Whisky distillery sources barley on the doorstep

The deal provides a level of certainty for farmers like Cameron Shell

A whisky distillery and visitor attraction is providing a new source of income to a group of farmers.

The Ad Gefrin Anglo Saxon museum will use hundreds of tonnes of barley at its site in Wooler, Northumberland.

Five farms are supplying about 300 tonnes of the crop for the production of a single malt whisky.

Cameron Shell, who farms near Alnwick, said the arrangement helped "keep things local" and cut down on food miles.

The arrangement gives both the distillery and the farmers certainty.

Mr Shell will supply about 90 tonnes of barley, at about £200 a tonne, and will have 120 acres growing the twice-yearly crop.

“It’s a good crop that fits into our rotation,” he said.

“When Ad Gefrin approached us and said they would like some local growers it was something we were very keen to jump on board with.

"We like to keep things local, and it’s all about cutting down on food miles.”

Ad Gefrin director of distillation Ben Murphy said crop provenance was important

Director of distillation Ben Murphy said sourcing local barley not only gave North Northumberland farmers a guaranteed market, but it cut down on the distance the crop had to travel.

The crop will be sold to a company in Berwick which will put it through a malting process before it is delivered to Ad Gefrin.

The product will now only travel 40 miles at most whereas previous batches used barley from across the country.

“It's importance to us is the provenance and traceability,” Mr Murphy said.

“It allows us to really tell the story of our location - it's about shining a light on North Northumberland and what it has to offer.”