Sustainable Agriculture Bursary winners visit Ryvita farms and factory
July 14, 2021
The winners of the PCF and Jordans joint Sustainable Agriculture Bursary were invited this week to a two-day visit of the Ryvita supply chain – from farm to fork.
On the first day, the students were given a tour of Great Melton Farms by farm manager Andrew Hunt. The farm grows rye for Ryvita, but also has a focus on setting aside land for nature, including wildflower meadows and nature corridors. In addition, they have diversified into Christmas trees and rental properties to sustain the farming enterprise. Andrew spoke through some of the challenges they face as a business, and how they are balancing these with their ongoing commitment to nature – with the support of Natural England, who also spoke to the students about some of the ecological successes on site.
For the second day, the students visited the Ryvita processing plant, where they were shown the entire Ryvita production line – from the sorting of rye and wheat, through to baking, flavouring and packaging. Following this, the students had a lunch of – of course – Ryvita!
Daniel Weaver, from Reading University, said: “The trip was really enjoyable – it was great to meet the other bursary winners! I thought the farm tour in particular was really interesting – it was exciting to see innovation and sustainability on farm on such a commercial scale.”
The Sustainable Agriculture Bursary offers students at the Royal Agricultural University or Reading University funding and networking opportunities to support their passion for sustainable farming. Applications are now open.
