Welsh Growers Beat Lead-Contaminated Soil With Hydroponic Salad Farm

A Welsh farming couple have transformed the discovery of dangerous lead contamination into an award-winning fresh produce business by taking soil out of the growing equation altogether.

Chris Boyle and Helen Eustace bought a 12-acre farm in Minera, near Wrexham, intending to grow fresh vegetables. However, they subsequently discovered that the land contained high levels of lead linked to the nearby former Minera Lead Mine.

Rather than abandon their plans, the couple turned to hydroponics — a method of cultivating plants without soil — and established Mountain Produce.

The business now grows salad crops including lettuce, watercress, rocket and microgreens inside three polytunnels using table-top irrigation systems. From a production area of just 150m², Mountain Produce currently supplies around 100kg of produce each week.

Chris Boyle said: “I think hydroponics is the future of farming.”

The plants are grown in small coir-based root plugs and supplied directly with the water and nutrients they need. Because the system avoids contact with the contaminated soil, the couple can produce fresh food on land that would otherwise be unsuitable for conventional crop cultivation.

According to the farm, its hydroponic system uses 90 per cent less water than traditional field growing. It also prevents nutrients from being lost into the wider environment, reducing fertiliser requirements and the risk of waterway pollution.

The protected growing environment offers additional benefits, including lower exposure to extreme weather and a reduced risk from certain pests and diseases. It also removes the need for costly tractors and other heavy field machinery.

Although hydroponic equipment can be energy intensive, Mountain Produce uses solar panels to help meet its power requirements. The business also received Welsh Government grant support towards its initial set-up costs.

Established in 2013, the farm has since expanded its range with cold-pressed rapeseed and sunflower oils, which have already received awards.

The project demonstrates one possible response to the legacy of historic mining in Wales. The country is estimated to have around 2,300 former lead mines, with heavy metals carried through waterways into approximately 140km² of potentially fertile flood plains.

Professor Mark Macklin of Aberystwyth University has described parts of Wales as being among the areas most severely affected by historic mine contamination. He has called for greater attention to be paid to contaminated flood plains downstream from former mining sites, particularly where people live, grow crops or keep livestock.

The scale of the challenge comes as Wales seeks to strengthen domestic food production. A 2020 study identified 204 fruit and vegetable growers operating on just 0.1 per cent of the country’s land. Together, they produced 19,551 tonnes annually — equivalent to only three per cent of Wales’s five-a-day fruit and vegetable requirement.

The Welsh Government has acknowledged that the country’s industrial past has left a difficult environmental legacy. It says its Wales Metal Mines Programme is already producing results at some of the most polluted locations, while investment in Local Food Partnerships is helping producers, communities and public bodies build stronger supply networks.

For Mountain Produce, hydroponics has provided a way to grow food safely while leaving the surrounding land available to be managed for wildlife — turning a potentially devastating discovery into a striking example of agricultural resilience and resourcefulness.