Richard Allan

Farmer and Grower Board Member

Richard farms with his wife on a small family farm in West Wiltshire.  It is a predominately grass-based livestock farm that they have built up since 2007 with increasing top fruit and nut orchard plantings as they experiment with various agroforestry approaches.  They have experienced all the trials and tribulations of being ‘new entrants’ to organic farming but have also witnessed the huge benefits for the land, the landscape and for the animals.  They currently run a local meat-box scheme and crop apples and are looking to establish a local veg box scheme.

Alongside farming, Richard has worked for a short spell as a botanist, then in the military and for the last 20 years in industry.  He currently works for a FTSE Green Economy manufacturing company that is grappling with the need to accelerate the move towards carbon neutrality for an international footprint whilst sourcing genuinely sustainable carbon offsets. A biologist by training, Richard has a particular interest in the challenges and opportunities presented by the move to carbon neutrality and the potential benefits for the organic movement and for agroecology more generally.

Richard is also a non-executive director of an industrial-disease compensation fund for victims of asbestos-related disease.