Bulrushes to BioPuf f ®

Food crops aren’t the only potential product of wetter farming. On another plot close to our Rindle trial, thanks to funding from the government’s Paludiculture Exploration Fund, we are working with a landowner and tenant farmer to trial a crop of bulrushes, also known as reedmace or typha.

Bulrushes are a common sight growing around the edges of ponds and other water bodies and so are well known for loving having wet feet. But they could also be a profitable crop. Their long fibrous stalks can be used to create sustainable fibreboard for construction, but in this instance we are really interested in their fluffy seed heads.

Working with an innovative company called Saltyco®, the seed heads will be harvested and used to create BioPuff ®, a next generation filling for padded jackets, instead of using synthetic fibres or goose-feather down. Saltyco® are already in talks with a number of fashion houses about using these sustainable biomaterials.

This first trial is on a five hectare area, and by 2050 re-wetting this site alone could save 2,822 tonnes CO2 equivalent – the same as over 7.2 million miles driven by an average car.

The bulrush trial is also ripe for expansion, as Saltyco® estimate that a further 100 hectares of bulrush will be required to meet BioPuff® demand, having the potential to save 56,448 tonnes CO2 equivalent – the same as 144.2 million miles driven.

Works will start to re-wet the field this winter, with planting of the bulrushes taking place in spring 2024, and the first harvest expected in 2026.

We’re sure that there are going to be trials and tribulations ahead, but this is only to be expected when you are working right at the forefront of what could be the next agricultural revolution.

We hold out great hopes for our wetter farming trials and will keep you, our wonderful supporters, up to date with how we get on.