About us
We are a non-profit membership organisation started in 2009 by farmers, with farmer learning and development at the heart of what we do. Today, our membership is for more than farmers, because everyone has a role to play in fixing the UK’s food and farming systems, whether you’re raising or treating livestock, managing land, creating policies, selling animal produce, or buying it.
What we do
Get involvedEmpower farmers
We support any farmer — no matter where they’re starting from — to move towards profitable, pasture-based farming through on-farm events, peer-to-peer learning, evidence, a community of like-minded individuals, online learning, mentoring and consultancy. We call it farmer-to-farmer learning.
Spotlight 100% pasture-fed
We set the standard for best practice through Pasture for Life certification — guaranteeing an animal has been raised on 100% pasture. It’s backed by our standards, a set of regulations rooted in the realities of farming grazing livestock and backed by rigorous research.
Myth bust. Demand better
We help people connect with the origins of their meat, dairy and fibre, and why they matter. Then, whether we’re petitioning the government to provide a more robust definition of ‘grass-fed’ or working with other organisations stepping out to challenge the status quo, we demand systemic change, from the farm upwards and from governments down.
Farmer-to-farmer learning
Empowering farmers to make sustainable change to their farming practice
We are a non-profit membership organisation started in 2009 by farmers, with farmer learning and development at the heart of what we do.
We know that farmers want to change to be fit for what the future holds. But UK farmers have been pushed to the brink; vulnerable to inconsistent government policies, unfair purchasing practices by major retailers, rocketing input costs with global supply chain disruptions, and more frequent extreme weather events as a result of climate change.
So, before farmers take the leap away from farming convention towards a new system, they need security that those changes will work; for farm profit, resilience and the planet. And they need to learn that from the people they trust the most: other farmers.
And that’s what we’re all about.
By Clem Sandison
Rust et al (2022), Kolb’s Learning Styles 1984,
Hudon’s Cycle of Renewal
OUR STRATEGY: THE CYCLE OF CHANGE
Everything we do is underpinned by the understanding that it’s not just farm businesses that need to change — it’s the farmers themselves. Only through this approach, can resilience truly be achieved. And it’s a process of continuous evolution.
We have built on the linear model of farm transition, our understanding of farmer-to-farmer learning, and the wider theories of personal transition to create our Cycle of Change.
Many in the sector can make a claim to have an answer to the wider sectoral and farm business challenges but PfL brings a deeper level of understanding vital for the agroecological transition.
Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
Longevity of PfL membership is associated with higher levels of species richness in grasslands, participation in agri-environment schemes and levels of soil carbon.
See the evidenceSpotlighting 100% Pasture for Life
We set the standard for best practice through Pasture for Life certification — guaranteeing an animal has been raised on 100% pasture.
Pasture for Life certification is backed by our standards, a set of regulations rooted in the realities of farming grazing livestock and backed by rigorous research.
Farms that raise their ruminants on 100% pasture can become certified. Retailers — butchers, creameries, farm shops, restaurants — selling 100% pasture-raised meat, dairy, and fiber can become approved businesses.
For farmers and retailers, this means gaining recognition and financial reward for your work. For customers, this means having the confidence that what they're buying delivers the highest outcome possible in pastoral farming.
'Effects of Time on Feed on Beef Nutrient Composition'
The norm is for cattle to be taken off grass and fattened indoors on a grain-rich diet. For every day they do this, they lose they lose their valuable store of useful Omega-3 fatty acids. The result: Meat or dairy with a significant decrease in essential nutrients.
See the evidenceMyth-busting. Demanding better.
It’s good news that people are more and more interested in the origins of their food. We know we should be eating ‘better,’ but there is a lack of clarity around what this actually means. What should I be looking for? And where can I find it?
Capitalising on this confusion, businesses throw around unregulated marketing terms and fake farm names that mislead their customers, making truly sustainable food choices harder to make than ever. The food chain is opaque.
Take the term 'grass-fed'. In the UK, it can be applied to animals that have been raised on as little as 51% grass. The rest of their diet can be supplemented with grains, imported soya, or food waste products.
So, even if people are aware of the benefits of an animal being raised on 100% pasture, they are obstructed from making an informed choice about their food. Plus, the farmers taking the leap towards 100% pasture-raised meat and dairy are penalised because of this confusion around labelling.
Approved MacDuff Butcher
That’s why we have petitioned the UK Government to provide a robust definition of ‘grass-fed’ as ‘100% grass-fed.’
Our quest for supply chain fairness and transparency goes further. We petition the government for everything from better labelling through the Consortium for Labelling for the Environment, Animal Welfare and Regenerative Farming (CLEAR), to the support of upland farmers and amendments to farming incentives not fit for purpose.
It’s also why we work with other organisations stepping out to demand transparency in the defence of Britain’s farms. From Riverford’s Get Fair About Farming campaign to the Consensus on Food, Farming and Nature.