Join us for the first Soil Farmer of the Year Revisited with the 2020 Livestock Soil Farmer of the Year Alex Brewster of Rotmell Farming
Rotmell Farming is based in Perthshire, running an upland beef and sheep system over approximmately 1000 hectares. Alex has been working on building the biological capacity within the soil through the use of rotational and mob grazing systems. Starting out with a transition to a rotational grazing system, this has now adapted and is a hybrid mob system with a focus on improving the diversity of plants within the pasture. Other goals are to improve both soil organic matter and pH through the use of animals and to build a deeper root depth and mass to allow the plants to access slightly warmer soils and moisture found deeper in the soil when temperatures drop in the winter.
The farm walk will begin at 2pm and provide the opportunity to hear the learnings of Alex and the team since being awarded the Livestock Soil Farmer of the Year in 2020.
The event will take place outside, please wear suitable clothing and footwear. Light refreshments will be provided.
Geoff Williams will be leading a farm walk and showing how he is reducing the farm carbon footprint at Tretharrup through a range of practices, including outwintering, bale feeding and herbal ley management.
There will also be an opportunity to discuss with Geoff how to meet that critical work-life balance.
The Agri Carbon Kernow team will be on-hand to discuss farm carbon reduction planning, biodiversity gains and water quality improvements.
This event is hosted and managed by Westcountry Rivers Trust, in partnership with Farm Net Zero.
Date: Saturday, October 12, 10am – 1pm
Location: South Penquite Farm, Blisland, PL30 4LH.
Learn all about these fascinating creatures from renowned entomologist and dung beetle specialist Clive Turner!
Join renowned entomologist and dung beetle specialist Clive Turner as he shares his knowledge on dung beetles in our environment, developed over three decades of research and observations.
Attendees will enjoy:
a richly illustrated talk on what dung beetles are, where they live and the range of environmental benefits we gain from encouraging them
a field walk where Clive will demonstrate where dung beetles are found and explain more about their ecology and benefits
an open forum Q&A and discussion
Topics will include dung beetle ecology, how to encourage them and what you can do to help them.
The talk or walk may take place first depending on the weather.
Please check weather conditions for the day and dress accordingly.
Parking and accessibility: Please visit the venue website
If for any reason you can’t attend, please cancel your ticket so that your space can be offered to someone else – thank you.
We are delighted to be able to invite you to attend this Farm Walk to hear from the team at Oakley Farm about how they run their arable farm following regenerative agriculture principles.
Farming with greenhouse gas emissions in mind, as well as all the other targets farmers work to, is fast becoming the norm.
Oakley Farm in South Lincolnshire has been in the Gent family for four generations. Now with father and son team Edward and Thomas managing the 800 ha business, they run their arable farm following regenerative agriculture principles.
Having already fully adopted minimal cultivations and the incorporation of cover crops across the farm, the team are now turning their attention to the potential to incorporate agroforestry and livestock onto their holding. Through continuously refining the management system Edward and Thomas have managed to produce 10 tonne/ha wheat crops with 150kg N and 30 litres diesel per hectare.
The farm walk will begin at 1.30pm and will provide an opportunity to find out more about Edward and Thomas’s strategy to reduce emissions on the farm and how this has benefited the business, leading Thomas to be named as one of FCT’s finalists in our first Carbon Farmer of the Year Competition.
The event will take place outside, please wear suitable clothing and footwear. Light refreshments will be provided.
How to book
This event is free but spaces are limited. Please book via our Eventbrite page by following this link
We are delighted to be able to invite you to attend this Farm Walk to hear from the team at Lockerley Estate about how they are working to reduce farm-based emissions whilst storing more carbon into soils and non-crop biomass.
Increasingly farming with greenhouse gas emissions in mind, as well as all the other targets farmers work to, is becoming the norm.
Lockerley Estate & Preston Farms, based near Stockbridge in Hampshire is a 2,000ha diverse estate which champions an approach to agriculture where biodiversity, soil health and the wellbeing of the community and future generations is at the heart of everything they do.
Craig Livingstone, Director of Farming & Estates, has four key aims to enable the estate to reduce emissions which are focussed on maximising soil carbon sequestration; reducing reliance on chemical inputs; using the wider estate to sequester more carbon and increasing the natural capital on the estate.
Event details
The farm walk will begin at 1.30pm and will provide an opportunity to find out more about Craig’s strategy to reduce emissions from the estate and how this has benefited the business, leading him to be named as one of FCT’s finalists in our first Carbon Farmer of the Year Competition.
The event will take place outside, please wear suitable clothing and footwear. Light refreshments will be provided.
How to book
This event is free but spaces are limited. Please book via our Eventbrite page by following this link.
We are delighted to be able to invite you to attend this Farm Walk, to hear from Andrew Brewer at Ennis Barton, Fraddon about how he is managing his pasture-based dairy farm to minimise GHG emissions and sequester carbon into soils, trees and hedges.
For Andrew, farming with greenhouse gas emissions in mind has become the norm over the past three years as a demonstration farm within the Farm Net Zero Project in Cornwall. Alongside this he farms to maximise biodiversity across the farm whilst optimising output and margin.
Andrew manages 500 Jersey-cross dairy cows on 400ha at Ennis Barton near Fraddon in Cornwall. He stood out to the judges for his understanding and application of a range of practices to enable his pasture-based dairy farm to remove atmospheric carbon into soil, trees, and hedges, while simultaneously minimising farm GHG emissions by focusing on maximising forage intake for his dairy cows and minimising inclusion of supplementary concentrate feeds. Andrew also selectively breeds his cows to work well within his pasture-based system.
Event details
The farm walk will begin at 11.30am with a traditional Cornish pasty lunch. During the farm walk you will have the opportunity to find out more about Andrew’s strategy to reduce emissions on the farm and how this has benefited the business, leading him to be named the winner of this year’s Carbon Farmer of the Year Competition.
The event will take place mostly outside, please wear suitable clothing and footwear. Tea/coffee and a pasty will be provided so please let us know of any dietary requirements when booking.
Doug Christie is the first winner of FCT’s new competition to celebrate farmers who are leading the way in adopting farming practices and developing new technologies to reduce farm emissions whilst optimising output.
Doug has a mixed farm with beef cattle and arable cropping and is organic for the grassland and livestock. He has been incorporating conservation agriculture practices increasingly since 1999 and was very much a pioneer of and advocate for climate friendly farming when it was far from fashionable. Doug initially focused on soil health and by doing this soon realised that it also provided a platform by which emission heavy inputs were reduced with a corresponding reduction in his carbon footprint while also enhancing natural capital services such as biodiversity, water quality, reduced diffuse pollution, water infiltration as well as overall farm resilience, a tall order while attempting to optimise sustainable output. Testament to this focus on biodiversity is that Doug ceased using insecticides over 20 years ago.
Event details
The farm walk will begin at 1pm and will provide an opportunity to see and hear how Doug’s strategy has benefitted his business and led him to win this year’s Carbon Farmer of the Year Competition.
The event will be signed from Leven. Additionally this is the what3words to aim for: saving punctual shape.
We will be walking around the farm, but can accommodate up to five people who require transport if necessary. We will be outside most of the afternoon, so please wear suitable clothing and footwear. Light refreshments will be provided.
How to book
This event if free but spaces are limited. Please book via our Eventbrite page by following this link.
Includes a BBQ with grass-fed beef and locally-grown seasonal salads.
Open to anyone in the Northern Protected Landscapes, (for example Forest of Bowland, North Pennines, Nidderdale, Howardian Hills, Arnside and Silverdale, Solway Coast, Northumberland Coast and National Parks, including Lake District, North Yorkshire Moors, Northumberland and Yorkshire Dales), including farmers, graziers, farm managers, land agents, ecologists and farm advisers.
This is a social gathering for our growing community of regenerative farmers in Northern Protected Landscapes and a part of the Farming for Resilience workshop series.
Nidderdale AONB has been working with Niels since August 2022, and after the positive response from farmers and land managers, they have teamed up with the Nature Friendly Farming Network to offer more events throughout 2023 as part of their Farming for Resilience workshop series.
These workshops are designed to help farmers build resilience by improving soil health, reducing reliance on costly artificial inputs and adopting grazing systems through whole-farm planning for greater sustainability. We will explore the role soil biology plays in agricultural performance, pasture health and farm viability and what practices can be used to support healthy soils.
Niels will provide practical guidance on natural ecosystem processes and how farmers can work with these processes to improve farm system efficiency. He can also provide advice on a range of farming topics from equipment choice to slurry management.
Join the Nature Friendly Farming Network as a free member to be the first to hear of new dates in the series.
This year our Annual Field Day will take place on Thursday 26 September 2024 in Herefordshire.
A day for farmers, by farmers, sharing experiences for improving performance and resilience in a challenging environment. The focus of this year’s event will be the value of mixed farming.
During the day we will showcase the ways in which farmers are already changing their farming practices to respond to the need to reduce GHG emissions and build on-farm carbon, within resilient businesses. Sessions will cover the following topics:
Soil management: the importance of soil management as the starting point for resilient farming systems, including a soil pit.
Livestock: the value of livestock as a mechanism to drive soil health, biodiversity and habitat management (or something similar)
Arable: adapting arable systems to build fertility and resilience in a changing climate
The economic and climate impact of regenerative farming systems
Throughout the day we will hear from farmers and share our insights about how farmers are reducing GHG emissions and building soil health and business resilience.
Carbon Farmer of the Year Awards
The winners of the Carbon Farmer of the Year competition will also be announced. To find out more about the competition and information on how you can apply or nominate someone, visit this page.
Confirmed speakers include:
More confirmed speakers to follow!
Billy Lewis – Our host and 2022 Soil Farmer of the Year whose approach of integrating livestock and herbal leys into a previously intensive arable system has rejuvenated soil health and drastically reduced fertiliser and feed inputs and boosted profitability.
Ed Horton – Large-scale mixed farmer and Soil Farmer of the Year 2024 finalist whose ‘hybrid’ farming system has livestock integration at its heart, benefitting soil health, water quality, biodiversity and the bottom line.
Angus Gowthorpe – mixed farmer and Soil Farmer of the Year 2018 finalist Angus has been at the forefront of the regenerative transition in the UK and continues to push the envelope for what defines a sustainable farming system.
Eddy Gent – Father of Thomas Gent, Carbon Farmer of the Year 2023 finalist and regenerative arable farmer who continues the legacy of his father and grandfather who through straw for muck (via AD) deals has proven an innovative way of integrating livestock into his system in an area where traditional livestock integration has proven challenging.
Tom Burge – Upland beef and sheep farmer whose move to a regenerative, grazing-based system has helped to eliminate inputs and transform the finances on his challenging Exmoor farm
Niels Corfield – Regenerative agriculture advisor, educator and researcher whose mission is to create regenerative farms and landscapes in the UK and Europe.
James Daniel – Founder of Precision Grazing, whose primary objective is to optimise performance from pasture, James works across the UK helping farmers to implement and manage their grazing systems. He has experience across a wide range of soil types, enterprises and business structures and brings an understanding of pasture-based livestock systems to all work from business planning to regenerative farming systems
Nick Down – Nick is the Head of Sustainability for Velcourt Ltd. Velcourt directly manage 57,000 hectares and provide advice in both the arable and dairy sectors across the UK. With over 20 years of farm management experience, Nick also oversees the farming operation of the Yattendon Estate in West Berkshire. The farm is going through a transition to a more sustainable farming system, incorporating more space for nature and enhancing carbon sequestration under an ambitious environmental delivery program. The farm business forms part of the LEAF demonstration farm network.
To book your place (numbers are limited) and to find out more about the Field Day please follow this link.
The price includes tea/coffee and lunch.
Photography
Please note that photographs will be taken throughout the day. Please let us know if you do not wish to be photographed by contacting Rachel Hucker at [email protected].
David Miller hosts a farm walk demonstrating the system which led him being chosen as the 2022 Arable Soil Farmer of the Year
About this event:
Based in Hampshire, David is this year’s arable Soil Farmer of the Year. David designed an approach whereby he has drastically reduced fuel consumption, crop protection inputs and fertiliser across a diverse arable system. Through combining direct drilling with the use of strategic cover and companion cropping within the rotation, David has reduced his need for bagged fertilisers, with 25% less nitrogen used and no applied phosphate or potassium for 7 years. Instead David uses roots to harvest what is needed for the following crop. David focuses on creating a profitable arable enterprise through creating a more resilient system with the soil at its heart
The farm walk will begin at 14:00 (and last around 2-3hrs), and will provide an opportunity to further hear and see how David’s management strategy has resulted in vast emissions savings and benefits to the bottom line, leading him to be awarded the Arable Winner in this year’s Soil Farmer of the Year competition.
The event will take place outside and refreshments will be provided.
The Soil Farmer of the Year competition is run in partnership with Innovation for Agriculture and kindly sponsored by Hutchinsons and Cotswold Seeds
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