutrient enrichment, hydrological changes, pesticide leaching, invasive species, and coastal or wetland habitat loss.
Cover cropping helps counter these pressures by providing ground cover and food sources for invertebrates and birds, yet the nature of continuous arable rotations and heavy cultivations can still limit habitat availability and disturb soil ecosystems. Overall, biodiversity resilience in East Anglia is supported by existing features such as hedgerows, uncropped areas, cover crops, and protected sites, but remains at risk from fragmentation and pressures on soil and water resources, highlighting the need for integrated habitat and farmland management.
Air-quality risks in East Anglia are closely linked to arable systems and nitrogen management. The location of the air quality priority areas show widespread exceedance of critical loads for nitrogen deposition and critical levels for ammonia around SSSIs, including a 2 km buffer around affected sites and a 5 km buffer around Shared Nitrogen Action Plan areas, notably covering Breckland. The mapping highlights numerous hotspots across the region, demonstrating that nitrogen-related air pollution is already a significant issue.
These exceedances align with known emission sources in East Anglia’s arable systems, where nitrogen fertiliser use, manure management (particularly FYM), and fossil-fuel-powered machinery are the main drivers of ammonia and greenhouse gas emissions. Additional contributions arise from fertiliser manufacture, diesel use in field operations, and energy demands for irrigation.
Improving nitrogen-use efficiency through precision application, enhanced-efficiency or low-carbon fertilisers are effective pathways to reducing emissions and mitigating air-quality and ecological risks, particularly near sensitive designated sites.
This baseline environmental context analysis provides a robust starting point for Field Forward, highlighting both the strengths already embedded within the ABC Grower Group and the key risks that must be addressed to improve long-term resilience. The data shows strong uptake of regenerative practices across soil cover, nutrient management and biodiversity, with high levels of cover cropping, organic manure use, uncropped habitat provision and integrated pest management already supporting system performance.
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